Crossing Lines

A few weeks ago, my wife found Crossing Lines on Netflix and suggested we give it a try. I'm very glad we did, since it's the most interesting cop drama I've seen in years.

In a nutshell, Crossing Lines concerns a fictitious international police unit working under the ICC, or International Criminal Court, taking on cross-border cases in Europe. A bit like how the FBI handles inter-state crime in the U.S.

Crossing Lines is a German-French-Italian-American production that was canceled after season 1 and picked up by Netflix and Amazon for season 2 and then 3. This change in management shows a bit between 1 and 2, and quite a lot in season 3. After season 3 the show was canceled permanently, although some fans are still holding out hope for a fourth season, but seeing as it ended in 2015, that is very unlikely.

The show was criticized for misrepresenting the function and purpose of the ICC, as the court does not care about drugs and regular “murder” as an example, and they do not (apparently) have their own task force on standby. Instead they work against things like dictators and genocide.

With a few exceptions, the show uses a case of the week formula, sometimes broken up with a two part episode. Seasons 1 and 2 have more recurring villains, dropping this concept in season 3.

For the most part, the cases are really good, and not just the same old, same old one is used to from American shows like Law & Order. A couple of episodes failed to impress, but they were the exception rather than the rule. The pilot was a little rough around the edges, as they tend to be. Also, the episode about the bikers was pretty bad, otherwise I liked them well enough.

What really carries the show are the actors. As far as I can tell, they all hail from the countries their characters come from, with only one exception. This cements the international nature of the unit and lends authenticity to the whole show.

This in itself creates an oddity, as the point of language is never made. Whether they come from Ireland, Italy, Germany, The U.S. or France, they all seem to speak the local lingo wherever they go. This is of course to keep the plot ticking along, but especially in the beginning I found myself wondering how the hell they could communicate with the locals so easily. Speaking German does not allow you to speak Polish...

Likewise, travel times seem to be irrelevant, as they get where they need to go at the speed of plot. My recommendation is to let these two points go and just enjoy the show.

As for the actors, William Fichtner and Donald Sutherland stand out as the biggest names internationally, with guest appearances by actors like Carrie-Ann Moss (The Matrix) and Ray Stevenson (Rome). The others were equally good though, so don't stare yourself blind on star names.

Sadly, most actors left the show after season 2, with only three remaining, and although the new people are very good, it isn't the same. Still, season 3 is enjoyable enough, especially if one sees it more as a spinoff.

So, I do recommend Crossing Lines, and I'm sad I didn't get more of it.

That's that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week.