User Reviews

When Kurt goes to a cello recital he doesn't think that when it is over he will end up rescuing the cellist from a burning car once it is over but then he doesn't know that she is meant to be in police protection after witnessing the son of a Russian Mafia boss kill her conductor boyfriend. As she is already involved with the police in Malmö it looks like their police might try to take over the case but Kurt manages to keep the case and ends up partnered with an officer from Malmö. Even though there is an officer on guard outside her hospital room there is another attempt on the cellist's life which she narrowly escapes. Fearing another attack the police move her out of the hospital although the Mafia manage to find where she is being kept leading to a dramatic finale.

This episode had plenty of thrills including explosions, attempted poisoning and shootings. While there is little mystery about who is behind the killings the real mystery is about why the son of a Mafia boss would personally kill a conductor. The action was well handled and right up until the end I was unsure about whether or not the Mafia would kill the witness before the police could get to them.

As the episode starts, we find a couple in bed. A door bell rings and the man goes to see who is outside. As he looks through the peep hole, someone outside shoots him.

Kurt Wallander is seen in the audience, attending a concert by a Russian cellist. She is the woman at the beginning of the story. At the end of the performance, as people are applauding, a man tries to get out by squeezing past where Kurt has been sitting. He is carrying his overcoat in his arm and a wallet falls. Noticing it on the floor, Wallander picks it up and goes after the man. The wallet will be important later on in the story.

Outside the concert hall, Kurt is getting ready to leave. Seeing Irina, the cellist, go by he thanks her for her interpretation. As the woman tries to start the car, it explodes. Kurt rushes to the spot and pulls her out of the burning car. She has burns in her hands and he gets burned after his attempt to rescue her.

Unknown to the police, the assassin of Irina's boyfriend is Yuri, a notorious Russian mafioso, whose father is the notorious Leb Munchin. Yuri was caught and now awaits trial and Irina will be instrumental in sending him to prison for quite a while. It will take the cooperation of the Ystad police with special agent Jens Riis to solve this mystery in which the blood thirsty Russians will do everything to get to Irina first so that Yuri can be spared of a long sentence in jail.

Stepahn Apelgren and Lars Lundstrom wrote the screenplay based on the material by Henning Mankell. Mr. Apelgren directed. The episode is one of the bloodiest in the "Wallander" series. The Russians prove to be criminals that will stop at nothing to get what they want. Good performances by Krister Henriksson, Lena Endre and the excellent Magnus Roosmann.