Winter

Twists and turns neatly wrapped up by the end. Keeps you engaged and surprised.

Contrary to other opinions here at IMDb, we found Winter to be a superb production, well-acted and well-written. British mysteries sometimes are heavily-weighed for character-development, leaving nifty plot developments as a secondary consideration. We haven't quite finished the series, but we are pleased that some mysteries are slowly coming to light, and others will be revealed in the final episode.

There's a nice bit of coincidence in the plot, a tool that can be used or overused. In this case, it ties some loose plot-ends together nicely and shows that the hunch of one key detective was off-base, a rare outcome in a mystery story. Rebecca Gibney is excellent as the lead detective 'Winter', very reminiscent in looks and style of Amanda Burton, from the British 'Commander' series (maybe a little prettier, and not so tragically-flawed).

WE caught this on Acorn TV - but we would part with the price of a DVD set to see it again.

Being a fan of mostly UK and Scandinavian crime series, I sometimes like to widen my horizons and find out what other countries have to offer in a similar area. Prior to start watching Winter, I had some qualms regarding approach and possible easy solution, but it soon turned out to be a versatile story having its twists and turns throughout the 6 episodes.

True, there were some common leitmotifs and predictable character relations, but as I did not surmise the wrongdoer and potential crime motives, I am pleased that I took/found approx. 5 hours for this Series.

"Winter" is an odd one - the cinematography shows occasional spots of brilliance, but is, mostly, simple and functional; the acting is on the spot, with each actor playing their characters efficiently, not missing a beat; the direction is crisp, and so is the editing; this is one of those shows where everything except the plot is good.

Twists abound in the end, and the finale is one to be watched, because it is just so good. However, the red herrings thrown in here and there were never convincing enough - the ideal red-herring is one that is well-justified, but not for the reason we think it to be, and masks the hints that foreshadow the real fact; in this case, though, there are no hints whatsoever to be masked, and some reveals are just like "Uh huh. Ok." instead of "How did I not see that coming??"

In addition, the characters are actually nothing so special. Take Castle. Castle himself is quirky, has a sense of humor, loves adventures, and is basically a big kid. But he also has the ability to show pathos towards his fellow investigators and has good observation skills, which make sense given his novelist background.

Consider House, M.D. He's sarcastic, caustic, permanently ticked-off, insulting, brash, ingenious, playful (to the extent of causing harm) but committed to his work as a doctor.

Now consider Eve Winter. Nothing special, just the typical cop with a haunting past, who is trying to do justice by the victims who keep her work coming. Nothing to write home about.

Consider the Fed, Jake. He just wants a confession and keeps getting into loggerheads with Winter. Nothing special there, either. The only one with a hint of personality is Indiana herself, and thank God for that, because otherwise the entire cast could be replaced by everymen and the story wouldn't change much.

Regardless, I'm giving this an 8/10 for an overall solid show. Good entertainment, but don't expect to be hooked until the penultimate episode.

There are two parallel plots that sometimes gets in the way of this otherwise engaging police procedural. The solid acting and direction is why I upped my rating from what I really think (6.5) to 7.0. The effort to keep both the local and federal investigations in the center of the story often creates tangents that dilute the suspense. Also, the police in both camps commit mistakes that I don't believe would happen in real life but are used here to simply insert action and use up time. Minor flubs made me shake my head such as why a criminal would mount the timer for a car bomb in full view on the dashboard. Or why a police artist's sketch of a suspect would not *immediately* be electronically circulated to all involved. However, despite these little things and the slightly irritating over-development of some peripheral characters whose demise and/or personal dramas serve little purpose, I wanted to follow this to the end because there were a few central questions to be answered. And, oddly, this was the first time I've been constantly distracted by an actor's mustache or non-mustache. What is up with Lachlan's unattractive shadow above his lips?