The Immigrants
The Bro Code
Beaten and bloodied, episode 3 of Young Wallander begins with Kurt Wallander awakening in the middle of a field. As he stumbles back to town, he heads into the church again to get patched up by Mona. His visit there actually warrants another motive. The second is to question her over the immigrant and the translated tongue of “no choice.” As he heads out, Wallander sits with Hemberg and the duo discuss the case. Ibra is about to go down for this crime but Wallander is concerned. Arriving back at the station, he implores Ibra to defend himself and give up the code. Unfortunately blood is thicker than water and for Ibra, these boys are his family. He’s not budging.
Gustav
In Hemberg’s office, Hemberg tasks Rask and Hugo to head out together to interview Gustav. She’s less than enthused about the gig. However, she bites her tongue enough to get the job done. Once there, Gustav becomes very interested in the case. He wants to be brought up to scratch on what’s happened but Rask is less than pleased with this outcome. Just before they leave, Gustav reveals that he knows Wallander has been speaking to Mona. “Next time you need something, make sure it’s through me.” This guy is definitely suspicious but for now, they get the address and head off to sniff out some clues.
The Interviews
The interviews go ahead and Wallander works his way through the exhaustive list. However, they’re rudely interrupted by Hugo’s father causing a disturbance down at the football ground. He suspects Andersson (the football coach) is the one responsible and has gone down to attack him. He senses Andersson is the one who’s taught him these bad habits. Thankfully Wallander manages to diffuse the situation and takes the man home. That’s not the only thing diffused either. Bash decides to speak up and provide an alibi for Ibra. This selfless act prevents Ibra from receiving jail time. When Wallander finds out, he tries hard not to smile through the relief. On the back of this, he heads out with Mona and the two share food together. Later that day, Wallander helps out Jasmine. Midway through loading the car up, she receives a call from the doctor confirming Reza has woken up. Furthermore, Wallander also learns the man who committed the crime against Reza is in the station. A man by the name of Otto Norlen. As Wallander does some digging, he realizes the crime against Hugo definitely is part of something wholly larger. He suspects the crimes were used to rile up the immigration rallies and cause unrest in the community.
Yara, Zemar & The Forest
As the plot thickens, Wallander learns that a pregnant immigrant called Yara failed to attend a hospital appointment. On top of that, he also finds a receipt confirming her location that night. That location, as it turns out, isn’t far from where Wallander currently is. With back-up inbound in ten minutes time, Wallander heads out alone to investigate. In the woods, he keeps a distance as Yara meets a man and walks off hand in hand with him. When Wallander presents himself, the man (later referred to as Zemar) brandishes a gun. It’s here Wallander realizes this is the man who stabbed him. Wallander has Yara translate for him in order to diffuse the situation. When Hemberg arrives, he immediately berates Wallander for the way he handles the situation as Zemar is taken back to the station in handcuffs. As they step out the car ready to take him inside, a sniper shot whistles through the air and hits Zemar.
The Episode Review
So it seems likely now that Zemar was hired by someone or coerced into working for a higher cause. His pleas for “no choice” may relate to Yara but for now that’s guesswork. The British cast and actors is a real shame. This would have felt a lot more authentic as a pure Swedish production with Swedish actors. However, the actual mystery itself is intriguing and enough to keep you watching to look past this. The cliffhanger ending is decent and definitely surprising to see a sniper at work. This is an unexpected revelation and it’ll be interesting to see what direction the show takes next.
