The Team (TV series)
| Television series | |
|---|---|
| Original title | The team |
| Country of production | Belgium , Denmark , Germany , Austria , Switzerland |
| original language | Danish , Swedish , German , English , French , Flemish |
| Year (s) | since 2015 |
| length | approx. 58 minutes |
| Episodes | 16 in 2 seasons |
| genre | Thriller |
| Theme music |
Northern Rd. By Intergalactic Lovers (Season 1) Hellfire by Barns Courtney (Season 2) |
| First broadcast | February 22, 2015 (Denmark) on DR1 |
| German-language first broadcast |
February 28, 2015 on SRF 1 |
| occupation | |
The Team is a crime series that was internationally co-produced in Belgium , Denmark , Germany , Austria and Switzerland . The first broadcast of the first season began in February 2015, the second season followed in August 2018 on Danish television and in October and November 2018 on German television. The series deals with the police cooperation of the countries within the framework of Europol to solve various crimes and organized crime.
In the original version, all teams speak to each other mainly in their national languages, but most of the dialogues in the series are in English. For the broadcast in Germany, ZDF also had a version dubbed entirely in German. The original version with subtitles was also available in the broadcaster's online offering.
action
season 1
The plot begins with the murders of three prostitutes in Antwerp , Berlin and Copenhagen . All women were shot in the left eye and one finger was severed. Due to the same pattern and the short period of time, Europol recognizes a connection and puts together an international team of investigators: the Belgian Alicia Verbeeck, the German Jackie Müller and the Danish Harald Bjørn. Already in the prologue the viewer learns that the collaboration between Jackie and Harald is emotionally charged due to an earlier joint effort.
The police's first lead leads to the Belgian Jean-Louis Poquelin, who was seen at all three crime scenes. Research reveals that he is the ex-boyfriend of a fourth murdered woman who was friends with the three murder victims. This murder, which bears a resemblance to the new crimes, was six years ago at the beginning of the plot, but what is relevant is that Poquelin was suspected of murder at the time. However, the investigators quickly rule out Poquelin as a perpetrator, and the viewer learns that the murder was attached to the Belgian police (Madame Pernel, Alicia Verbeeck's superior). Poquelin is working on a book about the Lithuanian gangster and human trafficker Marius Loukauskis. The investigation is now focused on him and his environment.
Loukauskis' empire spans large parts of Europe. Its wealth and power are based on human trafficking , corruption and organized crime . His name quickly comes up in connection with all murders, and investigators reveal that it was Loukauskis who murdered Poquelin's girlfriend at a party on a yacht. The three women who have now been murdered were all witnesses to the previous crime, and Poquelin tried to persuade all three to make statements that should exonerate him. However, Loukauskis' ex-wife, Dahlia Loukauskis, had the three prostitutes killed to protect her ex-husband.
The international team of investigators uncover all of these connections; also that Loukauskis could never be proven connections to his criminal machinations. Thanks to the evidence gathered in the course of the plot, however, the police have enough against Loukauskis and can write him up for a manhunt. However, before he can be arrested by investigators in Berlin, he goes into hiding and a chase through Europe begins.
In the season finale, Alicia and Harald Loukauskis follow up to one of his illegal textile factories in Belgium, where people are kept like modern slaves . They can catch and arrest the criminal in the factory's dark labyrinth. In the epilogue , the good cooperation between the countries under Europol was praised at a press conference. The author Poquelin died of cancer shortly after his book was finished, but without his research the investigations would not have been successful or would hardly have been successful. The investigators are therefore revisiting the basic theme of the relay, human trafficking and illegal work, and paying tribute to his work.
The main plot is carried by various subplots that are interwoven with the actual story.
season 2
In a Danish guesthouse near the port town of Esbjerg , a targeted professional murder is being carried out on slipped Syrian refugees and the innkeepers. Only Malu Barkiri, the daughter of a Syrian museum director, who had arrived shortly before, was able to escape. Since the innkeeper is a German citizen and one of the victims is Belgian, a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) is set up by Europol under the leadership of the Danish Nelly Winther.
Malu and her boyfriend wanted to bring a four-part frieze , which is a symbol of rule for the Near East, to the British Museum in London for safety , but were only able to save part of it after the attack. The open exchange of cultural goods is used by the terrorist organization "Califat Union" (CU) to acquire weapons. Meanwhile, Paula Liekens from the Belgian secret service is able to find out that Karim Dadju, friends with Malu's sister, is on the way to Belgium. However, his trail is initially lost, while Malu, seriously injured, is picked up by the Danish police. Various clues lead to Said Gharbour, a Syrian contract killer and art hunter who is urged by his Austrian client to finally get the missing fourth frieze. Karim Dadju receives a surprise visit from the CU captain in his hiding place under surveillance by the Belgian secret service and presents him with modern weapons. Malu can be released from his artificial coma and screams when she is presented with the portrait of Said Gharbour.
