# Young Wallander (2020)

> A rookie cop is fast-tracked into detective work after an incendiary hate crime stirs civil unrest in this origin story of Kurt Wallander.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/77544

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 12
- Episode runtime: 50 min
- Status: Canceled
- Genres: crime, drama, mystery
- Created by: Benjamin Harris
- Network: Netflix
- Cast: Adam Pålsson, Leanne Best, Richard Dillane, Ellise Chappell, Sara Seyed, Yasen Atour, Astrid Fox-Sahan, Charles Mnene
- TMDB rating: 6.9/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9359220/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: layered
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: gritty, tense, brooding, melancholic

## What critics say

Audience reception is mixed, with viewers rating the origin story of Kurt Wallander moderately and the second season lower than the first.

## Synopsis

Young Wallander (2020-2022) is a British-produced Swedish-set crime series created by Benjamin Harris for Netflix. It follows rookie cop Kurt Wallander (Adam Pålsson) as an incendiary hate crime stirs civil unrest and abruptly pushes him into detective work. Alongside veteran colleague Frida Rask (Leanne Best), Hemberg (Richard Dillane), and Mona (Ellise Chappell), he pursues a case that ripples through a divided community, with each investigation exposing fresh fault lines in the town. Across two seasons of six episodes each, the series unfolds as a serialized origin story rather than a case-of-the-week format, tracking how the young officer sharpens his instincts under pressure. The tone is gritty and tense, with a grounded, rain-soaked atmosphere and a melancholic undercurrent running through its procedural scenes. Its themes of prejudice, institutional strain, and moral compromise sit at the heart of the story. Fans of the Swedish-set Wallander, The Killing, and Line of Duty will find resonance in its brooding nordic noir mood and its focus on a driven investigator. The series was canceled after its second season, leaving its central storyline unfinished.

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