Julien
Baptiste is a veteran cop, who specializes in finding missing persons, but not
necessarily in securing happy endings. Of course, if were up to him every case
would conclude with a joyous reunion, but things do not always work that way in
the dark criminal underworld that he must navigate. After surviving a brain
tumor, the French detective is not exactly retired, but he has something like
emeritus status with the Amsterdam police force—even though his Dutch fluency
is iffy. Unfortunately, the new case he agrees to take on will have many disastrous
unforeseen consequences in co-creator-writers Harry & Jack Williams’ Baptiste,
an original six-part series spun-off from The Missing, which premieres
this coming Sunday on PBS.
Feeling
lucky to be alive, Baptiste assumes he will mostly be a professional
grandfather going forward. However, his wife would prefer to get him out of the
house for a while, so as a favor to his old colleague Martha Horchner, Baptiste
agrees to help the nebbish Englishman Edward Stratton find his niece, who has
disappeared into Amsterdam’s murky world of sex-work and drug addiction—or so
he says.
It
turns out Stratton is not who he says he is—and neither is his niece. The
reality is considerably more complex and subject to further revisions.
Regardless, all the questions Baptiste asks draw the unwelcome attention of a
Romanian human-trafficking syndicate known as the Brigada Serbilu. Presumably,
the mysteriously vanished gangster Dragomir Zelincu (who has become a Keyser Söze-like
legend for the Brigada) holds some answers, but finding him will only lead to
more questions. Further complicating matters, there is business involving a
considerable shipment of cash stolen from the Romanian gang.
Of
course, it is all much more complex and perilous than that, but the Williamses
manage to uncork several surprise game-changers at various stages, so let’s keep
the details vague. This is definitely dark stuff. It is not as hard-boiled as
Andrew Vachss novels, but the red-light district is definitely present
throughout the series.
Still,
it is rather refreshing to see a mature, emotionally healthy hero like Baptiste.
Tcheky Karyo has played a fair number of heavies and arrogant authority figures,
but the world-weary yet humane detective could well become his signature role.
He is terrific projecting quiet intelligence (something more folks ought to try
to do). While Karyo keeps it real and understated, Tom Hollander is a spectacular
mess as Stratton. He completely upends viewer assumptions, over and over again.
Jessica Raine also does a nice job humanizes hard-charging Europol detective Genevieve
Taylor, who initially clashes with Baptiste, rather harshly.
As
a series, Baptiste has just as much tragic angst as Kenneth Branagh’s Wallander,
but the character played by Karyo is considerably more pleasant to spend time
with. PBS conspicuously drops out the curse words, but the very adult
situations remain clear as day. It probably won’t inspire many viewers to visit
Amsterdam as tourists, but it might spur them to revisit some of Dick Maas’s
films and the old Van der Valk series. Recommended for fans of British
and European crime TV, Baptiste starts this Sunday (4/12) on most PBS
stations.
