Hello friends!
There are many police investigation TV shows, I like the genre of investigation and suspense and to watch a variety of TV shows and movies. And this time I want to share the review of one of them that is special and original although surely less known and popular.
We usually see that the most popular ones tend to be American series, although the English ones are quite good as well, but I also really like French TV shows too and curiously I have found out that there are many to choose from, the complete opposite of the Spanish ones which I don't like at all, sorry. And some time ago I shared already a post about a French investigation TV show linked to art called “The Art of Crime” here which I really liked for that combination of themes and its originality, because honestly, many of them are similar.
An original French TV show is “Bright Minds”, that is the international title in English that they have given it (and that one arrived also here), but its original title in French is “Astrid et Raphaëlle”. And it has a different plot that attracts a lot of attention.
What is it about?
It's about a girl named Astrid with autism who works in the police judicial archives as an office administrator, where all the investigations are filed. But in one of those investigations, a police officer named Raphaëlle needs information from there to link some cases and she realizes that Astrid's help and memory are essential to solving the enigmas.
So she realizes her potential despite suffering from autism and having many social and interaction limitations, but finally she becomes part of the research team, being the one who pays attention to details that no one else sees, in the special way that she sees them and also makes use of her great memory and her great capacity for relating and analyzing data.
The chapters run through various crime investigations that they solve as a team, while the characters change and grow together, especially Astrid, whom we grow fond of and see how she evolves step by step.
And the characters?
These two are the main characters because a solid and respectful friendship relationship is built between Astrid and Raphaëlle that works for both of them.
- On the one hand, Astrid (actress Sara Mortensen), who is passionate about enigmas, riddles that she solves obsessively, and about ancient criminal data. She is very strict with schedules, with her manias, with her aversion to human contact and noise. But little by little she becomes improving in those areas, understanding more of those sensory limits that people with autism find difficult to reach, and at the same time for that reason they also find it difficult to be understood by others.
- And Raphaëlle (actress Lola Dewaere) is the one who understands her best, a spontaneous and somewhat chaotic woman but a very efficient police officer who knows how to observe and respect those differences. And at the same time she explains all to her directly how she needs and so that Astrid can assimilate many of those things about the sometimes ambiguous or complex reality that a person with autism finds difficult to integrate and her temporal crisis.
But there are also other characters, such as fellow police officer Nico, Nora another young agent specializing in digital crimes, the forensic doctor with whom Astrid engages in intellectual conversations about possible causes of death, a support group with more autistic people that she joins every Thursday, and the serious but understanding chief commissioner. Little by little they all learn to see Astrid as one of the team, but respecting her particularities. That's the beautiful thing.
And what do I like the most?
Precisely that, the beauty of the relationships between these characters. In addition to the investigations of crimes in Paris, some with interesting scripts, we become attached to these two women who are so different but both so human, who are learning to make those differences their best assets, making them both the best.
And of course, Astrid's role helps us all better understand people with autism even though it is a fiction, but we can understand that they see the world from another point of view and with other sensations and thus we realize that they are people with their talents and skills who can also contribute a lot to everyone in society.
So just for that remarkable topic I recommend this French police investigation TV show where autism become a part of an interesting investigation police team: Bright Minds (both women are differently bright minds indeed).
This last Friday I have watched the last episode currently broadcast, until new season, the episode 8 of season 4 (very intriguing and with some cliffhanger!).
Original title: Astrid et Raphaëlle (2019-)
More information about the TV show and all the shared images here:
IMDB - Bright Minds
Thanks for reading! Have a nice and kind day.
The text is totally mine by ©Duvinca
The images screenshots and some info are from imbd.com and the lead image has been done by me using Canva.com
