Many crime stories show police / detective work as something exciting, the cops are on a quest to solve a puzzle, and with guns, technology, intellect or even superpowers, they manage to find the culprit, point a finger at the guilty, and pat themselves on the back for doing a great job. There's none of that here.
Police work as shown in Hinderland is a mix of frustrating conversations that get you nowhere and hours of research (done by supporting leads) coupled with some lucky breakthroughs. If you are nit-picky about police procedures or a fan of CSI-type of story telling, you might be bored and annoyed by this show.
If you like shows about detectives unraveling the master plans of highly intelligent super-villains you might be a bit disappointed as well - the crime in this show is very down-to-earth and true to statistics (no Hanibal Lecter type of stuff).
Even if initially the series seems slow, and not your usual cup of tea, it's worth to give it a closer look, as it just might make you a better person.
Each episode (the length of a standalone film) tells a different story of 'who's done it', yet the finger never seems to be pointed at a particular person. The show offers a fuller picture and helps you understand the motivations and circumstances that lead to the crimes.
The show is really compassionate, there are no bad guys and good guys, like many of the cop-stories out there would have you believe, everyone is broken and suffering, and oh so human. A true lesson in empathy.
I love how Tom Mathias (the main character) treats the people he arrests - even when tackling them to the ground he still sees them as people, seems to understand their pain and even (gasp!) tries to comfort them.
When the stories come to an end, there is no patting on the back, solving of a case does not feel like a victory of justice, there are no moral lessons to learn, other than "suffering creates more suffering".
It's a slow, beautifully shot show which by offering you an escape from reality throws you knee-deep in it's slimy gutter instead.
