Review of Afrikanen

Wallander: Afrikanen (2005)
Season 1, Episode 5
7/10
The African
6 May 2010
Warning: Spoilers
When the story begins, we watch a deserted rail yard where a man is running away from being shot down. Unfortunately, he cannot avoid his death. The body turns in Poland the following morning. The initial thinking points to a possible suicide, but when Nyberg finds blood on some stones in the area, the police believe it is a homicide. The dead man is a black African with Dutch citizenship. He was staying in Ystad, although no one seems to know anything about him.

Wallander, who has been taking time off, gets involved in the investigation. Linda, his daughter, discovers the dead man's belongings stored at a local hotel. The woman in charge of the unclaimed items acts as though she knows Stefan, who accompanied Linda to canvas the hotel. As it turns out Stefan had a sexual encounter with the attractive woman, something that does not sit well with Linda.

Kurt, who has been looking at houses in his area, goes to one that belongs to Kenneth Nilsson, an old friend of Wallander. This man, as it turns out, is running for a seat in the upcoming elections. His wife is an enigmatic figure. She seems to be a highly ambitious lady.

Stockholm has sent a high officer, Farzan Keyhan, to work with Ystad on the murder because of its racial and political overtones. Kurt, and Ann-Britt, who is acting as police chief, immediately take a dislike to the man. Keyhan has come to solve the case and finds an easy conclusion, but he never reveals how really involved he is with the Nilsson's election ambitions.

Another good episode of the series. This one was directed by Stefan Apelgren, who also helped with the screenplay. Krister Henriksson, who plays Wallander does a fine job, as usual. An intense Johanna Sallstrom is seen as Linda. Ola Rapace appears as Stefan.
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