'Undercover' Season 2 Preview: Formulaic Belgian-Dutch crime drama looks enjoyable even with stale tropes
Crime dramas are not something that has, despite being such an overpopulated genre, managed to evolve much. There are noted exceptions to this rule of course. But for the most part, crime dramas, especially serialized ones, tend to be painfully formulaic. The Belgian-Dutch series 'Undercover', which is soon to have its second season, is not one of the exceptions.
‘Undercover’ is inspired by a series of real-life events, where undercover agents infiltrate drug kingpin Ferry Bouman's (Frank Lammers) operation in Limburg, the Belgian province bordering the Netherlands. The infiltration is executed by two agents, Bob Lemmens (Tom Waes) and Kim de Rooij (Anna Drijver).
Infiltration as a trope, even if based on true events, is hardly a new one. From ‘Donny Brasco’ to ‘The Departed’, we’ve seen enough of it play out, and while the aforementioned names are good examples, the bad ones outnumber them substantially. Similarly, in the aftermath of ‘Narcos’ and ‘Narcos: Mexico’, and to a degree, even ‘Breaking Bad’, the drug-kingpin versus cops storyline has also gotten somewhat stale.
But despite all that stands against it in terms of better products, ‘Undercover’ Season 1 was not bad per se. Yes, it’s full of predictable tropes but it was not an eyesore -- visual work, especially off-late, has been a bit of a problem with many of the less famous, oft-neglected Netflix shows. So, what does season 2 hold for audiences?
As per Netflix, almost a year after the events of season 1, Kim now works for a human rights NGO. With the help of her former colleague Bob, her investigation into illegal arms trade in Syria leads her to El Dorado Ranch, a horse riding ranch in the Belgian countryside. Bob goes undercover and tries to get into the good graces of the brothers Laurent and JP Berger, arms dealers.
Meanwhile from inside prison, Ferry Bouman continues his search for the true identities of undercover agents Bob and Kim, while Bob’s teenage daughter Polly wants to find out for once and for all who her father really is.
So, we have a familiar villain coming back with ideas of revenge. Sounds somewhat exciting, doesn’t it? Like season 1, this season too is visually impressive. The trailer lays out the plot with intentionally tense background music. And it does have all the signs of a high-octane ride, similar to stuff made by Alex Pina (‘Money Heist’). But the question is, like Pina’s work, will this show created by Nico Moolenaar, succumb to pitfalls of forced conflict and an overuse of deus ex machina?
If the first season is any indication, it will. But even if something is predictably mediocre, doesn’t mean it can’t be enjoyable. Pina’s shows are proof of that. But while the story department doesn’t offer much hope of improvement, there is a production aspect that needs to be bettered.
Season 1 of ‘Undercover’, the Dutch-language show, became difficult to enjoy for American audiences simply because its English dub was less than satisfactory. In fact, it was, by all accounts, pretty bad. This has not been a problem with many Netflix shows. ‘Money Heist’ again is a good example of dubbing done well. As is ‘Dark’. Let’s hope that ‘Undercover’ Season 2 will see better work in that department.
'Undercover' stars Anna Drijver, Frank Lammers, Tom Waes, Elise Schaap, Raymond Thiry, Tim Haars, Kevin Janssens, and Huub Smit.
'Undercover' Season 2 arrives on Netflix on September 6, 2020.