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Baptiste - Season 2
Despite a messy storyline, season two of Baptiste is saved by strong actors and a lot of suspense.
I completely agree with my fellow reviewer Mandy when she says that Baptiste just isn't The Missing. The pace is a lot faster and that makes this easier viewing than The Missing. Unfortunately, this comes at the expense of emotional development of the characters and credibility. Despite that, it is still amusing due to the strong protagonists, the increased tension and interesting political themes.
In the second season, the British ambassador to Hungary Emma Chambers (Fiona Shaw, Killing Eve) is on holiday in the country when her husband and her two sons suddenly go missing. Her husband is found dead a short time later, but there is no trace of her sons. Chambers decides to enlist the help of Julien Baptiste (Tchéky Karyov, The Name of the Rose), but a recent trauma affects his working methods in a nasty way.
Still, it's an entertaining series and that's partly because of the actors. What was missing in the first season were good opponents for Karyov. He's a good actor, but he can't always carry a series on his own. Fortunately, he now has a counterweight in the form of Fiona Shaw. She has proven many times that she's a great actress and here she proves it again. Also, actors like Dorka Gryllus (Tatort), Ace Bhatti (Alex Rider) and Anastasia Hille (The Ipcress File) all have solid supporting roles.
It's not The Missing and will never reach that level. But if you manage to see through that, Baptiste is quite a pleasant series with good actors, interesting political themes and a lot of tension. The BBC has already announced that this will be the final season and with the way the final episode ends, that's totally fine.
Follow BaptisteI completely agree with my fellow reviewer Mandy when she says that Baptiste just isn't The Missing. The pace is a lot faster and that makes this easier viewing than The Missing. Unfortunately, this comes at the expense of emotional development of the characters and credibility. Despite that, it is still amusing due to the strong protagonists, the increased tension and interesting political themes.
In the second season, the British ambassador to Hungary Emma Chambers (Fiona Shaw, Killing Eve) is on holiday in the country when her husband and her two sons suddenly go missing. Her husband is found dead a short time later, but there is no trace of her sons. Chambers decides to enlist the help of Julien Baptiste (Tchéky Karyov, The Name of the Rose), but a recent trauma affects his working methods in a nasty way.
With this premise, this season is off to a pretty good start. A solid mystery is set up and it's up to Baptiste and his team to bring the case to a close as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, halfway through the season, the quality of the storyline goes downhill. Everything is ludicrous, goes off the rails and actually, this is the exact opposite of what made The Missing so good. And that's a shame, because you could do a lot of interesting things with the themes of this detective series.The second season starts nicely, but it doesn't stay that way.
Still, it's an entertaining series and that's partly because of the actors. What was missing in the first season were good opponents for Karyov. He's a good actor, but he can't always carry a series on his own. Fortunately, he now has a counterweight in the form of Fiona Shaw. She has proven many times that she's a great actress and here she proves it again. Also, actors like Dorka Gryllus (Tatort), Ace Bhatti (Alex Rider) and Anastasia Hille (The Ipcress File) all have solid supporting roles.
Baptiste also works with interesting material in terms of political themes. Hungary has been in the grip of radical right-wing movements for several years now and the series makes good use of this. It effectively shows how radicalization works and that sometimes very little is needed. It also shows how this process affects the environment. Baptiste brings this process to the screen with great conviction, even if the results are rather over the top.This season is saved by political themes and the acting of the protagonists
It's not The Missing and will never reach that level. But if you manage to see through that, Baptiste is quite a pleasant series with good actors, interesting political themes and a lot of tension. The BBC has already announced that this will be the final season and with the way the final episode ends, that's totally fine.
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