I had no opportunity to watch English version,but judging by the choice of the main actor I believe that it is very good. I was lucky to have chance to follow Swedish show in which Detective, Kurt Wallander resolve cases more by his heart and by his deep understanding of human nature than by the contribution of forensics and technology. Wallander is not only Detective, he is lone Intellectual who lives in the house on the beach, entoured by books and classic music records, devoted to the goal to find and maintain the fine line between Good and Bed,Lie and Truth, before everyone, in himself. That's why he goes up to the discovering of deepest motif of each case , realizing sometimes, grace to his deep understanding of the human soul and grace to his moral sense that the murderer is often a victim.He, himself is not perfect , he often makes errors in social connections, but he knows that making mistakes is inevitable part of the human soul and he completely undertakes consequences of his acts, not avoiding the suffering and the sadness. The show is colored by the "noire" atmosphere given by the scenery of empty beaches, tiny interiors, obscure lightening, the threatening waves of magic Baltic Sea that all serve to support the sense of everywhere present possible tragedy, inevitable due to imperfection of divided human nature. As for acting, the main Actor,can not be anymore distinguished from his Role in the Show that is the ultimate level of ingenious acting. The only remarks that I have are unnecessary copying of some of famous iconography of CSI Miami that can be recognized from the second season, that lowers my opinion from perfect to "close to perfection." Except for this, the show took my all heart and my soul.

Hard to rate! Season 1 is a huge "10." Season 2 is a bit of a let-down, maybe a 7? Season 3 starts so dreadfully mediocre and tedious it is easily a 3, but the last few epis bounce back up to an 8 or 9. I gave it a generous 5, because despite the first season's excellence, the subsequent uneven quality is, let's face it, a "fault" and shortcoming of the production team.2 or 3 so years ago I watched the first 7 episodes of season one ("series" one for British readers). I absolutely loved them, and was hooked. So I bought the entire 13-episodes of that first season, and it seemed as if each episode I saw was better than the last one. I waited impatiently for 2 years for the Swedish folks to get season two subtitled, and snapped that up as well, the day that second set became available.I am watching the 3rd episode of season two right now - and am torn between wanting to gobble them all up and watch them all in a row, immediately (!), and hoarding the treasure and stretching them out, watching them as slowly as I can manage, making them last, to extend the pleasure. The third season is in the mail to me as I write. Knowing I'll have 16 more episodes to see after the current episode I am viewing gives me the comfort one only gets from contemplating a secret stash of joy. My only wish is that they were high definition Blu Ray, and not just DVD - but the Swedish Wallander is so good I can overlook that.One word about the BBC version. I admire Kenneth Branagh a LOT, but do NOT like the series he stars in. I don't intend that to be any disrespect of Branagh at all; but it is important and needs pointing out. If you've seen the BBC version and found it dull and depressing - don't give up! Try the "real" version, the one from Sweden. You'll notice it stars Krister Henriksson - an unusual name for English speakers that will easily stand out for you.The BBC take is completely different from the Krister Henriksson Swedish version. The BBC shows feel as if they missed the point - or at least got such a radically different point from the Wallander stories that it well could be from a different literature.For me the great joy of Wallander is not the plots or the "exciting" police action, although they are interesting enough. Rather it's the tone. The shows have a "meditative" quality - at times even existential. They are very evocative. Certainly seeing these more personal views of Sweden and the people delight me, and engage me in a way few TV series can.

I have to rate this show highly! We have a hard time finding episodes here in the US. 2 different streaming sources have it here in the US. I found this show after watching the BBC Wallander, starring Kenneth B. The BBC version is really pretty good, but the 2005 version is better in my opinion. Krister's portrayal is really good. Season 2 is the best, but season 1 is good too. The stories start out subtly and grow from there. The day to day goings on in the department add to it quite a bit. Wallander is kind of like a Columbo type, but certainly not the same. It is interesting to note that even this series is a remake. I found the original Wallander, Swedish version too which is certainly worth watching but the stories were redone over the 3 versions out there. The original series which I think was done in the 90's stars a guy who is definitely like a flawed Columbo. I still like the Krister portrayal best. I am very much looking forward to the movie release in 2013 and the followup series if we can get them. If you don't like subtitles, then this is not for you. I found it funny watching the Swedes go to IKEA in Sweden, not sure why since that's where that firm is based. However, my interest is probably the view into Swedish culture too.

Welcome to a small, but crime-ridden city of Ystad. You can die of knives, firearms, bombs, occasionally a heart attack. While it is difficult to survive for ordinary people, one groups is especially endangered: being Wallander's friend, school colleague, especially former girlfriend is almost certain death sentence.It will not take more than a couple of seasons to make sure that hardly any Ystad citizen survives. On the optimistic side the neighboring bridge to Denmark and the ferry connection to Poland will ensure sufficient influx of criminals, so the series can continue.Overall, I liked the series very much. The only thing that bothered me a bit is personal involvement of all young police officers (Linda, Stefan, Pontus, Isabel). Hey, Mr. Kurt (and creators of the series) - young people can be professional too, and not necessary former friends of criminals (at least that's what I remember from long time ago).