Review: Rebecka Martinsson, season 2

Sascha Zacharias in Rebecka Martinsson

Rebecka Martinsson, the Swedish prosecutor with a troubled past, is back for a second series with a new actor in the lead role and 8 new episodes of mystery and life above the Arctic Circle.

Rebecka Martinsson, season 2, remains similar in many ways to the first season. The exception is that Rebecka is played by Sascha Zacharias. The change in lead actress gave the entire series a less edgy tone. When Ida Engvoll had the part, Rebecka was more mysterious and troubled, more animated, and more charismatic. Sascha Zacharias had some big shoes to fill.

Thomas Oredsson, Eva Melander and Sascha Zacharias in Rebecka Martinsson
Sven-Erik, Anna Maria, and Rebecka investigating crime

Otherwise, the series stayed much the same. It is based on stories by Åsa Larsson. Rebecka was living in Kurravaara. She was prosecutor on the team of police officers including Sven-Erik (Thomas Oredsson), Anna Maria (Eva Melander), and Tommy (Ardalan Esmaili).

Sascha Zacharias and Lars Lind in Rebecka Martinsson
Rebecka loved Sivving as if he were her family

Rebecka still lived in her grandmother’s house next to her grandfatherly neighbor Sivving (Lars Lind).

Sascha Zacharias and Jakob Öhrman in Rebecka Martinsson
Krister has to save Rebecka again!

No matter how hard Rebecka and Krister (Jakob Öhrman) tried, they couldn’t stay away from each other. Krister even had a steady girlfriend named Elin (Tove Edfeldt) as a shield between them. It didn’t work well, and Elin knew it.

Season 2 was separated into 4 crimes, each with two episodes.

Reindeer Boy

These two episodes dealt with theft, murder, and intimidation within a Sami family who lived by herding reindeer. Various members of the family were cheating others. Buildings were burned, dogs were shot, and reindeer went missing.

These two episodes were shot in the summer when everything was green and lush.

Foundations

A body was found under a building being demolished. It was a girl who had disappeared years ago. Thomas Oredsson as Sven-Erik got to take the lead in these episodes. He investigated the case 16 years ago when the girl went missing. He was sure he knew who the killer was and he meant to prove it.

The Lie

Eva Melander and Sascha Zacharias in Rebecka Martinsson
Having teenagers is full of drama

Drugs, drug traffickers, and chasing down drugs were the topic of episodes 5 and 6. These two episodes gave Eva Melander as Anna Maria a chance to be in the lead. Her daughter Lova (Agnes Westerlund Rase) was involved in situations where a kid overdosed, where drug transfers were discussed on the phone, and where she was put in danger. Lova was 17 and the usual tensions between a mother and daughter of 17 were there, adding to the drug crime situation.

Warning Triangle

In episodes 7 and 8, a woman and her two month old child were found frozen in their car on the road to Norway. They realized the woman had stopped in a blizzard to help someone and was put back in her car dead. Finding the car that had prompted the woman to stop, and the person driving it, was the crux of this investigation.

Overarching plot lines

Sascha Zacharias in Rebecka Martinsson
You sold it for how much?

Season-long dynamics between the main characters held the episodes together. That’s why it’s a good idea to watch the episodes in order. In many ways, these personal relationships were the important parts of the story. Characters gained depth and life changing events unfolded.

Here are few hints about some of those story lines. There was sex and pregnancy, heart attacks and big surprises, car wrecks, home sales, revenge in Stockholm, promotions at work, and love in unexpected places. Most importantly to Rebecka, she dealt with her past in ways she had avoided before.

Themes of motherhood and parenting were dominant. There were also many tendrils about the enduring nature of love and how it affected people.

Rebecka Martinsson poster

The second series of Rebecka Martinsson began on Acorn TV on July 27. Here’s a preview.

Are you a fan of the series? Will you watch series 2?

Images courtesy of Acorn TV.

31 thoughts on “Review: Rebecka Martinsson, season 2”

  1. Pingback: Review: Rebecka Martinsson - Updated with Series 2 News - Old Ain't Dead

  2. Citizen GreyWokf

    Ms DeBolt, I completely agree, so far in my viewing of season 2, with your review of Rebecka Martinsson. Ms Zacharias is not bad, just weak. Especially compared to Ms Engvoll in the part. Maybe Zacharias is better in something else, but Engvoll proves adage of right actor, right part. So many layers and constant drive and energy of her character made season 1 addictive. I am watching season 2 because of that and curiousity. Disappointed, I may not watch the rest. When they lost Ms Engvoll and had no adequate replacement, they should have scrapped season, or changed it to Lars Pohjanen, played by excellent actor, Mr Vitanen, who is the equal of Engvall and certainly could step out of second level character, and into lead as he has proven in Bordertown.

