Young Wallander

Over the past decade, edgy reboots of stodgy, old detective characters like this one have become a cliche, and often a punchline. James Bond, Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot, Sherlock Holmes (multiple times), and, most recently, Perry Mason, have all reappeared as younger versions of themselves designed to appeal to younger viewers, with varying degrees of success. Young Wallander follows this trend with a character popular in Europe but relatively unknown in the States, and it doesn't do much to set itself apart from the endless barrage of streaming crime shows. The update of the character is essentially limited to the topical immigration subplot and filming of everything in either shadow or neon light (a Nicolas Winding Refn knockoff, basically). In other words, very little is done to define who the character is and why he is unique, almost as if the showrunners expect the Wallander name to do most of the work, even though few will recognize it.