De Ring - Season 1

A lawyer steals from a client in De Ring. However, there is a recording of the theft, which allows the client to blackmail her. The future is bright for Simon Boetzelaar (Benja Bruining, Nieuwe Buren). He has a flourishing business, a beautiful wife and two children. He is adored by everyone and his company is the new benchmark for contemporary fashion. And yet Simon also has a dark side and that side costs him his life.

Despite all his success, Simon wants more. And that more is mainly more women in his bed. The way he gets these ladies into bed is pure blackmail. Corporate lawyer Anna Hartogs finds that out when she finds a lost ring in Simon's office. On impulse, she puts the piece of jewelry in her pockets and takes it home. She soon regrets this and sends the ring back to Simon. But the damage has been done.

Boetzelaar has filmed Anna while she picked up the ring and put it in her pockets. In order to avoid a complaint for theft and the consequences thereof, Simon proposes to share a bed with him once in exchange for his silence. Of course, Simon doesn't keep his word and forces Anna to follow through on his sexual wishes.

Anna, however, has just started a relationship with policeman Max and feels very guilty. She rebels against Simon and on one of their dates they get into a fight and Anna stabs him with an awl. After that she goes back home. The next day it turns out that Simon has been found dead in his country house where he was receiving Anna. Anna is convinced that she left Simon alive and that someone else has murdered Simon. She starts investigating, initially alone but later she gets help from her boyfriend Max.

In between this whole story there are many intrigues that go in a certain direction but that keep putting you on the wrong track. With a plot like this it is important for the makers to keep the identity of the perpetrator a secret for as long as possible or to make the viewer believe that the alleged perpetrator may have done it after all. The fact that they succeeded in this until the last episode is a victory for the makers because I myself only realized very late in which direction I had to look for the perpetrator.

The main characters play their roles credibly and the story that is told could really happen in this big, bad world. The way in which the various plots are managed to twist, ensures that the tension in the series remains until the very last episode.