Tracking down people smugglers? For Detective Larsen, it’s in his 'DNA'

People smugglers tore his family apart. Now as he tries to put the pieces together, Detective Rolf Larsen finds himself hunting a new, more sinister breed.

Credit: KLARA CVRCKOVA

*THIS ARTICLE FEATURES SPOILERS FOR DNA SEASON 1*

Season one of DNA ended with the ultimate good news / bad news situation. First the good news: while hunting down people smugglers across Europe, Danish detective Rolf Larsen (Anders W. Berthlsen) had discovered that his daughter (long-missing-presumed-dead) was still alive.

So what’s the bad news? For starters, she was a baby when she was taken, and that was six years ago. Now his marriage is over, his personal life is a ruin, and his daughter believes her mother is a young Polish woman named Julita Sienko (Zofia Wichlacz). Taking her back would ruin her life, just like her disappearance ruined his. There’s nothing he can do but try to move on.

 

Nicolas Bro, Anders W. Berthelsen and Olivia Joof in DNA season 1 Source: SBS

Or at least, that’s how it seemed at the end of season one. Season two begins with another good news / bad news scenario: the good news is, Rolf seems to have gotten his life back on track and has found a way to move forward. The bad news is, that way forward is by travelling over to France and hanging around Julita and Andrea (now known as Hania). As you might expect, Julita isn’t all that keen on a policeman twice her age wanting to take her daughter on a fishing trip (and no, he hasn’t told her the truth either).

Time and again across the first season of DNA viewers were presented with characters that were more complex than they first seemed. There were bad guys – that’d be the people smugglers, and the first scene of season two makes it clear that’s a trade still doing steady business in Europe – but even the good guys were rarely straightforward. Rolf’s obsession with his daughter was both understandable and a little unsettling; now that he’s found her, he’s pushing things yet again.

 

Someone else pushing things is his ex-wife Maria (Johanne Louise Schmidt), who begins the series about to give birth to her first child with new husband Thorstein (Lars Berge). Unlike Rolf, she accepted the death of Andrea and has moved on with her life. Yet again, Rolf can’t quite let go: he’s still living close by, and when he gets his old job back with the Copenhagen police he admits to old comrade Neel (Olivia Joof Lewerissa) that he hasn’t told his ex that their child is still alive.

Rolf Larsen (Anders W. Berthlsen) and Neel (Olivia Joof Lewerissa) in Season 2 of ‘DNA’ Credit: Klara Cvrckova

Rolf says this way he’s protecting his ex from further heartbreak; heartbreak finds another way in when her new baby girl turns out to have a liver condition that requires a transplant. The wait list is long, so Thorstein decides to take matters into his own hands. Soon Rolf gets involved. With his track record, it’s not a surprise that a gruesome discovery isn’t far behind.

As Rolf’s newest people smuggling case expands, he finds himself calling on an old friend in the French police; the smooth, urbane commandant Claire Bobin (Charlotte Rampling). Now on the verge of retirement, she has a soft spot for Rolf and no love for people smugglers – and putting the stylish Claire next to the shabby Rolf makes for both a great team-up and some very funny visuals.

Charlotte Rampling in 'DNA' Source: SBS

Speaking of which, while there’s no shortage of tormented, scruffy cops in Nordic Noir, Berthlsen deserves a special award for his work as Rolf. His performance hits just the right spot where his rough around the edges approach could either be because he just doesn’t care anymore or he cares too much about fighting crime to bother with appearances (it’s actually shocking to see him tidied up for his first visit with Andrea). He’s a big cuddly bear who isn’t above beating a corrupt cop half to death.

The first season of DNA ran two storylines in parallel, with Rolf and Neel’s investigation alongside Julita’s attempts to find her own missing child. This season continues that pattern, as we’re introduced to Mario (Mario Montescu), a Romanian whose sister is heading off to Denmark with her boyfriend to find work.

There’s no good news in this scenario: they’re travelling via people smugglers, and when there’s no word back that they’ve arrived safely – or at all – Mario decides to follow to find out what’s going on. The short answer: it’s all bad.

DNA season 2 Credit: KLARA CVRCKOVA

Organ theft, human trafficking, people sold into slavery; if anything, the web of people smugglers is even more evil this time around, and they reach further into respectable society. What DNA does best is make it all personal. Often crime series treat the actual crime as just something that puts the story in motion. Here we’re shown how deeply this kind of activity runs in society, and how tempting it can be – whether for financial reasons, or for something more – to take advantage of what’s going on.

It's a crime that can’t be stopped just by arresting the ringleaders; it’s woven too deeply into society’s DNA.

DNA season 2 is now streaming at SBS On Demand.