Van der Valk
PBS | ITV | Release Date: September 13, 2020
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
70
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 11 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
7
Negative:
0

Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
80
Reason.comGlenn GarvinSep 12, 2020
Season 1 Review: Van der Valk is a pure, hard-boiled throwback to the days of Mickey Spillane and Jim Thompson. Read full review
80
Wall Street JournalJohn AndersonSep 10, 2020
Season 1 Review: Each of the three parts of “Van der Valk” is a stand-alone story and will make longtime “Masterpiece” and “Mystery!” fans nostalgic. Van der Valk feels about Old Master paintings the way Inspector Morse felt about opera, and Jane Tennison (“Prime Suspect”) felt about alcohol. Sex is ultimately behind everything. Love is elusive. The plotlines are serpentine. Following them is a fine way of spending part of one’s Sunday night. Read full review
80
The TimesCarol MidgleyAug 7, 2020
Season 1 Review: The writing was mostly sound and Warren has enough heft to lure me back. Whether it will succeed in this slot for ITV in the same way that Endeavour did is another question. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneNina MetzAug 31, 2023
Season 3 Review: He’s taciturn but everyone treats him like a god with a badge. His intuitions are always bang on. He’s just that good. Yet another old trope, but a reliable one. Read full review
60
The TelegraphAnita Singh Aug 8, 2022
Season 2 Review: It’s a serviceable drama with a decent ensemble. ... But there is nothing to raise Van Der Valk above other detective dramas; only the Amsterdam setting marks it out as different. Read full review
60
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushSep 11, 2020
Season 1 Review: Edgier and grislier than the norm for the franchise. [14 - 27 Sep 2020, p.11]
60
The IndependentSean O'GradyAug 7, 2020
Season 1 Review: Marc Warren is a fine actor, and there’s nothing wrong with his VdV except that he just doesn’t fit. ... More unpromising still is the scripting. ... Amsterdam retains its photogenic character and its tawdry charms, and the direction is stylish. Read full review
40
The TelegraphAnita Singh Jun 20, 2023
Season 3 Review: If the scripts and storylines improved, this could be a good show. But when you find yourself neither wondering nor caring about who committed the murder, it’s a bad sign. Read full review
40
The TimesCarol MidgleyJun 20, 2023
Season 3 Review: It ended cheesily, the killer shouting like a Scooby-Doo character: "Everything was fine until they ruined it." Van der Valk can be good at times. This wasn't one of them. Read full review
40
The TimesCarol MidgleyAug 8, 2022
Season 2 Review: Amsterdam did look nice as the detectives rushed about trying to solve the Baruch Spinoza-themed mystery, but the plot was hokum. Read full review
40
iRachael SigeeAug 8, 2022
Season 2 Review: A weird amount of time is dedicated to Van Der Valk’s new romance, which seems entirely pointless and yet necessitates several cuts to his new squeeze gasping through the episode’s climax, despite us knowing nothing about her. ... There are no surprises here; only eyerolls. Amsterdam looks great, though. Read full review
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