Distributor: Just Entertainment
Episodes: 4
Duration: 45 min (per episode)
Chasing Shadows: Season 1 (DVD) – Series Review
Chasing Shadows, yet another British crime series has made its way into our homes. This time though, it’s not the Homicide squad we’ll be following, but a team from the Missing Persons Bureau. Tact is vital in this job, but that’s not so easy for everyone, especially not for the slightly autistic D.S. Stone. Nonetheless, despite cases being tough and difficult, there is still that glimmer of hope that keeps both family and investigators going.
We meet D.S. Sean Stone (Reece Shearsmith) as a Homicide detective, but when at a press conference he criticizes police procedures rather too bluntly, he is transferred to Missing Persons. His main concern is that police should be focusing on finding missing persons, rather than only investigating a case after a body has been found. At the Bureau he has to team up with Ruth Hattersley (Alex Kingston) but this partnership proves to be harder than expected. Ruth is a very warm, motherly woman, but D.S. Stone has some difficulties when it comes to social contact and communicating. He never tells Ruth or D.C.I. Prior (Noel Clarke), his superior, what he is up to and would rather drive his own car alone than come along with his colleagues. He has no idea of how to do small talk, which makes him appear slightly weird. Lucky for him, he has a lovely housekeeper Adele (Myriam Acharki), who helps him to find ways to interact socially, and to ask the right questions when trying to look interested. Nonetheless, he is very good at finding patterns and connections and is thus a real asset to the team.
The series consists out of four episodes, each case taking up two. Thus there are only two cases the team will have to solve this season. The story mainly focuses on the missing persons, but every now and then we get to meet Ruth’s mother and her son Bryan (Alfie Field), who is extremely interested in serial killers. Sean’s personal life doesn’t extend to that much, but we do meet his housekeeper who tries to make him a little more socially interactive.
Although communication within the team is an issue, the story doesn’t feel tensed. Sure the team is fed up with Sean’s behavior, especially when he doesn’t let them in on what he’s up to, but that’s not the core of the series. They are able to put things into perspective and accept that that’s Sean’s way of working, although they do try to get him to understand the importance of communication. This makes the story so much more calm than your average ‘grumpy policeman series’, which allows you to focus on the case itself.
The cases are well worked out and raise enough questions to keep you interested. It’s never really predictable, although here and there, you might start wondering about certain things earlier on in the story.
It’s not the first time a troubled or weird policeman takes the lead in a crime series, and it definitely won’t be the last. It seems like that’s just an obligatory issue in order to make a new series. Also a rather autistic policeman is nothing new, one of the most known ones probably being Benedict Cumberbath in Sherlock. Unfortunately D.S. Stone is not as impressive as Sherlock was. But then again, Sherlock is packed with action and connections only Sherlock himself can understand, while Chasing Shadows is a bit more easygoing, allowing you as a viewer to think along with the team and maybe form some ideas already as to who the culprit might be.
Reece Shearsmith does a decent job portraying this weird cop with poor social skills. It’s the way of saying things and traits like Sean’s typical walk or his looks that make his character quite convincing. Alex Kingston portrays his warm colleague Ruth very well too. She wants to do good for everybody and help wherever and however she can. While their characters may be complete opposites, Shearsmith and Kingston still manage to act together very well.
Conclusion
While there are already too many crime series revolving around a solitary policeman with all kinds of problems, Chasing Shadows is just that little bit different from the average one. Missing Persons teams never get as much attention as their big brothers from Homicide, and it’s for once a refreshing point of view. This way the question is not only: ‘Who did it?’ but also ‘Will they find them back alive?’. Reece Shearsmith is convincing in his role as the autistic yet brilliant D.S. Stone and interaction between the characters is for once more uplifting than depressing. Although the concept might just be another variation on that same theme, the sound of this one is rather appealing.
Chasing Shadows: Season 1 (DVD) - Series Review,
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