Annika - General Discussion

[chitowngirl]

Nicola Walker (Unforgotten, Last Tango in Halifax) stars as DI Annika Strandhed, the speedboat-driving head of Glasgow’s newly-formed Marine Homicide Unit, who juggles baffling cases and a rebellious teenage daughter.

Walker is joined by Jamie Sives (Guilt) as DS Michael McAndrews, Annika’s old colleague; Katie Leung (Harry Potter, Roadkill) as DC Blair Ferguson, the forensic brains behind the unit; and Ukweli Roach (Grantchester) as DS Tyrone Clarke, the new cop at the station.

Premieres Sunday October 16 on PBS

[chitowngirl]

Besides Annika, Miss Scarlett and the Duke and Magpie Murders begin on Sunday night! An embarrassment of mystery riches for us!

[AnimeMania]

[janeta]

The addressing the camera thing is not working for me.

And damn but I'm tired of tv characters' irrelevant teenagers. 

[Redrum]

Oh I kinda adored the addressing the camera. Its so oddly funny. 

[WorldTV]

3 hours ago, janeta said:

The addressing the camera thing is not working for me.

And damn but I'm tired of tv characters' irrelevant teenagers. 

Neutral on the addressing the camera thing, but I totally agree about the irrelevant and angsty teenagers all over TV mysteries.

[Redrum]

I'm hopeful the surly teen stuff was for character introduction aspects and lessons. 

I am going to question the need for a specific Marine Murder Squad but I did like the murder. 

Having watched Unforgotten, I was worried that the character of Annika would be a bit of a rehash but it really seems quite different.

[statsgirl]

I like addressing the camera, there are so many dour mysteries out now this makes this one something different. Otherwise it would be too similar to Traces, although mercifully more understandable than Crime (which I had to give up on because it was too dark and too hard to understand).

I also like the tension with Mike who thought he should have got the job, not her.

Nice use of humour, mistaking her boss' office for her own, information about harpooning, saying that a co-parent would be useful to save a seat for a drama performance.

[sempervivum]

I loved Nicole in Unforgotten, but i'm kind of sick of the 'tortured soul' detectives, so Annika's good humor is refreshing to me.

Hate the teen daughter, though, and I'm not really interested in watching Annika work her way through the various cops in her search for romance, so I hope those are both going to take a backseat to the actual crime-solving.

[Redrum]

16 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

I also like the tension with Mike who thought he should have got the job, not her.

I liked that it was there but that it wasn't straight up "and now I am undermining you" - he was upset but professionally upset, if that makes sense. Not making her every moment difficult.

20 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

Nice use of humour, mistaking her boss' office for her own, information about harpooning, saying that a co-parent would be useful to save a seat for a drama performance.

I liked these moments and the digs about corporate culture , joking about how they have to assume they did the icebreakers and name games that new teams start with. I also liked the jokes about bringing cupcakes and setting the weird licorice out from her pockets. Some of the literary side bars she did were also hilarious. As was Mike joking about whether they were all going to get special team jackets like hers. 

[krankydoodle]

I didn't like the reveal at the end of the last episode and am not looking forward to seeing how that whole situation plays out.

I enjoyed the series as a whole, though, and am always happy to see Paul McGann.

[statsgirl]

3 hours ago, Redrum said:

setting the weird licorice out

I love that licorice but it is definitely is not to everyone's taste. The team's reaction was funny.

[Rickster]

On 10/16/2022 at 10:57 PM, janeta said:

The addressing the camera thing is not working for me.

And damn but I'm tired of tv characters' irrelevant teenagers. 

Agreed, we did not care for talking to the audience, but less negative on the teen. 
Also, maybe because background and introducing characters was going to take up so much time in a first episode, but the case of the week seemed to move very slowly, then suddenly rushed to be resolved at the end of the hour. We thought it was going to be spread over at least two episodes.

Edited October 18, 2022 by Rickster

[dargosmydaddy]

Definitely not what I was expecting based on the promo. I enjoyed it.

I did wonder if maybe Michael wasn't secretly Morgan's father, but Annika getting the promotion over him gives them the (apparently needed?) tension, so hopefully they don't have a past relationship and are just old coworkers.

