# The Fifth Woman (2002)

> Kurt Wallander investigates a string of grisly forest killings in autumn 1994 that he slowly realizes are driven by revenge.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/64089

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 4
- Episode runtime: 57 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: crime, drama, mystery
- Network: SVT1
- Cast: Rolf Lassgård, Marie Richardson, Lars Melin, Christer Fant, Kerstin Andersson, Klas-Gösta Olsson, Emy Storm, Palle Granditsky
- TMDB rating: 6.7/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0310412/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: graphic
- Tone: bleak, melancholic, brooding, austere, tense

## Synopsis

The Fifth Woman (2002) is a Swedish national-television nordic noir miniseries created for SVT1, a four-episode limited series adapted from the Wallander novels. Rolf Lassgard plays detective Kurt Wallander, a weary investigator working alongside colleagues Martinsson (Lars Melin), Svedberg (Christer Fant) and Lisa Holgersson (Kerstin Andersson) in the southern Swedish town of Ystad. The story is driven by a gruesome case: an elderly man is found impaled in a pitfall trap, a florist vanishes without a trace and is later found executed in the forest, and the team must piece together a trail of clues. Each episode is a patient, methodical unraveling of interviews, forensic details and personal histories, with the detective's own frayed life woven into the work. The tone is cold, brooding and melancholic, shaped by autumn light, rural landscapes and a sense of quiet dread. Fans of The Killing, The Bridge and other European crime procedurals will find the same grim atmosphere and emphasis on human detail. Set in 1994 Sweden, the miniseries rewards viewers who enjoy slow, character-driven mysteries grounded in realism.

## Shows like The Fifth Woman

- [The Truth Will Out (2018)](https://ember.film/tv/69947)
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- [Young Wallander (2020)](https://ember.film/tv/77544)
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- [Blood Sacrifice (2026)](https://ember.film/tv/1104896)
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- [The Murders (2009)](https://ember.film/tv/46714)
- [Rebecka Martinsson (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/61849)
- [The Fourth Man (2014)](https://ember.film/tv/56545)

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