Year: 2024

Season: 1

Country of origin: Czech Republic

Production: Czech Television, D.N.A., S.R.O.

Broadcaster: Czech Television

Director: Peter Bebjak

Writers: Jakub Režný, Aleš Preis

Actors: Tomáš Maštalír, Martin Hofmann, Zuzana Stivínová, Johana Matoušková, Magdaléna Borová, Pavla Beretová, Albert Čuba, Jan Vondráček

Synopsis: A gripping three-part psychological drama inspired by real-life police work, it depicts the reality of detectives on the edge of the law due to the imperfections of the legal system and their own obsession with catching criminals. The story is set in northern Moravia. The main character is detective Josef, who together with his partner Michal manages to catch a brutal murderer within twenty-four hours. This is all thanks to a secret contact at the telephone operator who informs Josef about the movement of the murdered woman’s mobile phone on our territory without having an official request filled out and approved by the court. But the request would have taken a week to process and the killer using his victim’s cell phone would have been safe across the border long ago. Josef does not hesitate a minute in deciding whether to break the law. Both detectives are rewarded for their efficient work with a modest financial bonus. The secret contact at the telephone operator is Josef’s girlfriend, whom Josef keeps from his co-workers. However, the use of an unconventional procedure draws the disapproval of the ambitious boss Novotná. When a serial killer, who chooses his victims seemingly at random, goes on the rampage in the region and eventually on the Slovak side of the border, Josef and Michal are separated. Only Michal is allowed to take part in the investigation closely watched by public. Novotná makes Josef her unofficial deputy to oversee the department and she leads the investigation herself. Josef takes his so-called “promotion” hard and is openly bored in a department where nothing happens. Unable to do nothing, he decides to investigate one of the unsolved cases, which will be time-barred in sixteen days. The murder of a young prostitute, Eva, who was strangled to death in the late 1990s. And since Joseph doesn’t get permission to open the case, he starts investigating on his own.