Edited October 21, 2022 by dargosmydaddy

[Noah Body]

I thought it weird a camera crew was following the detective.  Then realized she was talking to the audience.  At first thought it was a bad idea. But the joke about the harpoon and the person was trying to make a point got me laughing.  So I came around about her talking to the audience.

As for the daughter, yeah another teenager who hates the move, miss her friends, hates new location, blah, blah, blah.  If the daughter didn't want to be in the drama club, then why sign her up?  I would have thought the mother would have asked what type of extra curricular activity she would like rather than choose for her.

[proserpina65]

On 10/17/2022 at 12:06 PM, sempervivum said:

I loved Nicole in Unforgotten, but i'm kind of sick of the 'tortured soul' detectives, so Annika's good humor is refreshing to me.

That's probably the thing I enjoyed the most, that Annika wasn't another angsty detective.  I normally dislike breaking the fourth wall but here it works because it provides an outlet for the character's humor which might not fit so easily into actual interactions with other people.

I could do without the daughter drama, but if she's made a friend, maybe that will be less of a focus going forward.

On 10/17/2022 at 12:09 PM, Redrum said:

On 10/17/2022 at 11:45 AM, statsgirl said:

I also like the tension with Mike who thought he should have got the job, not her.

I liked that it was there but that it wasn't straight up "and now I am undermining you" - he was upset but professionally upset, if that makes sense. Not making her every moment difficult.

I totally agree.  This could've been played a totally different way, with Mike undermining her at every opportunity, and has been done that way on so many other shows.  It's refreshing that his resentment is there but not so much that it's effective how they work together.  I hope it stays that way.

[Ceindreadh]

On 10/17/2022 at 5:06 PM, sempervivum said:

I loved Nicole in Unforgotten, but i'm kind of sick of the 'tortured soul' detectives, so Annika's good humor is refreshing to me.

I do like Nicola Walker but so many of the characters she plays are so glum that it's really nice to see her play happy for once.

Who would have thought that a homicide detective could be her cheeriest character!

[Broderbits]

2 hours ago, Ceindreadh said:

I do like Nicola Walker but so many of the characters she plays are so glum that it's really nice to see her play happy for once.

She had some good moments in The Split, plus a handsome adoring co-worker for an affair and the nicest wardrobe of all her roles.

I'm loving the asides and humor!

[dargosmydaddy]

8 minutes ago, Broderbits said:

She had some good moments in The Split, plus a handsome adoring co-worker for an affair and the nicest wardrobe of all her roles.

Wow, I'm an idiot... I was thinking I hadn't watched Nicola Walker in anything since Touching Evil... It somehow didn't register with me that she was the main character in The Split!

[izabella]

On 10/16/2022 at 9:57 PM, janeta said:

The addressing the camera thing is not working for me.

And damn but I'm tired of tv characters' irrelevant teenagers. 

Same here.  Every time she addresses the camera, I'm taken out of the scene.  I have a feeling that's not going to wear well with me. 

I do love that Nicola has a sense of humor and is cheerful in this show. 

[gesundheit]

My reaction journey watching that first episode was almost identical to everything said in this discussion, so I have little to add! Buuuut...

On 10/16/2022 at 10:57 PM, janeta said:

The addressing the camera thing is not working for me.

And damn but I'm tired of tv characters' irrelevant teenagers. 

100% on both. I'm going to wait on the direct address and give it a chance. It took me a while to really see/believe(!) that this character was fun, so I think now that I really get that lovely surprise, I might be able to adjust to the direct address. As for the teenager, I pray that her disgruntledness was just a premiere-episode arc and the rest will be more like the playful banter she and her mother had at the end of the episode moving forward. 

On 10/17/2022 at 12:53 PM, krankydoodle said:

I didn't like the reveal at the end of the last episode and am not looking forward to seeing how that whole situation plays out.

Wait, what was the reveal at the end of the episode? I don't remember one.

I didn't read up at all on what to expect so imagine my surprise that they just went ahead and solved the crimes instead of it being a season-long mystery! That was surprising.

[krankydoodle]

On 10/22/2022 at 4:47 PM, gesundheit said:

Wait, what was the reveal at the end of the episode? I don't remember one.

Spoiler

That Michael is Silvie's father but neither one knows it.

