Season of ripe grass and violent hay fever…

There were some interesting things to watch in July

Black Space***** Israeli cop drama centred round a high school shooting. Excellent acting and direction. On Netflix in 8 episodes and hopefully there will be another season. Thoroughly deserves the good reviews. (May be Blackspace – I’m never sure how to search correctly as I’ve seen both versions in reviews.)

Black Spot Seasons 1 and 2 ***** (Netflix.) The ending wasn’t a cliff hanger but we could really do with another season to answer some questions and get some of the characters into a more satisfactory place. Think Twin Peaks but in the eastern forested mountains of France. For those who don’t like subtitles there is an English language version. Disturbing and gripping with paranormal elements, violence and occasional humour. Each episode has a solved crime, but the paranormal stuff is in the over-arc plot. The original title is Zone Blanche; the area has poor phone signals which is part of the problem faced by the police.

Katla **** (Netflix again) Icelandic noir (aka horror) watched out of the corner of my eye because husband had it on. In a town destroyed by a volcanic erruption, people start to reappear… I suppose it deserves at least four stars for acting, direction, etc. but it wasn’t quite my scene! I went to bed before the end of the last episode but my husband updated me on the plot resolution.

Nordic Murders Season 2 *** (More 4.) I loved season 1 of this police drama set on the island of Usedom in northern Germany on the Polish border. But in season 2 the lead detective has been written out (in the first episode) and this means we are left with a new and less convincing lead, and a gap in the intriguing family dynamics that underpinned the first season. As a result, I started to get bored and regard it as being mainly about the scenery. I don’t grudge the actress if she needed to leave – if she didn’t, I think the writers made a mistake.