Another Shipment
Hospital Treatment
After the stabbing incident, episode 2 of Young Wallander begins with a weakened Wallander waking up in the hospital. He immediately phones Reza and leaves a message, telling him about the man in the black hood. Unfortunately he hasn’t received that message as he too is in intensive care. It’s a grim start to the case following the anti-immigration riots. At the station, Wallander’s forced to give the details over what happened to Hemberg. With Ibra refusing to talk, Wallander is their best shot given his access to the neighbourhood. It’s here he gets his first taste of police corruption, reminded that whatever he says will conveniently come up short. Not long after, Wallander returns to the scene of the crime alone. There, he heads inside the church being used to house refugees. As fate would have it, he finds the girl who berated him at the rally. Getting nowhere with Mona, his oozing wound is enough to bring her around and help patch him up.
The Cube
The next day, Hemberg and Wallander head out together. With no leads to follow, the pair turn their attention to the parents. The pair are less than helpful, to say the least. Struggling to hide his visible pain from the knife wound, Wallander eventually manages to see Hugo’s room. Despite not getting many answers, they do learn that Hugo snuck out that night. This brings them to his friend Isak. This boy was also a football enthusiast and currently at football training. Isak is sketchy – to say the least – but does confirm that Hugo didn’t know Ibra. A cube tattoo on his wrist certainly draws Wallander’s attention, especially given this relates to the nightclub of the same name.
Bala Chaara Nishta
At hospital, Wallander is forced to explain himself to Jasmine. Teary eyed, he apologises to her for what happened to Reza. As she walks away, Kurt does manage to get his note translated. “Bala Chaara Nishta” actually translates to “no choice”. Now we’re getting somewhere. Next up in the station is Miriam, who’s interviewed over her movements that night. While the police can’t confirm exactly what happened, her slip-up does confirm that Ibra is hiding something. Hemberg and Wallander head back out, this time to a power plant. There, they meet the commissioner. It turns out the grenade may well be linked to the import/export business. As they soon learn, the grenade was part of a big shipment coming in. Even more alarming, there’s another boat coming into Malmo – this time in the form of C4. If the wrong people get their hands on this, it’s going to cause a pretty massive explosion. With this intel hanging over them, Wallander is briefed by Rask over the name of Dodovic. This guy has been on their radar for a while but he’s always slipped through their fingers.
The Drug Deal
On their way to meet Dodovic and “ruffle some feathers”, Hemberg and Wallander learn that Hugo had ketamine and GHB in his system. The latter was a pretty hefty amount too – enough to knock him out. If he bought it at The Cube, that could be what led to his demise. Wallander dives into the nightclub head-first in a bid to try and find a dealer that could be the ticket to all of this. While looking around he finds Bash and the two talk. Wallander pleads with him to speak to the police and admit that Ibra was with him. When he refuses to budge, Wallander threatens Bash and tells him that if Ibra goes down – he will too. Unfortunately on his way out, the bouncers hold the door shut and beat him down on the back of him asking for drugs.
The Episode Review
As the investigation deepens, the series also flexes its aesthetic muscle too. The cinematography inside the nightclub is really well shot, with lots of neat little dutch angles and swinging cameras. The various different suspects are a nice touch and it appears now that this runs a lot deeper than a simple hate crime. Hugo’s family are certainly looking really shady right now and as a hunch, it appears the church may well be linked too. We’ll have to wait and see what happens next but if you can look past the English, Young Wallander is shaping up to be a pretty serviceable crime drama.
