I like Marc Warren in the role BTW. He has enough presence to play the lead. Evidently there are fans of the original series who, just like with Poldark, are more discriminating critics of the show than someone like me. I've seen several comments about a fondness for the original series' theme music so I just looked it up. Sheesh, what a dippy tune -- it sounds like theme music for a sitcom featuring a ditzy housewife. I can only gather from the tone of the tune that the original series wasn't as gritty as the remake. I could be wrong though, and have a feeling w2w will know.

By the way, indeed - that was a great extended bikes-chase/fight scene during the first few minutes of the first episode!

I like Piet's female policing partner - but she certainly did recover surprisingly rapidly (was very soon walking around looking completely like normal, and seemingly not in any lingering pain [or did I perhaps miss some scenes of her in continuing agony after she first returned to work?]) after getting stabbed hard in the abdomen and being left for dead!

@merryapril said:

I was distracted too genplant, and need to remember NOT to multitask while watching a whodunit, when a line or two of dialogue or a few moments of action can be key and revealing.

Wow, what a weird, convoluted plan of revenge, having 2 gay guys and an innocent bystander murdered in order to ruin the life and political career of someone who jilted her. It required uncanny luck that the murdered men would be linked to her intended victim. I like the idea of a twist at the end of a mystery -- I was expecting the right-wing politician to be the culprit (although I guess a former associate of his turning out to be an accomplice was close) -- but a former nanny and current bartender being the mastermind of a plan that could've easily failed in besmirching her target is really quite ludicrous, I must say. It's a good thing the scenery is attractive.

Initially the plan was to kidnap Kalari, not to murder anyone. Just to humiliate and expose Paul Oosterhuis and to force him to admit everything to his wife and pull out of the election. The mistake she made was having the unstable and violent Peters carry out the plan. Instead of just kidnapping Kalari, he also captured the boyfriend Milan and the bystander Daniel who was trying to call the police. Then he murdered them. Faced with this fait compli, she decided to continue with the rest of the plan. As often is the case in these police series, when committing a crime, innocent people may get hurt or even die.

"Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned."

Thanks for the explanation w2w. That makes sense and seems more believable. I'll have to watch Ep. 1 again sometime as I obviously missed a LOT!

@genplant29 said:

I like Piet's female policing partner - but she certainly did recover surprisingly rapidly (was very soon walking around looking completely like normal, and seemingly not in any lingering pain [or did I perhaps miss some scenes of her in continuing agony after she first returned to work?]) after getting stabbed hard in the abdomen and being left for dead!

Lucienne was lucky. The stab wound was superficial and when she felt strong enough, she called Van der Valk twice to help her get out of the hospital. The first time he refused. She told him the second time that she had checked out of the hospital and wanted to stay with him. He gave in and brought her to his boat where she could recuperate further. Hendrik, the pathologist, had examined her wound for possible clues to the attacker. She hadn't returned to work yet and at the end of the episode she was still on his boat convalescing.

Side note:

Funny that she had an IV bag with her. Nice detail that she wasn't wearing any makeup.

I'm beginning to conclude that I missed far more of that episode than I even realize; I don't remember having seen any of what you just mentioned!

I'll try to rewatch that episode online sometime.

Incidentally, for anyone who may need it, here's the link (usable till the end of 9/27/2020) to it.

I see in the link that the length of episode 1 is 1:32:45. Is that with or without commercials?

There are never any "commercials", per se, on PBS. HOWEVER, just before and right after an airing there are multiple sponsorship plugs for like Viking Cruise Lines, Liberty Mutual Insurance, and I think Ancestry.com, then some screens listing major other corporate and private sponsors - then Darlene Marcos Shiley comes on camera and states how she's proud to be a sponsor of PBS Masterpiece.

Stuff like all that (and related plugs for the same companies/sponsors right after the episode) adds an extra probably 5-6 total mins. Also included in the mentioned 5-6 extra mins. are 30 or so seconds (apiece) series promo reels right before and right after each episode, the first one showing what tonight's, the second (after the broadcast) showing what next weekend's, episodes will be about.

I frequently read in recent past years that PBS routinely shaved five or so minutes off UK series' episodes in order to get the broadcasts to fit neatly in to either 60 or 90 mins. standard time slots. They don't seem to be doing that anymore (as far as I can tell) as, for example, I remember that last week's premiere episode concluded a little after 10:30p.m. (then there was an interesting little "Behind the Scenes" Van der Valk making-of film for a few more minutes).

Regarding the 1:32:45, that's the time without any of the usual significant plugs, etc. that immediately precede or follow a broadcast.

The length of time is the same as in the UK version, so no edits. Probably got distracted and missed some scenes.

When I bought my DVDs sets of [Inspector] Lewis seasons, I made sure to purchase the DVDs that specified "Original UK Version", as if purchasing the DVDs that PBS sold of the US cut, each episode was edited to about 5 mins. shorter.

Out of curiosity (because it was apparently so popular), I watched a few minutes of the original series, Season 1, Ep. 2 (couldn't find the premiere episode) and while the film quality is pretty grainy, it was still obvious that it was a good police procedural, and the star Barry Foster (who played "Red" Tim O'Leary in a favorite film, Ryan's Daughter!!!) bore somewhat of a resemblance in not only looks but also demeanor to John Thaw's Inspector Morse, IMHO. The popular theme music seems so counter in tone to the dark mood of the short excerpt I viewed that I can't figure out why people have such fond memories of it, unless it's just because it's rather catchy and upbeat.

I didn't realize until just now that Marc Warren portrayed shell-shocked soldier Albert Blithe in one of my all-time favorite miniseries, Band of Brothers. He was memorable in that role

Whoa, was that the chief in Ep. 2 pouring morphine into her tall beverage and knocking it back???

It's interesting that this episode had a theme about mysticism and its rituals, as the famously liberal (more akin to the libertarianism of today) Dutch government abolished the persecution of witches and mystics by the 1600s, a century before other European nations. There actually is a library in Amsterdam dedicated to collecting the sorts of literature featured in the plot, known as The Ritman Library or The Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica .

merry, I, too, was surprised that's what the chief appeared to be doing with her drink!

I felt more onboard with tonight's episode than last week's (no doubt because I was paying proper attention the whole time). I'm still somewhat confused though about which twin was murdered: Was it the one who always went to the library and looked, there, at the ancient religious erotica, or was it the rebel other one? I know it went kinda back and forth for a while, which one it was, therefore I'm not 100% sure I reached the accurate conclusion.

Meanwhile, which twin had the affair with the nun?

My fave character continues to be Piet's female detective partner, Lucienne. I like her a lot.

The "good" twin who routinely went to the library and who was intimate with the nun was the murder victim. The "bad", drug-addicted twin pretended to be her on the day of the crime, as planned with the director of the drug clinic with whom BOTH twins had sex! Only in Amsterdam, for real. Once again, the motive was perplexing and convoluted but it boils down to the atheist clinic director wanting to frame the spiritualist museum director for murder by teaming up with the bad twin who wanted to get rid of the good twin and assume her identity so that she could go home again after being disowned by her strict father. The good twin was collateral damage, a means to these ends, in a sense.

Thanks for the explanation. Good: So I understood accurately after all. Despite that I was paying attention pretty well, I still was left feeling not entirely certain I'd gotten the specifics right.