Peter Madsen was a modern day Raskolnikov (but without the subsequent remorse), who build a submarine and killed a woman in it, it seems just to demonstrate that he could. 'The Investigation' dramatises the police investigation that put together the evidence to secure his conviction. As the series presents it, the standard of proof required by the Danish legal system was very high, but the story of how it was met doesn't necessarily make for great drama. We see two types of investigators in this tale; those who willingly sacrifice their private lives to get the job done, and those who moan endlessly about having to do so at the behest of the others. What we don't see are any courtroom scenes, or even any interviews with the accused. Perhaps the writers didn't want to glamourise him, but it's an odd choice, instead we are repeatedly told he has said something off camera which is both demonstrably false but which will nonetheless be of no help in convicting him. Our heroes are thus left fighting an invisible adversary, and one who, though utterly monstrous, might have been more interesting to watch than our ordinary middle class protagonists. Usually I dislike murder stories that emphasise the evil of the killer; but without first-hand representation of Madsen's personality, 'The Investigation' can only tell us half the story.
Review of The Investigation