Edited October 23, 2022 by krankydoodle
Moved season finale reveal under spoiler tag.

[gesundheit]

11 minutes ago, krankydoodle said:

That Michael is Silvie's father but neither one knows it.

Wow, literally just finished it, rewatched the end, and still didn't catch that. Oops! Guess my attention span ain't what it used to be.

[Redrum]

Didn't catch that either, msy pull up the old pbs passport and rewatch.

[dargosmydaddy]

19 hours ago, krankydoodle said:

That Michael is Silvie's father but neither one knows it.

OK, I'm lost... who is Silvie?

[Redrum]

23 hours ago, krankydoodle said:

That Michael is Silvie's father but neither one knows it.

Ok I rewatched and I didn't see anything that suggested Michael is Sylvie's father. What am I missing?

[krankydoodle]

Oops, sorry Silvie is the actor's name. She plays Annika's daughter Morgan.

Spoiler

In the last scene, Annika and Michael are talking while the rest of the group including Morgan are sitting at a nearby table. Michael says something like he's sorry they fought about his brother, Annika says they've gotten through worse, then he says they can't do what they used to do to get past fights and she laughingly agrees. He asks if Morgan ever talks to her father and Annika says no, then changes the subject. Michael takes the food over to Morgan, says something to her, and Annika turns to the camera and says, "She's talking to him now."

That was my take on it anyway.

Edited October 23, 2022 by krankydoodle
Moved season finale reveal under spoiler tag.

[dargosmydaddy]

Spoiler

Gah, so I was right. Hoping they weren't going to go there with Michael. Very predictable.

Also, I'm assuming you're talking about the last scene of the series, not the last scene of the first episode (which is what most of us are on right now), hence some of the confusion...

Edited October 23, 2022 by dargosmydaddy

[Ceindreadh]

52 minutes ago, krankydoodle said:

Oops, sorry Silvie is the actor's name. She plays Annika's daughter Morgan.

In the last scene, Annika and Michael are talking while the rest of the group including Morgan are sitting at a nearby table. Michael says something like he's sorry they fought about his brother, Annika says they've gotten through worse, then he says they can't do what they used to do to get past fights and she laughingly agrees. He asks if Morgan ever talks to her father and Annika says no, then changes the subject. Michael takes the food over to Morgan, says something to her, and Annika turns to the camera and says, "She's talking to him now."

That was my take on it anyway.

That was my read on it as well.

Spoiler

Especially given an earlier comment by Annika about how she and Michael don't have the same way of letting off tension between them that they used to have.  I took that to mean that she and Michael had previously been sleeping together, but now that he was married, that wasn't an option.  And that's when I wondered if they were going to go with a 'he's the daddy' reveal. 

Edited October 23, 2022 by Ceindreadh
Spoiler tags added because I hadn't realised that this was being aired one episode at a time in the USA, rather than dropping all at once.

[krankydoodle]

10 minutes ago, dargosmydaddy said:

Also, I'm assuming you're talking about the last scene of the series, not the last scene of the first episode (which is what most of us are on right now), hence some of the confusion...

Oh no, sorry! I watched through my PBS subscription on Amazon and didn't realize the finale hadn't aired on tv yet. I'll go back and hide my posts under spoiler tags. Sorry, everyone!

Edited October 23, 2022 by krankydoodle

[Redrum]

This makes more sense since I haven't watched the final episode.

However, I dunno about anyone else but the ONLY reason I haven't watched the final episode is because Sunday is my PBS night and I am trying to savor this. IF you are a sustaining member of PBS, you can access Passport and at least in my area (the southwest US) all episodes of the first season of Annika are currently available.

[sas616]

On 10/21/2022 at 5:09 PM, izabella said:

On 10/16/2022 at 10:57 PM, janeta said:

The addressing the camera thing is not working for me.

And damn but I'm tired of tv characters' irrelevant teenagers. 

Agree.    Guess it's supposed to add some humor and insight to the character's thoughts.  But it seemed overdone.  They're doing the same thing in "The Serpent Queen" on Starz and I don't like it there either.

[Redrum]

After watching episode two, I have some "ignorant American" questions. 

Annika is Norwegian or Scandanavian by birth (I know Scandanavia isn't a country per se, not that ignorant of an American) but could her parents simply leave her in Scotland at fifteen?

