Now that Beck has been kicked upstairs he appears only intermittently in his own show. The great success of the Gunwald episodes derived for me on the fact that he was dedicated to the job, with no family or friends to speak of, so the plot dominated. His replacement Steinar, while an impressive presence, is overburdened with personal and family problems and this detracts from the plot development.

Moreover the solution to the alleged mystery emerges under a very gentle interrogation. No clever sleuthing or even police ingenuity, the perpetrator simply confesses. How lame.

Beck's female replacement leaves a lot to be desired. She's utterly ordinary, and based on this single instance has nowhere near the charisma needed to carry the show. Goodness knows how she got the role.

I'm a great fan of the series but something died alongside Gunwald.

I'm a big fan of Beck and have seen all the movies. This is not one of the best, perhaps one of the weakest. Perhaps that's because the protagonist Martin Beck now gets a more and more retrenched role, and new investigators have come in. Much of the series's strength was built around this character. Now that the new ones have come, it looks more like other competing crime series. Something special is gone. I also did not like the story here, it is not the most exciting or sensational. But it's certainly demanding to come up with new good stories when this is movie No. 38. I think if the series is going to survive, they must come up with stronger content than this and I'm unsure whether the new female lead role owner has what it takes to be a good substitute for Beck. I doubt it, but I will continue to follow.

When a woman is found dead at the bottom of her stairs it is assumed that she was murdered. The two prime suspects are her abusive ex-husband and her current boyfriend. Tensions are already high between Steinar and new boss Alexandra 'Alex' Beijer before disagree about who the killer is. The way Steinar goes about stresses his belief serves to undermine Alex's authority. The more we learn about the two suspects the harder it is to determine which, if either, is guilty. Beck himself takes a relatively minor role; mostly mediating between Steinar and Alex; he also has to deal with his neighbour who has stopped drinking and seems all the worse for it.

This episode provides a decent central mystery although it is clear from early on that this is there to provide a source of tension between Alex and Steinar. This in turn gives Beck something to do; with is ever reducing role in the solving of cases I can't help wondering how long the character will survive in the series that bears his name. He still provides some entertainment; mostly in the scenes with his neighbour; they are always an hilarious highpoint to episodes. The story provides some good tense moments; especially the gripping finale. Overall a decent enough episode if not a classic.

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