In America these days, if you want to find a TV drama series that’s not all about heroic cops, firefighters, or doctors, the pickings are pretty slim. Law & Order, the original, is one, and The Irrational can make the grade, and the demise of Alaska Daily is truly lamentable. But if you really want to experience a first-rate drama series, you mostly have to tune to PBS.
The Hotel Portofino, The Seaside Hotel, and All Creatures Great and Small, to name a few, are all well written, well cast, with fine acting. But to this viewer’s mind the very best drama series is the French program Astrid et Raphaëlle.
True, it’s a detective show, but one that’s so atypical and fresh. It’s also true that it’s a buddy premise about an odd couple who together make a formidable team. But this is a buddy pairing that you’ve never seen before. And I doubt it would have been made in the US because the underlying plot is so unusual.
Astrid Nielsen, for whom the program is named in the US distribution, is a genius, and is also autistic. Raphaëlle Coste is a skilled and mostly fearless detective who will buck the rules and can be impulsive. When she meets Astrid working in the criminal records bureau during the course of an investigation, she recognizes Astrid’s unique and amazing abilities.
While each episode features an imaginative and puzzling crime that must be solved, the character development of the main characters and their deepening friendship, which leads Astrid to gradually gain more and more skill and confidence as she navigates the “neurotypical” world is an unfolding delight.
I dare you to watch Astrid and not fall in love with the characters, the superb writing, and acting.
In the coming weeks, I’ll post the verse I’ve written in homage to this wonderful experience.