Wouldn't a boat blowing up be a big deal in Scotland because it could be terrorism?

Is it really that shocking that a teenager was drinking? I thought people were less prudish about alcohol.

Isn't it really unprofessional for Annika to haul her teen daughter along on a case?

I admit though, I died laughing when Annika drank from the kid's bottle of vodka and then bitched that it needed a mixer. 

[zoey1996]

This show is so interesting to me. Unlike so many procedurals, I'm not able to predict what's next, and I like that I can't.

I was amused when Annika is talking to Morgan about where she's getting the liquor, and Morgan just walks over and opens the liquor cabinet.

[statsgirl]

"This is sicht rock." "It doesn't look so bad to me." "It's puns like that that may have got him stabbed." (paraphrased)

I really like the humour on this show. Annika offering to find out who is selling alcohol to minors and Morgan pointing out that it came from her stash, Annika saying that if anyone needs a drink it's her and then saying she wished Morgan had added a mixer, Diane asking Michael if he wants her to tell Annika that he missed her. Annika and Tyrone arguing which of them is Bogart, Blair saying that now that Morgan is risking her life she should be burned at the stake.  I'm tired of dark like Wallander, I want to have fun with my viewing.

I'm still not big on Morgan but taking vodka to school to rinse out her mouth so the student beside her doesn't get an anaphylaxis reaction is something that my daughter would have done at that age.

Of the three mysteries on my PBS station on Sunday night (Miss Scarlet and the Duke, Magpie Murder, Annika) this is my favourite.

1 hour ago, Redrum said:

Is it really that shocking that a teenager was drinking? I thought people were less prudish about alcohol.

Taking a water bottle filled with pure vodka to school would send up danger signals if it were anyone, teenager or adult.

[Redrum]

54 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

Taking a water bottle filled with pure vodka to school would send up danger signals if it were anyone, teenager or adult.

<looks sheepish> It was kind of normal at my school....

Honestly I have to agree that of the three Masterpiece Mysteries airing, Annika is by far the winner, but Magpie Murder grew on me with the fictional detective giving the book editor tips.  Miss Scarlet and the Duke is just.... trying too hard. Annika is fun though. And so far, no dark long term story undercutting everything. I get so tired of the "and by the way, each episode will have a clue or connection to the psychopath who will be committing murders and stalking our team the entire season" thing. Not that I am watching reruns of Criminal Minds right now.

[cardigirl]

On 10/19/2022 at 10:04 AM, Noah Body said:

I thought it weird a camera crew was following the detective.  Then realized she was talking to the audience.  At first thought it was a bad idea. But the joke about the harpoon and the person was trying to make a point got me laughing.  So I came around about her talking to the audience.

And much of her sharing was about Moby-Dick so that was icing on the cake for me! 🐳 Love her way of referencing the book. 

(I've only seen the first episode, so far.) 

Edited October 24, 2022 by cardigirl

[J-Man]

Admittedly I don't know much about Scotland, but it seems unlikely that the location where Annika and her daughter live is large and important enough to have a police station and lots of other amenities (like the place where they gave the press conference) but no school?

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

Enjoyed the second episode much more than the first. Anyone else notice the video looks like it's shot at a faster rate(60fps)? looks more soap opera like?

[statsgirl]

13 hours ago, J-Man said:

Admittedly I don't know much about Scotland, but it seems unlikely that the location where Annika and her daughter live is large and important enough to have a police station and lots of other amenities (like the place where they gave the press conference) but no school?

Annika is based in Glasgow, Scotland's most populous city (635,000 last census) and the UK's fourth largest. Morgan is in school but got into trouble for bringing alcohol in.

The second episode they travelled to Bute which has a population of about 6,000. Bute has a school too as it was the teacher who was killed.

[J-Man]

48 minutes ago, statsgirl said:

Annika is based in Glasgow, Scotland's most populous city (635,000 last census) and the UK's fourth largest. Morgan is in school but got into trouble for bringing alcohol in.

The second episode they travelled to Bute which has a population of about 6,000. Bute has a school too as it was the teacher who was killed.

