The body of a young mother washes up on the shoreline of an idyllic coastal town in northeastern Denmark – her child missing and a suspect on the run.
It could easily be the beginnings of any number of murder mysteries, were it not for the fascinating interpersonal relationships that lie at the centre of The Sommerdahl Murders – the long running Danish crime drama about the intersecting lives of a married couple and one of their closest friends and colleagues.
Detective Chief inspector Dan Sommerdahl (Peter Mygind) works with the Helsingør crime unit, solving all manner of local cases from missing persons to murder plots and everything in between. Working alongside him are long-time partner and friend Flemming Torp (André Babikian) and Dan’s wife Marianne (Laura Drasbæk), who heads up the department's forensic unit.
Peter Mygind as Dan Sommerdahl and André Babikian as Flemming Torp, on the job. Credit: Henrik Petit
The series opens with Dan and Marianne celebrating their 25-year silver anniversary at their quaint seaside home, surrounded by friends and family – which includes their now grown-up daughter Laura (Laura Kronborg Kjær). The festivities are short-lived however when Dan receives an all-too-familiar phone call, signalling him away from the festivities to a fresh crime scene and leaving his wife to celebrate alone. This is our first indication of the choppy waters that lie ahead in The Sommerdahl Murders, not only for the central couple but also the friendship Dan shares with Flemming, which will be tested in more ways than one in the seasons ahead.
Stillfoto fra tv-serien Sommerdahl V. . Foto: Credit: Henrik Petit
As Dan’s marriage hits the rocks and Marianne’s affections for Flemming begin to blossom, the lines between the personal and professional continue to blur as this complex love triangle takes flight.
It’s refreshing to see this kind of openness when it comes to portrayals of relationships within the workplace on our screens. As Marianne and Dan are forced to share their private issues in a very public way, it gives the drama an added layer of friction, as they work through their feelings in what could be described as an alternate form of couple’s crime therapy.
Questioning murder suspects isn’t nearly as challenging as communicating with your spouse, it seems.
And whenever the marital mishaps threaten to overwhelm, there is always another murder mystery waiting to be solved – with recurring themes of gender and coercive control emerging in some of the cases Dan, Flemming and Marianne take on. A major plot in the show's first bracket of episodes involves female immigrants seeking asylum within the borders of Denmark and those who would seek to exploit the circumstances to their advantage, echoing the power imbalances that can exist when women fight for even the most basic of freedoms. This is a cause that somewhat echoes the struggle of Marianne, who in her own way feels like a prisoner to a life she chose long ago.
While Dan’s instincts on the job are highly regarded, his ability to answer his wife’s needs aren't nearly as well attuned. Questioning murder suspects isn’t nearly as challenging as communicating with your spouse, it seems. These scenes of intimacy and honesty play yet another pivotal role in setting The Sommerdahl Murders apart from other whodunnits.
Peter Mygind as Dan Sommerdahl. Credit: Henrik Petit
With the series entering its sixth season this year, The Sommerdahl Murders has clearly found a formula that works. So long as there are crimes to be solved and relationships to sort out in this little pocket of Danish paradise, viewers are happy to keep visiting.
Seasons 1-5 of The Sommerdah Murders are streaming at SBS On Demand.
