Relentless Nordic Crime Tropes
June 6, 2022 9:56 AM Subscribe
A Finnish crime show I'm watching has a scene that's familiar: clothes on a beach; young, blithe detective brushing it off; soft spoken detective noticing important details. What else has this scene?
I watch a lot of non-US crime shows, specifically a lot of what Netflix calls "Relentless Nordic Crime Drama," which broadly includes Scandinavia, Iceland, Finland, and the Netherlands, but the answer I'm looking for might be from another country. Fairly certain it's not American. I've watched a ton of these kinds of shows over the last few years; I've looked through recent-ish ones I've watched to see if any of them jarred the answer loose for me but nothing jumped out. I also skimmed TV Tropes for this show to see if this particiular scene is called out and compared to another but no luck there.
I'm currently watching a Finnish show called Deadwind; one of the opening scenes involves two detectives, male and female, on a beach, investigating an unusual scene. On the beach lies a woman's clothes neatly folded on the rocks. The young male detective, who is a rookie, has a big mouth and sort of derisively asks why they've been called there, and says clearly, a woman got drunk and went skinny dipping and this isn't a crime. The female detective, who has been quiet the whole scene while the man complained, speaks up to basically prove him wrong--if she was drunk, she wouldn't have folded her clothes. Also her purse isn't nearby, which also indicates foul play.
I am CONFIDENT I have seen a near identical scene in a different crime property--clothes on the beach, presumed to be an accidental drowning, someone points out details like folded clothes, and of course a body is discovered and it's foul play. What other thing could this be? There's a chance this could be from a movie or a book in translation but I'm pretty sure it's a show just because that what's I've consumed more of recently. In my memory it's a male detective pointing out the detail but I could be wrong. Nothing else about Deadwind is familiar so I don't think it's a case of me having watched this show before.
I watch a lot of non-US crime shows, specifically a lot of what Netflix calls "Relentless Nordic Crime Drama," which broadly includes Scandinavia, Iceland, Finland, and the Netherlands, but the answer I'm looking for might be from another country. Fairly certain it's not American. I've watched a ton of these kinds of shows over the last few years; I've looked through recent-ish ones I've watched to see if any of them jarred the answer loose for me but nothing jumped out. I also skimmed TV Tropes for this show to see if this particiular scene is called out and compared to another but no luck there.
I'm currently watching a Finnish show called Deadwind; one of the opening scenes involves two detectives, male and female, on a beach, investigating an unusual scene. On the beach lies a woman's clothes neatly folded on the rocks. The young male detective, who is a rookie, has a big mouth and sort of derisively asks why they've been called there, and says clearly, a woman got drunk and went skinny dipping and this isn't a crime. The female detective, who has been quiet the whole scene while the man complained, speaks up to basically prove him wrong--if she was drunk, she wouldn't have folded her clothes. Also her purse isn't nearby, which also indicates foul play.
I am CONFIDENT I have seen a near identical scene in a different crime property--clothes on the beach, presumed to be an accidental drowning, someone points out details like folded clothes, and of course a body is discovered and it's foul play. What other thing could this be? There's a chance this could be from a movie or a book in translation but I'm pretty sure it's a show just because that what's I've consumed more of recently. In my memory it's a male detective pointing out the detail but I could be wrong. Nothing else about Deadwind is familiar so I don't think it's a case of me having watched this show before.
I am half remembering an episode of Wallander that was a bit like this. But it's been a long time since I watched it.
posted by plonkee at 2:30 PM on June 6, 2022
posted by plonkee at 2:30 PM on June 6, 2022
Zbrodnia begins with a beachgoer taking off her outer clothing and going for a swim, where she discovers a body.
It’s also on Netflix and is likely to have been recommended to you on the “Relentless Nordic Crime Drama” feed (though it’s Polish, not Nordic). Source: I watch a lot of these shows on Netflix too. (One of my co-workers calls the genre “Bloody Murder in Cold Climates,” which seems more accurate.)
posted by snowmentality at 3:05 PM on June 6, 2022
It’s also on Netflix and is likely to have been recommended to you on the “Relentless Nordic Crime Drama” feed (though it’s Polish, not Nordic). Source: I watch a lot of these shows on Netflix too. (One of my co-workers calls the genre “Bloody Murder in Cold Climates,” which seems more accurate.)
posted by snowmentality at 3:05 PM on June 6, 2022
I call them "sad murder shows" - Broadchurch and Wallander are good examples. I wonder if it came up in an season of The Unforgotten? It was definitely in 2 episodes of Shetland.
posted by fiercekitten at 5:23 PM on June 6, 2022
posted by fiercekitten at 5:23 PM on June 6, 2022
Not a TV show, but Jaws does open with a scene like this.
posted by Threeve at 5:36 PM on June 6, 2022
posted by Threeve at 5:36 PM on June 6, 2022
Response by poster: I FOUND IT
It's from a different Finnish show called Bordertown. It's not quiiiite identical but: body washed ahore, young brash cop says it was probably a woman skinny dipping, observant cop says she died before she hit the water--lungs full of air so she floated--and notices some other details. In this particular case, he commented that the beach is not a crime scene (since she didn't drown).
It's about 22 minutes into the first episode, and on Netflix if anyone is curious.
posted by Ideal Impulse at 11:31 AM on June 8, 2022
It's from a different Finnish show called Bordertown. It's not quiiiite identical but: body washed ahore, young brash cop says it was probably a woman skinny dipping, observant cop says she died before she hit the water--lungs full of air so she floated--and notices some other details. In this particular case, he commented that the beach is not a crime scene (since she didn't drown).
It's about 22 minutes into the first episode, and on Netflix if anyone is curious.
posted by Ideal Impulse at 11:31 AM on June 8, 2022
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