2024-05-04 16:52:27
Ostrava criminal investigators are monitoring the crime scene. A young woman killed in a particularly brutal manner has numerous bruises on her head and genitals. The first clues appear, the killer may soon escape across the border somewhere to the east. Action is needed. And the heroes of the mini-series Side product, the first part of which is broadcast on Sunday evening by Czech Television, do not have time to think about whether the investigation is always conducted according to the rules.
Detective Josef Krulich, portrayed by Tomáš Maštalír in the three-part novel, is not exactly the impulsive type. Actually, he thinks very rationally, that is, until the moment when anyone starts to prevent him from pursuing justice. And unfortunately this happens often.
When it is necessary to tap a suspect’s phone without permission, Josef finds a way. When a colleague from the department of DNA analysis and other clues tells him that they haven’t obtained the necessary sample from the choker yet, the hero has no problem insulting her and her entire team.
And as soon as he and his colleague Michal find out that the giant two-meter guy standing in front of them on the stairs of the hostel in the middle of the night is a wanted murderer, they don’t hesitate to jump on him. In this, Michal, played by Martin Hofmann, is an even bigger champion. Little does either know that the mountain of meat used to be a Belarusian Olympian and Greco-Roman wrestling champion. Even so, he eventually ends up in a police car – that is, first by flying his head through the driver’s window.
Screenwriters Jakub Režný and Aleš Preis have written a fast-paced crime thriller full of protagonists who often do not act according to correct investigative procedures. At the same time, they don’t need to show off their actions and look like Clint Eastwood.
While Režný has screenwriting experience from, for example, the successful TV film Dukla 61, Preis is an active policeman who “needed to get out of the wounded police soul”, as he said. And a certain frustration with how due to the paperwork and protocols the criminals escape from under the hands of the detectives, can be felt from the first moments of the series. Actually, it is, at least judging by the first part, the central theme.
The byproduct starts out as a solid crime story. Michael is played by Martin Hofmann, Josef is portrayed by Tomáš Maštalír. | Photo: Tomáš Martínek
When they manage to catch and charge the Belarusian murderer, the heroes receive bonuses – and as a bonus, from the head of the local murder party, Petra, played by Zuzana Stivínová, Josef receives an “opportunity” to examine files with uninvestigated, shelved old cases.
Although he has his own words about it, in the end he seizes the opportunity responsibly. And he really finds a case that could be clarified. If only 16 days were left before its statute of limitations and closure, and if whoever could move the evidence, the colleague in question was not able to perform a DNA analysis, which Josef had recently insulted. And especially if the boss did not give a clear instruction that this case would not be opened.
The by-product certainly does not suffer from the fact that it takes a long time to catch its breath like so many Czech miniseries, which in the first part often search for themselves and their viewers. Director Peter Bebjak has already established himself sufficiently in the crime genre and benefits from well-written characters. Although they fit into well-known patterns, they never fall into pronounced clichés.
Boss Petra is not a rigid tyrant who torments her slightly bohemian subordinates. Even if – in terms of his position, of course – he has to tame them, he seems fair. In addition, he makes it clear to Josef that he himself is to blame for her decision. For if he now came to his colleagues with a request for an analysis, which he had recently unfairly ridiculed as a functional method, they would just consider him a moron.
The nudging works similarly with some less popular collaborators, such as Míra equipped with a large mustache and the slightly slimy irony of the actor Albert Čuba. Nobody is just a figure.
The first episode of the mini-series The Byproduct is broadcast by Czech Television this Sunday. | Video: Czech Television
Of course, Josef disobeys Petra and embarks on the investigation of an ancient murder on his own. In the first third of the story, it is clear that this crossing of borders will be the main theme.
The new miniseries doesn’t want to glorify cops who run outside the law. For now, it’s more about expressing frustration at not being able to act for various reasons.
At the same time, after watching the opening episode, many doors remain open for further twists and motifs. For example, the aggressive, impulsive Michal hides from everyone, including his partner Josef. Or how a former colleague, who was once in charge of them, fits into uninvestigated cases.
Byproduct starts off as a solid crime thriller that feels like co-writer Preis has really added “meat in the form of different real-life stories that I’ve been working on,” as he put it. Although he advises that the ratio of fact and fiction will be fifty to fifty.
We will see where the news will develop and whether it will be able to extract the motive of the pursuit of justice at almost any cost not only as a well-known stereotype of detective production, but as a supporting, among other ethical topic.