The cases....the second involves nuns and religious erotic art....

So will they mention Sister Wendy?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBv0HezlOBw

https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2019/01/02/37631131/rip-sister-wendy-the-most-badass-consecrated-virgin-of-our-time

Endeavour Morse or Piet Van der Valk?

"Your choice of women has been disastrous for years."

"How about yours?

"Fine."

"As long as one of us is."

This series will premiere tonight on PBS. It's not a series I'm feeling enthusiastic about checking out (the t.v. promos haven't, IMO, made much of an intriguing impression), though hopefully it'll be pretty good.

There's a new TV GUIDE magazine article about it in the Sept. 14-27 double issue; the following was authored by Senior Critic Matt Roush (whose reviews I typically, after I've watched whatever he's written about, find that I pretty much agree with):

You know you're in unfamiliar territory for a Masterpiece Mystery! when an investigation involves a nun with a taste for mystical religious erotica. "Just because I'm on a diet doesn't mean I can't look at the menu," she tells Piet Van der Valk (Hustle's Marc Warren), a Dutch detective with a steely demeanor and testy temperament. // Edgier and grislier than the norm for the franchise, Van der Valk updates a series that aired in the U.K. in the 1970s and '90s. Amsterdam has never looked better, or deadlier, than in the three twist-filled cases that confront Van der Valk and his refreshingly distinctive team. // I'm especially fond of the preppy rookie, Job Cloovers (Elliot Barnes-Worrell), an inexperienced know-it-all who keeps trying to impress his blunt boss with arcane information and eureka-style breakthroughs. It doesn't take, partly because Van der Valk is weighed down, in classic tradition, by a tragic loss that haunts him and his troubled chief, Julia Dahlman (Emma Fielding). Their backstory comes to a head in the season finale's over-the-top action climax, which leaves you hoping they'll all be back on the job again soon.

Roush gives the series' debut season a 3 out of 5 stars rating, therefore I guess that means he considers it "average; not bad".

@brat, I always liked and enjoyed Sister Wendy, when her various art series were on t.v. in decades past.

Unrelated FYI: See also this thread about the upcoming new season of Last Tango in Halifax after more than three years of there having been no new episodes of that series!

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As already mentioned, actress Stephanie Leonidas - 'Violetta' in series seven "Endeavour (2013-)" - appears in the first episode. Remember her?

"You need to understand, he seduced me. He promised me the world."

The series' debut episode really didn't do much for me, and I was glad that (despite it airing in a 2-hours time slot) it lasted only slightly over 90 mins.

Stephanie Leonidas was what and whom I liked best about the episode; I thought she was perfect and excellent.

This series is, in my opinion, not really up to the standard of other UK series and productions I've enjoyed watching on PBS (and the series' lead is drab and uncharismatic, which definitely doesn't help). So far I give this a 6 out of possible max of 10 rating.

Having said that, sometimes the first episode of a new series can leave a lot to be desired. So, here's hoping that the subsequent two episodes will make more of an impression. The series got renewed in the UK for a 2nd season, so obviously enough viewers there liked and watched it.

I consider this show as 'light' entertainment. It could have been more dramatic, as in series 7 of "Endeavour", if the case remained unsolved and Stephanie Leonidas appeared in the other two episodes as the love interest of Piet. The titles of the episodes could then also refer to their relationship. I have seen the actress in five detective murder mysteries now and she has been a suspect, culprit or victim, so not yet a definitive clear 'typecast'.

Side notes:

The first novel by author Nicolas Freeling is "Love in Amsterdam (a.k.a. Death in Amsterdam; 1962)". Episode 1 has the same title and episode 3 the alternative one. Both storylines are completely different from the novel.

Amsterdam is such a visually-pleasing setting. And how European, to start out the premiere episode with a BIKE chase scene! Bird Scooters would've been more on trend but decidedly more hazardous.

I'm getting used to the usual cliches we can expect these days: a female police superintendent, the requisite person of color and LGBTQ team members, and stereotypical politicians. That said, I was caught off guard by the unexpected twist at the end, which made the mystery's solution more satisfying if implausible, motive-wise. I liked Van der Valk's cynical persona (also a cliche but nevertheless fitting for a cop), and the brief scene of his blind date and her over-the-top enthusiasm for quantum physics was a funny send up of modern dating. I enjoyed the show and look forward to the next episode!

Did anyone else find it a stretch that a bartender would have such a stunning and upscale residence (along a canal no less, as seen in the costume party scenes)? I suppose she could've been from a wealthy family - did I miss something? A more downscale apartment would've seemed more likely. Although now that I think about it, how did she afford hit men?

@merryapril said:

That said, I was caught off guard by the unexpected twist at the end, which made the mystery's solution more satisfying if implausible, motive-wise."

I had several twists in mind, including the one in this episode (no spoilers for now).

For example, Job Cloovers could have been involved. He is very attached to his mother and Van der Valk doesn't immediately accept him as the new member of his team. It could be that he has a brother who is in a coma after a drug overdosis. Cloovers knew that his brother had been at one of those parties and he'd been dumped by Kalari for Milan, and he decided to take matters into his own hands. He had his accomplices kidnap the two and the innocent witness Daniel, who was murdered later. When Milan tried to escape, he was killed in the struggle. The accomplices were extreme militants, who owed Cloovers a favour for keeping them out of prison. They also hated anyone who was 'different' and one of them started torturing Kalari. Cloovers only wanted to make Kalari suffer for what he had done to his brother, but now everything was getting out of hand. Because Cloovers couldn't convince Van der Valk and the others of the police investigation team that the murders of Milan and Daniel were just a 'statistical coincidence' , he manipulated the information and had the evidence point towards his accomplices.

