Nocturne, on Apple TV+

You could say Karl Anders has “suicidal empathy.” He is a social justice warrior, who works as an orderly in a maximum-security mental hospital. Of course, he immediately sympathizes with Jurek Walter, a serial killer held under conditions worthy of Hannibal Lecter, rather than the victims his new patient buried alive, with just enough water to prolong their torture. That makes Anders a danger to himself and others. However, long after the small Pennsylvania town of Fairhaven gave up all hope, one of Walter’s victims mysteriously reappears. Naturally, the cops who busted him desperately hope to find the long-missing boy’s sister, as well as the accomplice presumably holding her in creator Rowan Joffe and showrunner John Hlavin’s ten-episode Nocturne, based on Lars Kepler’s novel, which premieres Friday on Apple TV+.

The abduction of Michael and Felicia Frost still haunts Fairhaven, PA, so when the brother reappears, the police and FBI renew the search for his sister. For Jonah Lynn, the Walter case remains bitterly personal. He long-suspected Walter kidnapped his partner Sam Mendel’s wife Rebecca, eventually provoking his suicide.

Lynn retired, practically living as a recluse, but he somewhat kept in touch with his surrogate daughter, Saga Bauer, who now works as an undercover FBI agent. When the cold case suddenly turns hot, they both invite themselves onto the investigation. Police Chief Ellison is happy to have their help, but Special Agent Quinn is much more turf and protocol conscious. Nevertheless, they both get results, especially when Bauer inserts herself into Riverside Psychiatric, landing the cell next to Walter’s through her antisocial behavior.

Initially, Bauer’s infiltration is about as unofficial as it gets. Technically, Lynn and Nathan, a Fairhaven cop, broke the law, by hacking Riverside’s surveillance cameras to monitor her. Eventually, Ellison and Quinn also discover the operation, but they essentially just go with it, because what’s done is done.  Clearly, Anders frequently acts as a messenger for Walter, believing the inmate’s rights have been violated. Rather ominously, he also smuggles contraband items to the psychopath, not realizing their potentially deadly applications.

Adapted from the novel The Sandman, written by the husband-and-wife duo Alexander and Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril under their Kepler pseudonym, Nocturne is a moody serial killer thriller, that occasionally gives off horror vibes (especially when Lynn discovers creepy pagan runes hidden at Walter’s crime scenes). However, ten episodes (7 of which were provided for review) over-stretches a story that could have easily boiled down to six installments, or perhaps even feature length.

Nevertheless, despite its Scandinavian origins, Nocturne sympathetically depicts its characters’ working-class, Middle American values and the lingering communal trauma of Walter’s abductions. Liev Schreiber (the nemesis of spell-checkers) and Bill Camp are spectacularly gritty, grizzled, and world-weary as Lynn and Ellison. Viewers immediately see just how much weight the two lawmen continue to carry.

Zazie Beetz also portrays Bauer in absolutely harrowing, utterly unglamorous circumstances. Honestly, her stint in Riverside is far, far worse than what Vincent Price puts Lynn Bari through in Shock. Similarly, Chrissy Metz is often painful to watch, because she so convincingly expresses Ida Frost’s exhaustion and maternal desperation.