The Chelsea Detective has grown up. This is mainly because the balance between crime and drama is now much better maintained than in the first season. Detective Max Arnold (Adrian Scarborough, Sanditon) cycling through London is no longer one of the traumatized police officers you see so often these days. His relationship with his ex Astrid (Anamaria Marinca, Temple) is complicated. Their feelings for each other are clearly not gone yet. In this second season, this is no longer the drama that it was, but it is more of a quest for both to separate themselves or not.
This season guarantees four episodes of top entertainment.
This means that the part in which Max's work takes place receives more attention. Not that The Chelsea Detective is the most exciting crime series ever, it is all too light-hearted for that. However, the storylines are significantly better balanced. The question of who did it, and why, will receive more attention this season. This ensures that the series fits easily among other more light-hearted British crime series. Think of Midsomer Murders, Whitstable Pearl and Karen Pirie, among others.
What makes British series generally excellent is the quality of the acting. The quality is also excellent in The Chelsea Detective. In addition, the world of the Chelsea district of London is beautifully depicted. It provides a dramatized insight into a world that is normally presented in the media with vulgar and rich entertainment. The Chelsea Detective creates a completely different view of Chelsea. In that respect, it is also a victory for Chelsea and its residents that this series exists.
However, the storylines are significantly better balanced.
This season guarantees four episodes of top entertainment. The series is easy to watch. It constantly manages to fascinate and keeps you as a viewer with the most important question that comes with a good crime series: who did it and why? In that respect, The Chelsea Detective is definitely recommended. While the first season did not get more than a seven from me, this season scores a whole point higher. This may be (partly) due to the fact that The Chelsea Detective has matured. I'm curious whether the now announced third season will surprise me again.
About the writer, Karzal
Mike (1995) has been a member of MySeries since 2016 and is mainly active on the English version of the site. Since 2018, he has been actively translating news articles, columns, reviews and basically everything that ends up on the Dutch site. The original articles, columns and reviews were actually written by others. During the week Mike can be found at IKEA, where he is a national systems specialist and occasionally also in the classroom to teach an English lesson. In addition, Mike logically enjoys watching series and has actually been spoon-fed this from an early age. The genre doesn't matter, there is a place for everything in the otherwise busy life.
