De Dag (2018)

Didn't expect to ever watch a Flemish series, but I really loved this one. I'm not a binge watcher at all. However, I saw this series within a few days. The concept of the different perspectives per episode worked out very well. In addition, I thought the actors played strong and the music increased the tension.

Translated from Dutch · View original

I know I can only say this once, but I'll say it anyway: this is the best Flemish television has already produced.

Simply this is a series that held me in its grip from second one and only let go of me at the very last image. The fact that Jonas Geirnaert has penned this series, together with his other half Julie Mahieu, does not mean that things are fun. The lover of the Side Effects discovers hidden jokes here and there, but outside it is bitter seriousness: people are being held hostage in a bank, and everything revolves around that. That the odd episodes are told from the perspective of the police, and the even from the people inside the bank, creates a nail-biting tension.

An high concept series like this threatens to lose sight of the characters (think Cordon in the past), but that's certainly not the case here. Of course, the surprising cast plays an essential role in this. Too often we see the same faces appearing on the small screen in Flanders. None of that here: the actors who play the three negotiators rarely leave the theater, but here they show that they can also carry a TV series. And actors who are familiar faces play completely different characters than usual here, which is extremely refreshing.

After episode eight, everything suddenly threatens to collapse, but then something happens that increases the tension again. De Dag has a scenario to commit a murder for, but is also worked out in a phenomenal way. Secretly I want to do the whole ride all over again.

Translated from Dutch · View original