Van der Valk (TV Series) Love in Amsterdam (2020) User Reviews

A good start.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 7/10 · 27 April 2020]

I did enjoy this first episode, I only wish they'd called it something else, aside from a fair haired lead actor, and the Dutch setting, it feels absolutely nothing like Van Der Valk.

An interesting story, I like a political themed thriller, it was interesting, and had some unexpected dramatic moments.

A good start for Warren, this really did have a first episode feeling to it. Hopefully it will settle for the next, the mortician was very charismatic.

Amsterdam looks glorious, it was very nicely filmed.

Why did some people have Dutch accents, and some have cockney accents, it's a real gripe with shows, I thought they'd ended with Wallander.

I wasn't hugely optimistic, but credit where it's.due, I thought it was rather good. 7/10.

Decent

[GB65 · 7/10 · 27 April 2020]

I'm a little surprised at the poor reviews. No, it's not Barry Foster, not it's not the same but it's probably not just aimed at those who remember the original. Marc Warren makes a good fist of it, maybe overdoing slightly the moodiness but otherwise it'sa really solid performance. Not overly keen on the assistants but the coroner character is different. I enjoyed the plot to, enough twists to keep you thinking but not overdoing it. Looking forward to No2.

Put the Original Out of Your Mind

[JasonC-4 · 6/10 · 12 April 2020]

Passable cop mystery on its own but in comparison with the original series it's a dud. If you've never seen the Barry Foster incarnation or you can manage to push it out of your mind this is just about OK. The plot starts well in an intriguing manner but has way too many twists and turns before the ending - the final one being unnecessary in my view. Marc Warren in the title role has a ruggedly handsome charisma that carries this a fair distance but not far enough overall. His team of cops are the major failing. They just have too many quirks to be realistic. The irritating new guy has become too much of a stock character in these kinds of shows as has the grumpy pathologist. I'm not even sure why the other male cop was even on the team his being totally lacking in initiative. The office dog was a nice touch if totally unbelievable however the cops holding their briefings in a local coffee shop was just stupid. Amsterdam is a pretty city but postcard views do not a cop show make.

Love in Amsterdam

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 26 April 2020]

I had great fun convincing people that in the 1970s. Jon Pertwee played Doctor Who, Van der Valk and Worzel Gummidge all at the same time.

Now in the reboot, I tell people that Sean Pertwee would be taking over from his father. Trouble is Marc Warren is too well known from Hustle so no one falls for it.

The theme tune for the original show is also famous, more so than the television show itself. The new version keeps the theme very subtle, it should had been upfront and centre.

Surprisingly Warren is some years older than when Barry Foster first played Van der Valk. His character is more athletic and in the beginning of this episode he shows off his bike riding and combat skills.

The mystery begins with an abduction that goes wrong. Two bystanders are also taken and later killed. There is a link between these events and an upcoming political election.

It was a good opening episode but nothing outstanding and a bit cliched. I think Marc Warren had a lot to do with making it better than the script deserved.

Warren just easing back enough from the stock character of the grumpy maverick cop with a troubled life. He was certainly not the Van der Valk from the 1970s and 1990s television series which ironically is also being broadcast on a satellite channel.

I thought the ending and the reveal was more Taggart than Van der Valk. There were enough clues left behind that one person did have more to hide. So I was surprised that the police did not chase this up as it was progressing.

There was a depth missing that the English language version of Wallander had. One valid criticism you can make is but for the Amsterdam locations, is this really Van der Valk?

Better than most PBS British imports

[hayley96 · 8/10 · 10 October 2022]

I have never heard of Barry Foster or a show that was the forebearer of VanDer Valk . I didn't watch it with any pre-conceived ideas of what it should be. I liked it. I found it to have better pacing and more interesting side characters than most of the Brit imports on PBS. There are some predictable elements. The nerdy new guy to the team turns out to be useful. The potential girlfriend for the lead is bad news.i like the way Marc Warren handles his character - he seems much bigger than 5'8". Maimi McCoy is great fun as Officer Lucienne.

I don't know what the original show was like years ago. As a stand alone it's a nice treat.

Looking Backward...Again

[Hitchcoc · 7/10 · 16 October 2022]

I saw that new episodes of this series were going to be on public television. So I went back for the first season. I guess there was a series with Barry Foster in the past, and people are annoyed, as usual, that it isn't the same show. Personally, I'd never heard of Van der Valk. That said, let's look at this episode. First of all, it is a pilot and there are going to be rough edges. As a new guy, I wish there had been a bit of a back story. Why is this guy so cynical and downright mean to everyone. This seems to be a stereotype. He is the one who gets to decide everything. Of course, he is a wise detective, but what has brought him here. The nerdy statistical expert is put down constantly because he doesn't know the "rules." But those rules are never made clear. His partner seems more interested in getting him romantically hooked up than anything else. She also acts quite stupidly, putting herself in danger, and nearly dying. I'll watch again because I like this kind of bare bones show set in a foreign capital.

The twist ending ruined it

[mmvrxktnr · 4/10 · 8 December 2021]

It was interesting until the "hypersexual babysitter betrayed" trope was revealed at the end. Grounding a story in a woman's sexual trauma and then making her an angry master-manipulator has several people killed or tortured to get back at a dude?? Is actually not as novel as the writers think. Should have stuck with fascists as villains, especially as they literally are villains of the present.

Hard to know where to start

[ramlmmjem · 3/10 · 4 April 2020]

If you watch this hoping for something related to the the early 1970-90s series of the same name or the books of Nicolas Freeling on which the setting is based, think again. Having watched this first episode, I'm unlikely to watch any more. We have a wise-cracking team of the most unlike-police officers I've seen in a long time. Team meetings are held largely while walking the mean (admittedly photogenic) streets of Amsterdam, or in a bar, or almost anywhere except in the police station. Superiors are treat as mates or as irritants to be ignored. The plot is convoluted and to be honest, none of the characters is believable.

If this had been scripted as an off-the-wall private eye series, it would have been more realistic. As it is, it just doesn't work as a police procedural/standard police series.

If you have nothing else to do for the evening, there's some nice shots of Amsterdam, a lot of posing, and lots of wise-cracks. But you'll be easily distracted.

Unadulterated Tripe

[johnwakeman-1 · 1/10 · 27 April 2020]

I have recently been watching reruns of the original Van Der Valk and this latest version is not fit to lick its boots. I was going to write a long critique listing all the things that are wrong with it but having read the other reviews they pretty much have said all I was going to say. All I would add, which I don't think has been mentioned, is why does half the cast speak with their normal voices and the other half with a Dutch accent? Avoid like the proverbial.....