Bloodlands series 2 review, Culture Whisper
This review contains spoilers for Bloodlands series one.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why and where the BBC detective drama Bloodlands falls apart. The adequate components of this Northern Ireland-based series – exec-produced by Jed Mercurio and starring James Nesbitt – should work together to result in a broadly entertaining experience. You have a gruff DCI, a fractured community, an underseen context, and a violent past that spills into the present.
This year, The Troubles have featured a decent amount on screen: in Kenneth Branagh’s nostalgically poetic Belfast and the warm conclusion to Lisa McKee’s 90s comedy Derry Girls. In the case of Chris Brandon’s Bloodlands, the bulk of the action takes place in the modern day. The collective trauma from the conflict hangs heavy on the residents, especially on the cracked face of DCI Tom Brannick (Nesbitt).
But despite the intrigue of the setting, the series still fails as a drab and dreary procedural – stuffed with enough noir-y clichés to dissolve the severity of the past.