Hassell: "He's got a point. Two in a day?

Cloovers: "Actually, two deaths in the same day is not that unlikely. It's like the chances of two people having a birthday on the same day. You'd think it would be 1 in 365, right. It's not. You get 23 people in a room and there is a fifty-fifty chance that two of them have the same birthday. Seventy-five people in the room and there is a 99.9 percent chance. It's to do with the compounding power of exponents."

Cloovers: "I'm just saying, two people beaten up on the same night in a busy city...? There's a broken bottle here. So he got into a fight. Milan Bakker was found on the other side of the city. Inspector Hassell seems to believe he was gay for reasons that I don't quite understand.

Hassell: "His profile had him down as a member of Vitriol. It's an underground gay club."

Cloovers: "Okay, so he is gay and maybe he got into a row with his lover."

Van der Valk: "What, gay lovers are more likely to have arguments?"

Hassell: "I don't think he is saying that."

Van der Valk: "Are you saying that?"

Cloovers: "No, I'm not. There is just nothing statistically or evidentially to suggest that these two bodies are in any way connected."

Van der Valk: "Cloovers, have you ever cut that stat-obsessed head of yours? People with bottles smashed over their head are covered with blood. Whereas..."

Cloovers: "There's not much blood, because when he was hit with the bottle, his blood had already stopped flowing."

Davie: "Correct."

Cloovers: So he was killed somewhere else, dumped here and then hit with the bottle to make it look like he died in a random street fight."

Davie: "Hypostasis backs that up."

Van der Valk: "I don't think that Milan Bakker was killed where we found him either. Two deaths on the same night, that might not be a statistical car crash, but two bodies dumped and staged to look random, that might be."

The last three scenes at the end of the episode. Cloovers sitting beside his brother at the hospital. Van der Valk in bed with Eva (remember Endeavour ). The rest of the team celebrating in the pub.

Oddly, I now, six days later, remember very little about the first episode. Will watch Episode 2 tomorrow night, and am hoping to have this new series then click more with me. (Admittedly, major new distractions I've been experiencing in daily life during the last several days [and that look like they'll be continuing indefinitely] have been significantly throwing off my ability to enjoy things much since starting shortly before last weekend.)

@merryapril said:

Did anyone else find it a stretch that a bartender would have such a stunning and upscale residence (along a canal no less, as seen in the costume party scenes)? I suppose she could've been from a wealthy family - did I miss something? A more downscale apartment would've seemed more likely. Although now that I think about it, how did she afford hit men?

She could afford the apartment, because she had at least two jobs. There was no mention of a wealthy family background, but it is possible. Those men were not hitmen.

Some background information:

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Paul Oosterhuis met his wife Claudia in Antwerp, Belgium. He was a lawyer, she worked for the publishing company Faucher Legrand, specializing in gallery catalogues. The main client was the Fine Art Institute, where Therese Ramecker was a student. Paul and Therese started seeing each other behind Claudia's back. She got pregnant with Kalari, but Paul didn't want to leave Claudia.

Eva Meisner is the niece of Claudia, the wife of Paul Oosterhuis. She was the nanny of the Oosterhuis five children. Then Paul - probably - seduced the young woman and she thought he would leave his wife for her. When he didn't, she went away, presumably to travel the world. She worked at Loafers Coffee Shop and the Sub 87 Art Gallery. All the while she was planning her revenge on Paul. She would not be one of his 'domesticated women, passive, submissive and subordinate'.

Bartel Peters was an ex-military, member of the extreme right-wing NNC that supported De Klerk. He used to work as head of security for De Klerk, but was let go after he hospitalized one of the political opponents. He hated Oosterhuis and was still actively supporting De Klerk's cause. When Eva told him about her revenge plans, he jumped had the chance to bring Oosterhuis down.

Dave Smith was the weak link. He could have been seduced and easily persuaded to help with the kidnapping.

That's great info, @wonder! Is that from the books, or from the past series (or all from the new series)?

@genplant29 said:

That's great info, @wonder! Is that from the books, or from the past series (or all from the new series)?

From the first episode of the new series. The books are completely different.

I kept being texted (and thus replying) throughout the airing of the episode, so was watching while much of the time decidedly distracted. I hate when someone keeps texting (and it's about something important that can't be ignored till later) when you're trying to watch something and relax.

I was distracted too genplant, and need to remember NOT to multitask while watching a whodunit, when a line or two of dialogue or a few moments of action can be key and revealing.

Wow, what a weird, convoluted plan of revenge, having 2 gay guys and an innocent bystander murdered in order to ruin the life and political career of someone who jilted her. It required uncanny luck that the murdered men would be linked to her intended victim. I like the idea of a twist at the end of a mystery -- I was expecting the right-wing politician to be the culprit (although I guess a former associate of his turning out to be an accomplice was close) -- but a former nanny and current bartender being the mastermind of a plan that could've easily failed in besmirching her target is really quite ludicrous, I must say. It's a good thing the scenery is attractive.