OK--what I'm confused about is this: If it's set in a major city like Glasgow, why (in the first episode) is the daughter traveling to school by boat? Are there no schools near where they live that can be reached on land? Or am I misinterpreting something?

Edited October 25, 2022 by J-Man

[proserpina65]

23 hours ago, Redrum said:

I admit though, I died laughing when Annika drank from the kid's bottle of vodka and then bitched that it needed a mixer. 

I loved that line.

21 hours ago, Redrum said:

<looks sheepish> It was kind of normal at my school....

When I was in school, we drank at home or at friends' houses but we didn't take it to school.  We did, however, have an officially sanctioned smoking lounge at school.

47 minutes ago, J-Man said:

OK--what I'm confused about is this: If it's set in a major city like Glasgow, why (in the first episode) is the daughter traveling to school by boat? Are there no schools near where they live that can be reached on land? Or am I misinterpreting something?

My take was that it isn't set in Glasgow itself, but in one of the surrounding areas on the Clyde river.  I could be wrong about that, though.  Not sure why that particular school, but that might get more explanation later.

[Daff]

How many watching on PBS are seeing the short “extras” at the end of each episode? Quite a bit is explained, especially by the producers. It explained a lot simply to know that this is a newly formed unit that’s sole purpose is to investigate water deaths. I’m enjoying this, and am happy to see Walker in a role where she’s not constantly tormented. She seems to have her daughter’s situation under control-aware of the difficulties, supportive, but not controlling. And the daughter is more mature, and willing to listen and consider suggestions. Funniest line in the second episode, “What are you going to do?  Jump on the wing?” 

[gesundheit]

On 10/24/2022 at 10:27 PM, One4Sorrow2TooBad said:

Enjoyed the second episode much more than the first. Anyone else notice the video looks like it's shot at a faster rate(60fps)? looks more soap opera like?

Yes. I tried to adjust the motion smoothing to no avail. But not every scene is like that? It's odd.

[One4Sorrow2TooBad]

You are right, not every scene is so noticable with the look. I've noticed the same issue on other series like Morse , Lewis,possibly other BBC series?  Just figured maybe it wasa shot on videotape or digital recorded??

[buckboard]

Annika's marine unit handles deaths on the water over a large area of Scotland, so they are in many locations, not specifically Glasgow.  (Although Glasgow is also on the water.)   The Isle of Bute (episode 2), for example, is about 44 miles from Glasgow.    

This link describes locations where they shot the episodes.  It may contain spoilers for those of us who have only seen the first two episodes.
https://findthatlocation.com/blog/annika-filming-locations-the-clyde-in-the-spotlight

[Rickster]

Did they explain how the killer had the knowledge to know how to wire the boat to explode? Maybe I missed something, but it wouldn’t have seemed to fit with their background. Also seemed a bit of a leap to connect the dots between the various suspects at the end.

Glad the daughter had a tie in to the case this week, but I’d prefer to see a lot less of her and more of the case of the week.

[janeta]

-groan- Alright enough of the damn daughter already. What happened to the girl from the dance class? 

Spoiler

. (Unfortunately the shrink is in a few more episodes.)

I swear I was paying attention but I found the motive for this crime very hard to follow.  Sounds like the victim was just a bastard and it was down to who *didn't* want to kill him. 

Edited October 31, 2022 by janeta

[statsgirl]

16 hours ago, janeta said:

I found the motive for this crime very hard to follow.  Sounds like the victim was just a bastard and it was down to who *didn't* want to kill him. 

That's about it.

Spoiler

The father just snapped and killed him because he refused to stop draining the trust fund of his disabled son.

I don't get why they didn't just take Morgan Murdo off as the trustee since he was clearly abusing his position.

I liked Sandy, the son.  I also like all the bits of trivia I'm getting from the show. Never knew that about Ibsen.

I understand trying to humanize Annika through her daughter but a little goes a long way and I'm really not looking forward to meeting her parents. I did identify with her confusion about Morgan sending photos of herself to Blair and her conflicted feelings about therapy for Morgan (lol at 'there's no picture of Freud, that's a good sign').

Edited October 31, 2022 by statsgirl
@Driad pointed out that I had the name wrong.

[sempervivum]

I have to admit, I'm distracted from the plot by my lust for the gorgeous wool sweaters everyone is wearing on this show.