Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Marc Warren, Maimie McCoy, Darrell D’Silva, Emma Fielding, Azan Ahmed, Django Chan-Reeves, Daisy Badger, Lu Corfield, Aden Gillett, Simon Gregor, Jaye Griffiths, Rasmus Hardiker, Bart van den Donker, Alwin Pulinckx, Tara Hetharia, Zoë, Love Smith, Sol Vinken, Loes Haverkort, Peter van Heerlingen, Mike Libanon.
Each one of us has done something terrible in our lives, committed an act that has caused another person distress, has made perhaps a loved one think badly of our actions, and we have in return either sought out forgiveness or taken on board the anger and allowed it to define us, to be that which we have been labelled, even if it transpires that we were in the end innocent of the charge.
It is the ownership of the charge, of seeing yourself as the one to have caused wrong when you were blameless, that could define you for the rest of your life. People will always point the finger, talk about you behind your back. They will go out of their way to pound your name into the ground, and when the truth is revealed, they will deny your restored good name and keep on mentioning your ‘untrustworthiness’, and all in the name of disrespect.
Redemption In Amsterdam sees Piet van der Valk seek his own salvation for his inability to prove a woman was innocent of arson and the death of her two brothers, despite public opinion, his boss’ viewpoint, and certain evidence and confessions all maintain that Jasmijn Brahm/Lauren Teuling was guilty then and could be guilty of a further two murders twenty years on.
Chris Murray’s script is pathos extraordinaire, it does not shy away from the suffering caused, nor does it rejoice in a person freed from their demons, instead it walks a fine line that witnesses tragedy as an extension of living, that the mistakes we make are born from jealousy, from anger, and from circumstance.
It is with this, and against the backdrop of lies told to pacify our soul, that Daisy Badger in the role of the once and former suspected arsonist/killer Jasmijn Brahm/Lauren Teuling stands out with a sense of completeness, of owning the sorrow, whilst even in the overwhelming evidence that comes to light, still holding onto the notion that she is unforgivable. It is a remarkable piece of acting that brings the otherwise perfect Marc Warren and Maimie McCoy combination to that of the sidelined support. This is not a ruinous state of affairs, just a highlighted belief and joy that another actor can truly be cheered when in the company of television greats.
Van Der Valk’s second episode of its third series is compulsive, the lies told with ease are defended by actions which makes the truth harder to understand. A terrific sense of creation in any drama series, but which Van Der Valk truly honours.
Ian D. Hall