Damaged men, continued
-
- May
- 8
Well, NBC had to do it. The Peacock Network had to break my heart and end “Life,” with the superb Damian Lewis — Give him another series! — as the House of the detective world. I had a feeling, of course, when the final episode tied everything up in a way that was both predictable and unexpected, like life itself. And the final word being “love” — I can hardly type for the metaphoric tears falling on the keyboard.
Fortunately, Charlie Crews has a lot of soul brothers out there. Thank heavens one of them turns up on “Masterpiece Mystery!” this Sunday at 9 p.m. in the form of Kenneth Branagh’s Wallander.Crews and Dr. House would immediately recognize the titular Swedish sleuth — cleverly referred to in the WGBH press materials as the “Norse Morse” — as a fellow traveler. Obsessed with work. Divorced. Disappointing efforts at personal relationships with feisty daughter and Alzheimer’s suffering dad. Pasty. Doughy. Bad eater. And most important of all, compelled to view every puzzling case as a personal effront from God.
Sunday’s is a doozy as a teenage girl sets herself ablaze in a hazy field of yellow rapeseed right out of Van Gogh before the horrified Wallander can stop her. Her death and the subsequent scalpings of four men guilty of various misdeeds against women are tied to child molestation. But it’s more complicated than that. (The series is based on the best-selling novels of Henning Manskell.)
Though “Wallander” is set in summer, the grisly cases have a wintry feel that proceeds from its protagonist and star. Branagh is just terrific as the existentialist antihero. The crumpled Charlie Brown mouth sliding into two parenthetical furrows that frame a slight, stubbly blond double chin; the air of dogged determination in the face of despair: It’s all so on-the-money for a troubled times.
Branagh is also busy prepping “Thor,” which he’ll direct for Marvel Studios, and you can’t help but wonder if all these haunted superheroes and brooding tube types aren’t but reflections of our Age of Anxiety. (Interesting that Robert Downey Jr., who is currently filming “Iron Man 2,” will be showcased later in the year as Sherlock Holmes, the model for House.)
Like his more or less heroic brothers, Wallander exhorts us to keep trudging along, even as he entertains us.
Speaking of damaged men, Is Fox trying to capitalize on the success of CBS’ “The Mentalist” with a new series debuting at the end of the month?
It’s called “Mental” (9 p.m. May 26), and its about a “radically unorthodox” shrink (Chris Vance) in a Los Angeles psych hospital who clashes with his more conservative boss (Annabella Sciorra).
Shades of “The Mentalist,” “House” and a half-dozen other series, anyone?
Photo courtesy of WGBH.
This entry was posted
on Friday, May 8th, 2009 at 4:09 pm by Georgette Gouveia.
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