This show reminded me of ''Hillstreet Blues'' and the more recent '' The Shield ''. Meaning ambiguous and flawed police-officers that are confronted with social issues and difficult moral choices. Everything transferred to the multicultural society of modern-day Holland.
It's a nice attempt to bring us quality television with an edge. Most of the police shows are safe and uninteresting formats without any decent character development. Van Speijk has a multi-layered plot from the viewpoint of totally different characters in the squad. From a racist detective teaming up with a Turkish colleague with connections in the mob, to a greenish young girl, a divorced father and a violent cop with a shady past. This colorful cast of characters is one of the main attractions of the show, though I think they'd better narrow it down a bit in the sake of storytelling. Especially in the first season it felt chaotic at times.
My main criticism on the show is that they often don't find a good balance between satire and realism. At times it almost feels insulting how they treat subjects concerning our multi-cultural society. Of course the Turkish guy has contacts with the mob, of course a Pakistani boy tries to kill his sister for having a relationship with a Dutch man, of course there will be a Jihad-like kidnapping if a Arabic girl is intent on joining a beauty contest, etc. And what about things like the guy from the countryside being a culture shocked enigma or someone without a job being a bag of potatoes!? If there ever comes a third season, I really hope that they tune down these clichés. Excellent as the show might be, it could use some realism to strengthen it.
