TV Series: Hinterland

This is a detective drama television series set in Aberystwyth, a beautiful little town on the Welsh coast. Today I watched the first episode, so my thoughts will be based on this episode alone. In common with other British detective drama series, the episode is feature length (95 minutes) and the story is self-contained, so it's more like a film than a normal television episode.

Detective Chief Inspector Tom Mathias has just transferred from London to Aberystwyth. There are hints that there were problems leading to his departure from London, but no details are given. Maybe this will be cleared up in future episodes. On the first day at his new job an old woman is found murdered, and he has to investigate the case. As an outsider he doesn't know the etiquette in dealing with the local people, but his colleagues accept him and support him in his work. In particular, he doesn't speak Welsh, although he speaks English with a Welsh accent and seems to understand what his colleagues are saying. His background will be explained in later episodes, I hope. My assumption is that he comes from South Wales, where mostly English is spoken.

This highlights my main problem with the series, or at least the one episode that I've seen so far. The main character is thrown at us, and we don't know who he is. The only feeling we have about him is that he's a loner. I wish his character could have been developed first. The first thing we see after the opening credits is his arrival at the crime scene. To me it seems strange that the police in his department unconditionally accept him as their new boss from the beginning. I would have expected them to mutter about him behind his back, especially since he forces everyone to speak English to him, even though they prefer to speak Welsh among themselves.

The episode itself is slow and brooding. Normally I would see this as negative, but the episode is padded with views of the beautiful Welsh outdoors. The scenery is stunning, and it's aggressively pushed in our faces. For instance, the dead body is found at the foot of a waterfall, and the camera pulls back to let the viewer take in the scene. Other reviewers call "Hinterland" a Celtic noir series. Celtic noir? I've never heard that expression before, but it sounds cool.

I admit that I wouldn't watch any more episodes for the story alone. Neither Tom Mathias nor the supporting characters have enough charisma to draw me in. But I feel like watching a few more episodes to enjoy the view of the Welsh mountains and valleys. Here are a few examples of the beautiful scenery.

Tom goes jogging on the cliffs.

Here's where he works. That's a cute police station.

The dead body must be down here somewhere.

There it is!

This is where the murderer is arrested. You see what I mean about the scenery being pushed in our faces?

Talking about Welsh mountains and valleys, I hope we see more of Detective Mared Rhys in future episodes. What would I have to do to get her to arrest me?

Tom and Mared interviewing a suspect. Can he keep his mind on the job?

Obviously not. Hands off, Tom!