Shetland - Season 2

‘Shetland’ is a classic whodunit series that is set on the beautiful islands north of Scotland. The Shetland Islands form the magnificent backdrop to this crime series which consists of six episodes. The one-hour episodes are paired up and these pairs revolve around a case which DI Jimmy Perez has to solve. ‘Shetland’ is based on the novels by Ann Cleeves, who won a Gold Dagger Award with her novel Raven Black, on which the first two episodes are based. Episode three and four are called Dead Water and five and six are called Blue Lightning and are set on the Fair Isle on which Perez was raised.

‘Shetland’ is not particularly complicated and the islands are doing everything they can to show off their best side. The private lives of the main characters are not discussed in too much detail and there are only some small clues which tell us a bit more about Perez and his team. It is not until the final two episodes that we learn more about Perez and his background, but the murder case is always the focal point. And that suffices for me. It is not a drama series, but an English crime series in which solving the case is central.

The stunning Shetland islands are put second, followed by the main characters. ‘Shetland’ is a nice change from all the American crime series. The calm pace in which the story is told is wonderful. An hour passes before you realise it and you can hardly wait for the next episode. As I wrote in my review of the first season, I view ‘Shetland’ as a kind of "diet" version of Midsomer Murders. The islanders have to rely on each other and Fair Isle does not have a lot of inhabitants, which means that everybody knows each other.

DC Alison ‘Tosh’ MacIntosh and PC Andy Wilson (Steven Robertson, ‘Being Human’) complement each other well. The nicest of the bunch is GP Cora McLean (Ann Kidd) who regularly works as a medical examiner and is never wrong. Perez worries about his daughter Cassie because of her teen behaviour but other than that, life on the Shetland Islands goes on smoothly. Until, obviously, another murder is committed and Perez and his team are facing a busy period. Small, historical facts about the islands are mentioned occasionally. We are told that only seventy people live on Fair Isle and there hasn’t been a murder in seventy years.

If you like a nice and well-developed crime series, ‘Shetland’ is definitely a recommendation. No wild chases, spectacular escapes or explosions. But the beauty of a few gorgeous islands, a bunch of good actors who feel at home on the islands and in the series. In this second season, for six hours, you can enjoy the good quality of this series and can try to figure out who committed the crime.
8 points and on to the third season.