The Acorn TV hit Danish series The Sommerdahl Murders is back for a seventh season of murder mysteries being solved amid mid-life drama in a small Danish seaside town. We have always been “meh” about the mysteries, but have always been there for the personal drama. Does that continue?
Opening Shot: Off the coast of the Danish seaside town of Elsinore, a man dives down where a shipwreck is located, collects something from the sea floor, and puts it in a satchel. When he gets to the clubhouse of his diving club, he’s killed after being hit on the temple by a weight belt.
The Gist: Elsinore Police detective Dan Sommerdahl (Peter Mygind) has been living with his ex-wife Marianne (Laura Drasbæk) and her significant other/ his best friend and police partner Flemming Torp (André Babikian) since his fiancée, Josefine Sundby (Maibritt Saerens), bailed on their wedding when the sons of her ex-boyfriend are deported. But he finds out that she’s coming back to Elsinore soon, which is none too soon for Flemming and Marianne, who consider Dan to be family but want some time for themselves.
As Dan and Flemming investigate the murder of the diver, Jeppe (Brian Eklund), whose dive club is helping to raise a figurehead from the sunken ship offshore, they come to suspect his dive club partner Nikolaj (Morten Hemmingsen). But then Jeppe’s strained relationship with his son Rumle (Mikkel Bjørnskov Schalech) comes into play, which we learn during multiple conversations between the detectives and Jeppe’s ex-wife Tina (Cecilie Stenspil). There is also the matter of Maria Møller (Mathilde Norholt), the director of the local maritime museum, who may have made a side deal with Jeppe for the gold found in the shipwreck — and the fact that the two of them were having an affair.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The Sommerdahl Murders is similar to other Acorn TV cozy mysteries, like The Chelsea Detective, where the personal lives of the detectives take up as much time as the mysteries do.
Our Take: As with the show’s first six seasons, there’s a lot to like about The Sommerdahl Murders, especially when it comes to the personal lives of Dan, Marianne and Flemming. Their contentious love triangle has settled into something more like a family vibe, even with Dan’s relationship with Josefine on hold. At this stage, it feels like there’s as much going on with the people around the main three characters, like Marianne and Dan’s daughter Laura (Mia Højgaard) planning a proper honeymoon with her new husband Benjamin (Mathias Käki Jørgensen), who is also a cop. There’s also the matter of station boss Ulla
Hanegaard (Lotte Andersen) struggling to implement eco-initiatives demanded by her boss.
The mystery at the center of this season’s first two episodes is a bit more tightly written than we’ve seen in previous seasons. However, there are still plenty of red herrings, instances where Dan and Flemming are ready to point fingers at someone with little hard evidence, and times when it seems that Marianne, Benjamin and Nadia (Lise Baastrup) advance the case much more than Dan and Flemming do.
Performance Worth Watching: Not sure why, but we’re fascinated at how Peter Mygind’s Dan Sommerdahl dresses as if he’s going to go out on his boat, not solve murders.
Parting Shot: Laura is seriously hurt as she chases Nikolaj, who tried to interfere with Marianne’s work at the divers’ clubhouse.
Our Call: STREAM IT. At this point, you know what you’re going to get with The Sommerdahl Murders, which is both good and bad. The personal story isn’t as interesting as it once was, but the mysteries and seaside scenery are engaging enough to keep us watching.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.