Van Der Valk - General Discussion

[ceecee]

On 9/23/2024 at 12:49 PM, dleighg said:

can someone remind me how they got back together? I always have trouble remembering past seasons, but last I remember he was getting all romantic and she told him she was engaged to someone else. Clearly I'm missing a big part of the story.

The start of the next season found her no longer engaged and interested in getting back together with Piet. It took the whole season for her to wear him down.😂 Things look more chill with them this year, which will be a relief. Unlike some, I do like them together but we'll see how it goes!

[dleighg]

49 minutes ago, ceecee said:

The start of the next season found her no longer engaged and interested in getting back together with Piet.

I actually watched the season but somehow blocked that whole "relationship arc" out LOL.

[sempervivum]

Uh, the pathologist now plays a saxophone in the morgue? I don't find this series very gripping, so maybe i missed this 'character development' in past episodes? I suppose it was meant to be poignant or something, but it made me snort.

[dubbel zout]

Hendrik played the sax in the morgue in the very first episodes.

I hate how he's being a jerk about not telling anyone he's sick. He doesn't have to, but then don't be an asshole because no one knows. Ugh. It's such a stupid trope. And of course emotionally frozen Piet won't ask what's going on. 

A lot of what I dislike about the show was in this episode, heh.

[12catcrazy]

I don't have any thoughts on the current crime the team is trying to solve, but by Piet's reaction to Lucienne's pulling his leg about wanting him to be her baby daddy, I think that Lena will be giving him some unwelcome news.   This show will probably go there because Piet is totally emotionally constipated and is obviously married to his job.  The last guy a savvy woman would peg as husband/daddy material, but we've seen that Lena won't give up.  We'll have lots of drama and angst and teeth gnashing and the usual trope of the pregnant SO in danger - hopefully, I'm wrong, but it seems the show is already telegraphing Piet and fatherhood.  

[sempervivum]

18 hours ago, 12catcrazy said:

it seems the show is already telegraphing Piet and fatherhood.  

Yeah, we'll see him 'fall in love' with a baby the same way he did with the dog. Ugh.

[dubbel zout]

More baby anvils for Piet. Please, NO.

I didn't like the resolution of this case at all. A woman unhinged by lurve? Way to fall back on a very tired cliché, Show. 

Another very tired cliché: The character—usually a man—who refuses to see a doctor for his serious illness. Yes, cancer and its treatment can really suck, but does Hendrik expect to be able to treat himself? Probably, given his general arrogance. He may be the expert on the dead, but he's still living.

None of this gives Piet the right to have his girlfriend ask the doctor if Hendrik had seen him. I don't know what the HIPAA equivalent is for the Netherlands, but at a minimum there has to be doctor-patient confidentiality, and that guy blew right past it.

I'm not sure I want to keep watching this show. There are only two more episodes for this season, but the two cases we've seen have been deeply unsatisfactory for me for a lot of reasons.

[sempervivum]

50 minutes ago, dubbel zout said:

I didn't like the resolution of this case at all. A woman unhinged by lurve? Way to fall back on a very tired cliché, Show. 

Agree. Plus the poorly-acted unhinged daughter and the heavy-handed 'symbolism' with the caged bird. 

[LisaM]

On 10/7/2024 at 12:01 PM, sempervivum said:

Agree. Plus the poorly-acted unhinged daughter and the heavy-handed 'symbolism' with the caged bird. 

Agree. I did not like this two-parter at all. Bored. The unhinged daughter was a turnoff and I called the killer very quickly. 

[sempervivum]

So will the cancer cure that 'Freddy Klink' bought and squirrelled away end up somehow saving Hendrik, or will it just push him into finally getting treatment?

These tough, high-powered detectives sure are lousy shots.

[dubbel zout]

HAAAAATED the partner throwing things and screaming at Piet and Lucienne. Why is this show so awful to women?

And the ex-girlfriend is back and Piet is still an infant with her. UGH.

[Broderbits]

3 hours ago, sempervivum said:

These tough, high-powered detectives sure are lousy shots.

Lucienne getting knocked over by the door "unexpectedly" opening and dropping her gun was ridiculous. The two of them totally botching the operation and then standing around congratulating themselves for not getting hurt was also ridiculous. What about the poor guy at the piano with a bullet in his head!

I did enjoy the sniping at Not Musk though.

Edited October 14 by Broderbits
added more

[Dowel Jones]

On 10/14/2024 at 12:39 PM, Broderbits said:

I did enjoy the sniping at Not Musk though.

Calling him "Colonel" would have been a nice snark, too.

[dubbel zout]

On 10/14/2024 at 3:39 PM, Broderbits said:

I did enjoy the sniping at Not Musk though.

Low-hanging fruit, IMO, and the sniping wasn't even clever.

[alias1]

I don't know.  Except for the Hendrik storyline, I found this two-parter pretty boring.  And what's with all the screen time for the ex?

[dubbel zout]

7 minutes ago, alias1 said:

And what's with all the screen time for the ex?

Because she is obviously the mother of Piet's child that he doesn't know about. 

This story also had a killer who was unhinged by lurve, but at least it wasn't as clichéd as the woman in the last story. It was still a thud of a denouement for me.

[12catcrazy]

I got a laugh from the attempt to force Hendrik into being examined, even though it was illegal as hell.  You'd think that Lena would have also given him some kind of sedative, although maybe it would have been dangerous with all of the booze he had been drinking. 

So the hit woman was working with the murdered scientist's loser addict son?  How sorry was that, to deprive the world of a lifesaving treatment all due to some kind of revenge.   And the back and forth between Piet and the ex is annoying as hell, and I guess that we'll be stuck with her as with the baby stuff being dropped and her sly answer to Lucienne, we're to assume that she is a baby mama with Piet being the daddy.  Double ugh.   I would've rather seen Lena announce that she was preggers than be stuck with this obnoxious former girlfriend.  

This is turning into a show that I might not want to revisit in the future.  

[magdalene]

Smiles. Am I the only one who likes this show and wants another season?

[alias1]

On 10/22/2024 at 1:31 AM, magdalene said:

Smiles. Am I the only one who likes this show and wants another season?

I like the show and hope it continues.  I like the characters, but the last two parter was just not that interesting.  And if they are heading for a Piet baby daddy story line (and it seems like they are) I will not be happy.  Nor would I be happy if Lena became pregnant. Please show, don't go there.

[LennieBriscoe]

I like the show, but not so much this season. I think I watch mainly to see Amsterdam!