What Dutch drama does very well is create emotional pits or moments. This is not a series with an overarching story line, a brilliant solution, or powerful characters. All of the characters are two dimensional and very predictable. Adding the iconic Aart Staartjes, Netherlands' quintessential 'kindervriend' adds a subplot that seems to want his monumental body of work. The writers should have had him play himself, there was absolutely no need to create a character for him. The other story lines seem to have been pulled from soaps. A man is about to leave his family for a "normal" woman but is now forced to stay with them and later with his estranged extended family. Another man is socially disturbed and needs to find his family in Belgium where his wife, a son and a mother in life are struggling on their own. Then there is the Turkish-Dutch prison guard who "escapes" with the Belgian. His loved ones are blown up and killed just because they followed the orders of the clueless prime-minister. The latter spills the beans to his wife who selfishly creates a stampede when she takes her sick father to safety while he told the people to stay put. The story snowballs to the bizarre last episode where "we" Dutch literally return to the year "zero" by building 'terpen,' elevations. There were moments I really enjoyed, there were mise-en-scenes which impressed me, but throughout the series I kept wondering, what is the point of all this? The series was co-produced by the EO, which is an Evangelical Public Television Company. The last scene is between the Prime Minister and the Turkish-Dutch prison guard, the only main character with a gun in this show. After the PM read his emotional letter he decided to have him vetted and set up a meeting. The meet at a provisional grave yard next, where his family was buried (and not in Turkey where he wanted them to be interned for eternity.) He pulls the gun at the PM but decides not do kill him but forgive him, to which the PM bursts out in tears stating that he never expected to be forgiven. They hug, the end. I honestly think it's brilliant reli-prop (religious propaganda).
Review of Als de dijken breken