Malu makes a big mistake in her hiding place, which is secured by the police, when she secretly activates her cell phone and can be located by Gharbour. Shortly before seeing her mother Mariam again, Malu is able to flee at the last second. Finally the JIT not only gets a photo, but also the name of Gharbour and thus the connection to its Austrian clients. After prolonged observation, all clients can be arrested when the four friezes are handed over. Malu fights her way back to the Danish marshland and then reports to the police. She tells of the cold-blooded murder in front of the museum of her father by Gharbour and his humiliation in order to extract the whereabouts of the Frisians from Malu. The tide turns to Malu's disadvantage when an arrest warrant is issued against her for embezzlement of cultural property. Gregor Weiss from the German team wants to bring Malu to her mother in London, but she refuses to go to London without Friesian. With Paula's support you can get the art treasure. The continuation of the journey is suddenly stopped by Gharbour, who takes Malu and the Frisians with him after an exchange of fire on the open road. Weiss is shot and Paula follows the scene from a safe distance. Since Weiss is in a coma, Winther and Liekens are looking for a solution: only Karim Dadju can establish the connection to Gharbour via the CU captain. During the showdown, Gharbour shoots Karim, the CU captain is arrested and Gharbour is also shot while trying to escape.
occupation
season 1
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season 2
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season 1
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season 2
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reception
The series started on March 8, 2015 at 10 p.m. on ZDF and reached a market share of 19.8% with 3.91 million viewers.
In Denmark it achieved a market share of 55% (for DR ), in Norway 38% (for NRK ) and in Switzerland of 16.6% (for SRF ).
Reviews
“Three aspects that speak for a good series: a lot of money, great actors, Danish television. [...] Still, 'The Team' is mostly botch. […] After all, the frequent changes of location and outdoor shoots ensure beautiful scenery and are staged with great skill by Kaspar Gaardsøe and Kathrine Windfeld ('The Bridge'). But the money would have gone even better in two, better three, revisions of the script by Mai Brostrøm and Peter Thorsboe. In particular, the background stories of the three investigators should have been cleared out [...] To tell all that is at the expense of the actual crime story. Apart from individual chases and rescue attempts, 'The Team' develops surprisingly little tension. "
After a comprehensive and generally positive film review , quotemeter .de recommends accessing the series in the ZDF media library: “You [will] feel at home with The Team in two ways: on the one hand, because a successful and exciting series was switched on, and on the other, because that The original conveys a lot more flair than the linear version ”.
The film critic for the Neue Zürcher Zeitung writes: “ The team is a conventionally laid out crime thriller that is both stylish and calmly located in its international locations, apart from the Austrian Alps , which are pushed into the picture several times […] The attraction lies in watching how the team, made up of three countries, consolidates itself without neutralizing the national peculiarities. [...] In post-national calmness, the characters have their potential for identification where they are personally challenged [...] Overall, The Team leads the TV crime thriller out of its often somewhat musty-looking narrow regional commissariats without ending in artistic homelessness. "
Kurt Sagatz from the Berliner Tagesspiegel praises the series as a “straightforward and rock-hard crime multi-part”. “The four-part series dispenses with emotional drudgery and socially critical echoes. Here the question is not asked which circumstances favor organized crime, but rather reality is taken for what it sometimes is: brutal and inhumane. Even without additional nesting, there are enough twists to keep the tension high until the end. "
Pierre Sérisier, the film critic of Le Monde, praises the idea of the series, but criticizes its lack of reality. The intrigue unfolds too smoothly ( anicroche ), the harmonious cooperation between the investigative teams from several countries is not very realistic, more problems between the organizations involved, rivalries between the teams and different investigation methods were expected. In addition, the characters lack density ( épaisseur ) and originality, and the story unfolds at a breathtaking pace. However, he does see a possibility in a genre of cross-border TV crime novels, whereby the national characteristics and the personality of the actors should be more clearly defined, which despite all the integration were retained.
Web links
- The team at the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Official website at SRF.ch
- The Team at Fernsehserien.de
Individual evidence
- ↑ Intergalactic Lovers publishes the title song of the international series , deredactie.be
- ^ ZDF press portal press kits The Team II , accessed on November 3, 2018.
- ^ ZDF press portal press kits The Team
- ^ Meedia. March 9, 2016 Retrieved April 22, 2016.
- ↑ Top ratings for international ZDF crime series "The Team", accessed on April 22, 2016
- ↑ Hannah Pilarczyk: The Team: ZDF crime series from Belgium, Denmark, Germany. It's the ZDF, stupid. In: Der Spiegel Online. February 21, 2015, accessed November 13, 2015 .
- ↑ International and with flair: “The Team” tackles the hot iron, quotenmeter accessed on April 22, 2016.
- ↑ Claudia Schwartz : Euro Cool. In: Neue Zürcher Zeitung. February 22, 2015. nzz.ch
- ↑ Kurt Sagatz: Limitless Fight Against Crime. In: Der Tagesspiegel. February 21, 2015. tagesspiegel.de
- ↑ Il faut mieux seulement définir les contours of personnages et de leurs Particularités national qui ne se sont (malgré tout) pas avec l'intégration communautaire effacées. Pierre Sérisier: The Team - L'Europe pour terrain d'enquête, in: Le Monde.fr, accessed on April 22, 2016.