Actually, we could say that 'Rest in Peace' invented its standards. A special mixture of crime stories and characteristic local circumstances created something that could be called Croatian noire. 'Rest in Peace' never resembled anything else, it never referred to either the Scandinavians and their crime stories or 'Wire' or who knows what... It had its own style, theme, specifically related to this area, and yet - universal.
The main heroine of the series is still - although reluctantly - engaged in 'digging graves', but now two unexpected collaborators are starting to help her. The mixture of crime mysteries, specific local and historical circumstances, and the controversial presence of 'old UDBA agent' give the series a distinctive, at times even darkly witty note.
The third season of the series 'Rest in Peace', which airs on Monday, January 15, at 9 pm on HTV 1, caused a feeling of elation and despair at the same time. I must immediately mention that this latter feeling of despair has nothing to do with the series itself because what I have watched so far (three episodes) has not caused me anything desperate or bad. This feeling of despair is connected, however, with the fact that 'Rest in Peace' seems to be the only thing left of hope that a quality feature production that has been the standard in the world for at least two decades can sneak up on HTV.
When it appeared, this series was a flash in the dark - it showed that there are people in Croatia who are aware of the rising standards of TV series, their possibilities and that there are people who have enough talent and ability to follow these standards. Actually, we could say that 'Rest in Peace' invented its standards. A special mixture of crime stories and characteristic local circumstances created something that could be called Croatian noire. 'Rest in Peace' never resembled anything else, it never referred to either the Scandinavians and their crime stories or 'Wire' or who knows what… It had its own style, theme, specifically related to this area, and yet - universal.
But at the time when 'Rest in Peace' appeared on the domestic media scene, it was as if some progress was felt, that this might be the beginning of a better quality TV production in Croatia. A few more good or at least acceptable series were filmed that differed from the standard domestic consumer garbage, we also got 'Black and White World' and 'Newspaper' and... Then somehow everything stopped. The third season of 'Rest in Peace' now, in the new circumstances, where there is no talk of filming almost anything but the story of general Gotovina, seems like a brilliant backlog from a time when something better seemed possible, and which is in vain. interrupted by a climate in which the content of what is being recorded is determined by associations and individuals who have nothing to do with television or - in some cases - common sense.
Enough whining about how, apart from this child of Ring Produkcija, there are no indications of turning to the gold standards of quality television - here's what you can look forward to in the new season of this series.
'Rest in Peace' retained its core in the third season, but also thumped well. Our main heroine, journalist Lucija Car (Judita Franković) is at the beginning quite catatonic, introspective, and hidden in the archive, where she silently and by digging through old articles and recordings solves her traumas from past seasons and beyond. Lucija also got a certain Hamlet dimension because her late father and the first crime mentor from the first season, Martin Strugar (Miodrag Krivokapić), often appears like a mirage in these turmoils.
There is, of course, our old acquaintance and dark villain from the first two seasons, the cruel murderer Mate Šušnjara (almost unrecognizable Dragan Despot), who this season, with his friend, former journalist and secret service associate Kosta Mandić ( Danko Ljuština), decides to help Lucija solve the case of the death of numerous members of the Golden Youth. That twist - in which Šušnjara turns from a sworn enemy into a kind of Lucija's mentor - is currently (ie in the three episodes I watched) the most interesting element of the series. Two old villains who readily rented their cruelty and information to the secret services of the former and current regime are approaching us more this season than before, but, of course, we do not fully trust them and it is not entirely certain whether they will remain helpers or their engagement prepares some kind of final countdown.
When I say that Lucia's relationship with the former nemesis is the most interesting part of the series in its very beginning, it does not mean that it is the only interesting part. Faithful to the fact that in each of its plots it remains aware of the society, 'Rest in peace' smartly - sometimes with major interventions, and sometimes only with incidental details - shows the current dissolution of Croatian society and its important actors. Brave journalists, for example, are retreating into the background this season, running cafes instead of investigations, and Lucija's colleague from the archives, like a blazed Greek choir, comes in every now and then with interpretations of events and resigned attitudes towards them as the majority of the public.
Of course, as in the seasons before this one, a lot of things are happening here, we meet many new characters and, as in all seasons of this series so far, we encounter acting performances that are high above most acting performances in other domestic series - even when it comes to the actors we see everywhere. Dragan Despot with his portrayal of Šušnjara is not the only such example - let's just remember Nada Gaćešić Livaković in the first season, where she got the opportunity to play a remarkable, complex, and emotional role through the character of a prison guard that she did not play in her entire career, and here, this season, we will still experience this from a few veterans, but also from young actors, with whom the director and the rest of the team of this series knew how to work better than anyone else in domestic television production.
Yes, I admit, I’m a fan of the 'Rest in Peace' series and that’s why I’m maybe a little lighter on the panegyrics. But because of my fondness for this series, I am also more often in fear that they'll screw something, which has happened too many times in series that I would like at first. ‘Rest in Peace’ so far, in the first three episodes I’ve watched, haven’t blown anything. There is therefore no reason not to turn on the TV on Monday at the time of their broadcast. You could also be cheered up by some old, familiar faces you haven't seen on television in a while.