Streaming series review - Irish Crime

Irish Crime (Der Irland-Krimi) *** (out of 5) (NR) This is a police procedural series set in Ireland from German TV. Once you adjust to Irish characters speaking German while you’re reading English subtitles, you find an interesting set of characters solving crimes in Galway, while dealing with old issues. Cathrin (Desiree Nosbusch) is a psychologist who had worked closely with the police, including her husband, Liam (Barry O’Connor, seen in flashbacks) until his disappearance (and presumed murder) ten years earlier. That drove her heavily into the bottle, and distant from her former work and her son, Paul (Rafael Gareisen), who has also joined the force. She never abandoned hope of finding her husband, or at least his body, for closure.

In the first 90-minute episode, a mass grave of babies is unearthed in the yard of a former Magdalene workhouse – a disgraceful part of The Church’s history in Ireland. One of the bodies is an adult male, who Cathrin – with little help from the cops – proves to be her husband. The police and Church sandbag her attempts to learn how he ended up there. The former, including Liam’s friends and colleagues, are more concerned about busting a major drug and smuggling ring that’s been thriving there.

The second episode centers on a new crime, but includes enough carryover from the first to make it advisable to watch them in order. This challenge involves a bizarre fetish-based rape and murder that may involve one of her patients and a local community of barely-tolerated Travelers. The script maintains the suspense well throughout.

Like most European TV crime dramas, there’s more emphasis on story and character than action. Cathrin is a sympathetically flawed woman, who is also quite brilliant at her profession, including its application to forensic matters. Empathy and respect for her grow as these tales unfold. The supporting cast brings solid performances to the production, fleshing out the community and its troubles that require her expertise.

The second season, episodes 3 and 4, are somewhat darker and more psychologically complex that the first two, befitting Cathrin’s profession. One centers on the abduction of a lawyer’s daughter; the other delves deeply into IRA terrorism, its lasting effects on all those directly and peripherally affected, and the emotional underpinnings of the reconciliation process. Cathrin and Paul continue having a hard time dealing with the certainty of Liam’s death and why it occurred, as the criminal enterprise plot thread continues.

Most of the mysteries are resolved, with a few twists and complications along the way; mercifully, no big cliffhangers in the package. The overall pace is slow and contemplative, but there’s plenty of substance in the stories, and a cast that makes the time seem well-spent. Two more episodes have aired in Germany, and should soon join these among our streaming options.

(Irish Crime, in German with subtitles,streams on MHzChoice as of 2/14/23)