This long series began its decline when Beck's sidekick, Gunwald Larsson, was killed. His replacement was a mediocre substitute despite being a powerful actor. This show represents its ultimate fall. Beck has been kicked upstairs and is almost invisible in his own show.

A chronic symptom of ailing crime series is the temptation of the author to focus on the personalities of the detectives, their domestic problems that spill over into their work, invariably at the expense of the plot, which in this one is paper thin. Check that box. Then the brother of a lead detective is deeply involved in the case. Another box checked, for added emotional pull. Add to that a few bits of incredibly stupid and sloppy police work, several coincidences that would never happen in a dozen lives, toss in a lazy script, and you have the recipe for the kind of show I wish I'd never watched. I don't know whether more Beck is planned but this will be my last.

I am a fan of Beck but I hated this last episode so I am not sorry that the series ended for the time being. The plot is annoying Martin Beck is hardly present. Steinar character is good but Alex does not do. A pity because as I said I loved the series.

As this episode opens a man is confronted and shot dead in a restaurant. Afterwards all of those questioned claim to have seen mothering; apart from one man who thought the killer was a woman... it was a man... with a beard. Checking up on this witness it quickly emerges that he has a criminal record and that his lawyer was police woman Alex's brother, Paul. While the police don't know it we see how the killer is deliberately getting Paul into his debt so he can be pressured into finding out what is going on in the police investigation. Back with the police there are more tensions between Alex and Steiner; the latter is also having problems with his marriage and is considering taking a new position away from the team.

This episode was a solid enough conclusion to the current season. There was no mystery as we saw the killer committing the murder then saw how he pressured Paul to get information from his sister. This doesn't mean there was no tension; we see that Paul is mixed up with really dangerous people and there is the question of whether the police will be able to safeguard a witness who has yet to come forward before the killer gets to her. The tensions between Steiner and new boss Alex have dragged on a little too long; hopefully it will all be resolved by the time the next season starts. Beck's role seems to be ever decreasing which is a pity; at least we got a very funny scene with him and his neighbour. Overall a solid enough story; I don't think the series is quite as good as it used to be but it is good enough for me to hope for another season.

These comments are based on watching the episode in Swedish with English subtitles.