Pantano

The first season of this Polish series opens in the mid-1980s with the discovery of two bodies in the forest near a minor city. One is a local senior communist official, the other a prostitute. The militia quickly make an arrest and the suspect confesses however veteran reporter Witold Wanycz has his doubts. His investigation, with the help of young editor Piotr Zarzycki, uncovers truths than others wish to keep hidden... putting them on a collision course with some very dangerous characters.

Twelve years pass before the second season starts; this means there have been major changes in Poland; most obviously the communist regime has fallen and it is now a democratic country. As the series starts the body of a boy has been discovered following a flood caused by a breeched levee. The flood has also exposed a cemetery where victims of a massacre that took place shortly after the war; few people want the truth about that incident to be revealed. Senior police officers accept that it was just a tragic accident; newly transferred Sgt Anna Jass looks at the case more closely and starts to wonder about how convenient the flood was for a new upmarket housing development. The story is picked up by Piotr, who is now editor in chief. Intertwined with this investigation we see flashbacks of what happened in the aftermath of the war and Witold's connection to it.

I really enjoyed this series. The first season nicely captured the feel of life under an oppressive regime where towing the party line mattered more than the truth. The central mystery is intriguing and doesn't always go in ways one might expect. The second season, which I enjoyed just as much, shows how many things may have changed but attitudes take longer to moderate. There are plenty of genuinely tense moments with real danger for many characters. One might think the series would be pretty grim but there are enough lighter moments to mitigate this. The cast does a really fine job; most obviously Andrzej Seweryn, Dawid Ogrodnik and Magdalena Rózczka as Witold, Piotr and Anna respectively. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of subtitled drama.

These comments are based on watching the series in Polish with English subtitles.