Television Review: Signs (Znaki, Seasons 1-2, 2018 - 2020)
Nordic noir was always destined to be imitated beyond Scandinavia's borders, and Poland—blessed with a sizeable population and thus a substantial domestic market for crime fiction—has emerged as one of the more prolific adopters of the genre. In recent years, the country best known to fantasy enthusiasts as the birthplace of The Witcher has witnessed something of a boom in crime fiction, first in literature and subsequently on screen. Among the televisual offerings is Signs (Znaki), a series that aired on the international AXN network from 2018 and was, until very recently, available on Netflix in its two-season entirety.
The drama unfolds in Sowie Doly, a fictional town nestled in the Owl Mountains—a wooded, remote region of southwestern Poland hard against the Czech frontier. The settlement is sufficiently minuscule that the protagonist, newly appointed police commander Michał Trela (Andrzej Konopka), is forced to lodge as a tenant on the property of Adriana Nieradka (Helena Sujecka), one of his own subordinates. Trela, whose transfer from Kraków was accompanied by whispers of a drink-sodden past, soon discovers that this ostensibly charming, sleepy hamlet conceals a wealth of dark secrets—including an unsolved murder of a young woman committed several years prior.
Trela must contend with a fresh killing in which one of the initial suspects is none other than Błażej Nieradki (Michał Czernecki), Adriana's husband, whom Trela had previously caught in flagrante in an affair with the murder victim. When a second death occurs, Trela realises he may be hunting a serial killer. Complicating matters further is Nina (Magdalena Żak), his adolescent daughter, who befriends Agata (Helena Englert), the "troubled" daughter of Antoni Paszke (Mirosław Kropielnicki), the town mayor. Paszke, meanwhile, is up to his neck in decidedly murky dealings surrounding the construction of a mine financed by shadowy foreign investors.
Signs in its first season gives the distinct impression that its creators prized style over substance, and were not unduly concerned with originality. The fundamental premise owes a conspicuous debt to better-known Anglo-American series such as Twin Peaks and Broadchurch—a debt the writers attempt to obscure with a plethora of subplots that function rather awkwardly, and not always successfully, as some sort of coherent whole. What draws the viewer in far more than the narrative is the skilful deployment of the striking mountain locations, which create a genuinely distinctive atmosphere.
A measure of differentiation from standard police procedurals is provided by the incorporation of Catholic motifs—specifically, religious bigotry—which allows for the construction of several intriguing characters: the leader of a local cult and self-proclaimed healer Jonasz (Andrzej Mastalerz); the young, fanatical policeman Sobczyk (Piotr Trojan); and the newly appointed parish priest Śmigielski (Rafał Cieszyński), who clearly harbours a dark secret from his own past. Though the series is rendered rather convoluted by its numerous subplots and risks baffling its audience, it nevertheless functions—and the lion's share of credit belongs to the cast. Andrzej Konopka proves highly effective as a policeman who, despite manifold flaws, ultimately endeavours to do the right thing. Even more impressive is Helena Sujecka, who may well be the sole normal character in this dysfunctional milieu; she brings considerable realism to the role, deftly balancing feminine vulnerability with a hardy, salt-of-the-earth resilience. The first season might thus scrape a passing grade, despite a predictably irritating cliffhanger.
The second season, however, reveals its authors attempting something "new" and "original"—and, as is so often the case, overreaching considerably. Signs abruptly detaches itself from the "pure" crime genre and ventures into the realm of fantasy, with the screenwriters—having apparently exhausted their exploitation of rural Poland in the late 2010s—plunging deep into the past. Consequently, the series now encompasses Soviets, Nazis, flying saucers, and hints of time travel. All this suggests that fresh inspiration was sought in the German series Dark, yet the result is chaos of an even greater magnitude. The problem extends beyond content to form: a new subplot involves the hunt for lost treasure conducted by the young historian Eliza Konieczna (Ewa Jakubowicz), presented through flashbacks and non-linear narration that grows increasingly irksome, and ultimately utterly bewildering. The anticipated multiple cliffhanger at the season's end represents the very embodiment of melodramatic cliché, as well as the creators' inability to offer viewers anything coherent.
The second season thus comprehensively spoils the impression of the series; should the makers wish to salvage its reputation, they shall need to produce something of quite extraordinary quality in a third season—should such a season ever be commissioned.
RATING: 3/10 (+)
(Note: The text in the original Croatian version is available here.)
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