The Great Flood
Episode 1 of The Mire Season 2 begins in Luty 1945. German guards oversee a group of Polish inmates forced to make weapons. It’s tough work and one inmate is made an example of after missing out parts from his weapon. For his troubles, he’s forced to squat by a pole. We then fast forward to Lipiec 1997. A dead body is found on the outskirts of the forest. Detective Mika receives a call and races up to investigate. The town is a mess, thanks in part to a recent flood that’s washed through and caused chaos. This inevitably prompts a number of different people to swarm the forest, including fellow detective Jarek who’s desperate to uncover the truth. This body happens to be a boy called Daniel Gwitt, who seems to have drowned as part of the bank breaking. As fate would have it, at the police station a woman arrives to report a boy missing. Anna Jass is there to take her statement, but quickly realizes that the body in the river is that of her son. After dropping her off back home, Anna ends up drinking at the hotel bar. There she meets returning local reporter Drewicz whom she teases about his horoscope writing. Before he goes though, he does tell her that nothing happens by accident in town. He even encourages her to look into the zoning plan for Oaza Housing Estate. At the local publishing office, Piotr is given a promotion. Now in charge of the department, he’s dead-set on producing a gripping story. After picking up his daughter Wanda from the station, the pair make it to Oaza Housing Estate, a paradise compared to what the flood victims have to deal with. His wife however, is less enthused by his promotion. In fact, she believes this isn’t a coincidence. At work the next day, Piotr wonders whether to begin writing about the cemetery in the forest. He’s warned that this is political taboo, gently encouraged to remember Drewicz who actually tried to go public with it in the past but ended up with 18 months imprisonment. Instead, Piotr heads up to see Kielak, an influential man who’s currently funding the paper with ads. He wants Piotr to publicize the abduction of his son. If he does, then Kielak will double the ad revenue. The kidnappers have demanded a ransom of 200,000 and even sent him an ear in a shoebox but that was some time ago and now he’s been faced with complete radio silence. Back at the station, Anna looks over the zoning map. She hones in on the embankment and the specific part that broke. This incident seems to have taken place at around 3am but Mika shrugs it off, claiming this case is closed. Anna is not so sure. The next port of call is the coroner’s, whom she quizzes over Daniel’s autopsy. He’s definitely drowned but cuts across his eyes and burns from hogweed on his arms seem to tell a different story. As Anna leaves, she tells the coroner to keep the body there until further notice. Anna, as we soon learn, is in town for a month as past of a police exchange program. Already though she’s making her presence felt. Meanwhile, Piotr has been drawn back to town courtesy of a note from Helena. Within this, it reads: “You must come back, it’s more important than you think.” Given Helena has been dead for years, it’s certainly an ominous sign. Who wrote this? Well, Piotr gets nowhere with Wanycz, who’s certainly cagey but seems to be holding more than a few secrets.
The Episode Review
The Mire is back and instead of the grim setting of the 80’s, time has progressed forward to 1997 instead. Our characters have certainly grown with time, including Piotr who’s no longer as fresh faced as he was the first time around. Blending the real-world issues with a fictional murder mystery adds a touch of authenticity to this series and newcomer Anna immediately strikes a chord here as a competent and well-rounded investigator. This bleak Polish series certainly adopts the same tone and feel as it did the first time around, with another mysterious case and plenty to chew over already.
