Capitani – Full Season 1 Review

Episode Guide

Episode 1 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 2 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 3 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 4 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 5 – | Review Score – 3/5
Episode 6 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 7 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 8 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 9 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 10 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 11 – | Review Score – 3.5/5
Episode 12 – | Review Score – 4/5

Moody, atmospheric and well-written, Capitani is a real slow burn gem. Set in the heart of a village full of deceptive characters and lots of secrets, Capitani is perfect crime drama fodder and a compelling trip from start to finish. Although some of the characters aren’t as fleshed out as they could be, the central mystery is decent enough to stick with until the end.

The subject in question here revolves around the dead body of a 15 year old girl called Jenny. Having seemingly fallen from a cliff at a peculiar angle, a rock cairn, military base and familial secrets shroud the local area in mystery. In order to wade through this veil of deception, the investigation falls on the competent shoulders of investigator Luc Capitani, who’s forced to try and figure out what’s happened.

Enlisting the help of local officers Mores and Ley, Capitani starts conducting a full scale investigation, interviewing the different residents and piecing together the clues.

Along the way, numerous red herrings, half truths and conspiratorial questions pop up, leading to an excellent finale that rounds things out nicely and leaves enough in the tank for a possible second season. Don’t worry though, Capitani does not fall into the dreaded Netflix trap of a biting cliffhanger, instead wrapping up this case nicely with a neat little bow.

Tonally, Capitani feels like a mash-up of various different crime dramas we’ve seen in recent times. There are elements of Polish series Signs, Korean drama The Village: Achiara’s Secret and, more recently, Netflix’s The Woods. The result is a delightful cocktail of influences that blend together to form a cohesive and well-paced slow burn.

Each chapter here clocks in at around 25-30 minutes a piece, making for a brisk series that never wastes time hanging around with needless subplots or filler. Capitani never loses sight of its central mystery and it’s all the stronger for it.

There’s a whole medley of different characters here too, and Capitani does a great job bringing lots of different suspects to the foreground across its run-time.

The presence of the military base nearby is a good one, while the isolated setting of the woods helps to build a growing list of suspects. Even when a breakthrough is made, there’s always a sense that there’s more to this story than meets the eye. Without giving too much away, this is most certainly the case here.

Simmering in the background with all this though is a separate storyline involving Capitani’s past. This is easily the weakest part of the whole show, and although we’re given a breadcrumb trail to follow across these 12 episodes, it’s clear that it’s never the central focus of the show.

Capitani certainly doesn’t reinvent the wheel or produce anything we haven’t seen before but it does bring some new energy and an intriguing case to boot. The pacing is just about right and the different characters have a lot baggage to help fuel the secrets swarming this moody village. If you’re a fan of crime dramas, this one is certainly worth checking out!

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