Monday 11 February 2013

URBAN WARFARE! 'SPIRAL: STATE OF TERROR' ARRIVES ON UK TV

Parisian protector Captain Laure Berthaud (Caroline Proust) and her loyal police squad return in SPIRAL. Images: CANAL+.

Fiery lady detective Captain Laure Berthaud, as played with distinctive French style by Caroline Proust, returns with her loyal comrades, sometimes not operating within the full bounds of the law, to pursue a ruthless emerging band of home grown militant anarchists with explosive intentions, in the fourth series of the acclaimed international hit crime/legal thriller SPIRAL, sub-titled STATE OF TERROR, which debuted its weekly double episode run on UK TV last Saturday evening on BBC 4 (but why no HD!?), in another worthy co-production with SON ET LUMIERE and the CANAL+ group.

If the opening episodes are anything to go by, this new twelve-part run, delving into the murky, always controversial world of racial discrimination and immigration control, with its often tragic decision making and consequences, is going to be just as gruesome and downright gritty as ever. (The gripping opening scenes quickly showed us a handless, blood soaked body of a young man being dumped by his friends in a park!) As ever devoted to her job and career, Berthaud doesn't just have the terrorists to contend with. She herself is at the centre of a continuing internal affairs investigation, after deliberately shooting a brutal serial killer who was taunting her with his next victim: an incident covered up by the majority of her team mates, whilst one of her finest, the reckless and often unstable Gilou (Thierry Godard), frustratingly becomes involved with a group of Egyptian gangsters which will surely lead to no end of conflict and future brutality. Then, on top of all that, there's a slimy and ambitious new police chief, wanting to increase the city's crime clean up rate and soon obsessed with the team and it's reputation, who will surely add sparks to the steaming pressure cooker.

Legal eagles Pierre (Gregory Fitoussi) and Josephine (Audrey Fleurot) reach a crossroads in Season Four.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the justice system, Berthaud's least favourite person, striking red-head defence counsellor Josephine Karlsson (KOOL TV's ever popular Audrey Fleurot) defends one of the suspected anarchists, as well as being unable to escape the world of crime she was previously caught up in, or shake off the needs and personal interest of a fixated Russian gangster, Ousmanov (Anton Yakolev), despite her personable legal partner Pierre Clement (Gregory Fitoussi), also soon caught up in a dark defence case, doing his very best to keep them separate, and his friend safe. In his typically wily manner, embittered magistrate Judge Francois Roban (Philippe Duclos) also returns to the world of courtroom conflict, offering his experience and unique advice to friends and police colleagues, but what set of circumstances will set in motion his agenda against those bitter and antagonistic rivals opposed to him in the upper echelons of power?

It looks like it's going to be a very volatile and engaging Spring for our intense, dedicated Parisian folk...

Spiral / Engrenages - Season 4 - Trailer (Totally Serialized 2013) - YouTube

Official French site: Engrenages - la série TV - Production CANALPLUS.FR

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