    1. Yes, I thought Ida Engvoll was better in the part. However the writing and basics of the character moved along enjoyably enough to keep me watching. It would be difficult to make the Rebecka Martinsson stories be about anyone but Rebecka.

      1. jsigur1@comcast.net

        Engval had “Hollywood to Stars” in her eyes. Your review was nice but the commenters couldn’t get past Engval’s leaving

    2. I bet the rest of the crew weren’t,t happy with Ingval. You’d think there would be a guaranteed participation say for say three years. I for one think that the show she went to can’t hold a candle to the Martinson effort

  3. Disappointing second season. I am watching part 2 of the Reindeer Boy, and I am bored to death. The new Rebecka just does not cut it. I may, or not, bother with the other 3 stories.

  4. Ida Engvoll was the reason to watch Rebecka Martinsson. I’m 17 minutes into the first episode of season two and ready to turn it off and give up. Ms Zacharias is not a good replacement. Bring Ms. Engvoll back.

  5. Ms. Engvoll was awesome. She totally WAS the series. Her replacement is not cutting it. No one has said WHY Ms. Engvoll left. Does anyone know what happened??

  6. All I have read is that Ms Engvoll generally does not like to get stuck in one role. But 2 seasons of such a role in such a production as Martinnson does not seem to restrictive or dull? I can only speculate that something else grabbed her, or contract/personnel issues with production?

  7. Pingback: Review: Love and Anarchy (Kärlek & Anarki) - Old Ain't Dead

  8. Agree the first actor made the role…so dynamic and charismatic to watch. We still watched second series with the low key new actor and thought it was good enough to watch all. She is more subtle and does a decent job. Storylines and directing make it worth viewing.

    1. No matter who the actor is, we’re still getting the stories by Åsa Larsson, which are the reason for all of it. I identify with the people who stick with it for that rather than quitting because of the lead actress.

      1. Citizen GreyWolf

        One could read the stories. If watching a ‘performance’ of the stories, the performers, et al, are very important.

      2. jsigur1@comcast.net

        Shows rarely survive lead actor replacements. It sounds like Ingval to heew money at them to co my pensate for her abandonment. Most ppl haven’t read the book

    2. Agree re new Rebecka not being as good as the original, but it’s still an excellent series. Characters really grow on one, and episode 5 is a real tearjerker.
      One has to ask why no one tells anyone how they feel, it would make a change..

  9. Really bad continuity. Eleven minutes into episode one, Krister’s stunp is on view. One minute later, without moving from the table, his prosthesis is attached,

    1. I want to know what happened to the 2 drug traffickers that hit Rebecka with their truck. We saw her in hospital but not a word about those 2. Did they survive with serious injuries? Were they alright and then arrested? Anyone that reads this, or have read the book
      have any answers?

  10. … replacing Ida Engvoll with Sascha Zacharias was never going to work for a majority of the viewers having watched season one… having another actor coming in and taking up the exact-character Engvoll established through eight episodes comes off as a very clumsy decision… ‘scheduling difficulties’ to have made it impossible for her to continue in the role is poor management… not contractually obligating lead actors.. especially in such a series a this one is bungling at the highest level

    … just a look at the two actors.. w/o a script re-wright this change-switch is just too implausible an obstacle to overcome… it’s like they just want their viewers to ignore-accept-it & move-on… Zacharias is a decent actor yet being thrown into this part does not do her any justice & detracts from the production… viewers must now decide to stick with a series with a replacement not to their liking… in a show that was having its issues to begin with… like that last ten minutes of season one being so ludicrous as to be laughable (how did THAT happen)

    … Engvoll left to do Love & Anarchy on Netflix… she should have stayed & as an executive producer used her clout to work at making this series better.

  11. I was so disappointed in season 2. All the chemistry between Rebecca and the other characters was gone and it diminished the other characters as well. It felt like they were trying to act as if Actress2 was Actress1 and it did not work. Sorry. The new actress has no spark! I’ve abandoned the series.

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