Finally, the second series of The Killing has begun airing on BBC4. I say finally, but as I watched the last series so recently, it doesn’t seem all that long ago that I was cheering on Sarah Lund and friends to find the murderer. At the end of the first series, Lund walked out of the police station and into the sunshine - presumably to a happier and better life.

Or not. As we find out, she has been living a lonely existence, exiled to border control. She’s still got a connection with her family but remains distant from her son Mark (who has shot up by the way!) and indifferent to her mother’s impending marriage.

A visit to the family enables her to get embroiled in the current case though, and the police chiefs seem happy enough to ignore her past so she can use her skills. Interestingly, as much as I love Lund, she had never struck me as the type that threw new light on a case. She seemed more of the doggedly determined sort - one who just won’t give up and always gets there in the end - rather than the Sherlock style connecting the invisible dots.

Nevertheless, she is back and we are happy to have her. Brix is also back and supporting her all the way, as is her new partner Strange. Great name, although the Danes don’t seem keen on pronouncing the extra ’e’ which makes all the difference. Strange has all the charming cheek and bravery of Meyer (I miss Jan), but Lund seems to respond to him much better. We’ve even seen her smile!

Last series we had three distinct factions - the grieving family, the struggling police, and the slippery politicians. This time, there are even more divisions and already it is quite complicated. The politicians are back, this time higher up in government I think. I’ve always struggled with the politics side of things - justice minister this and private secretary that. I like the big guy with his bouncing ball though.

There’s the army, who may or may not be covering things up. There’s the army wife who has decided to follow her escaped husband (I think). There’s the husband who finds himself always in the wrong place at the wrong time, and still looks just like Jenson Button.

There’s all the individual people who are being killed - because this time we are not focusing on just one solitary but brutal murder. We are on the trail of a serial killer/terrorist seemingly hell bent on revenge for whatever it is the army are trying to cover up. That’s my take on it at the moment, but we’ve seen before that there are plenty of twists and turns still to come.

So far, I’m enjoying what I’m seeing. It’s different, certainly. There’s more story to pack in, more people to follow, so less time to delve into their emotions - particularly remembering how much time we spent sharing the grief of Pernille and Theis. Despite this, they’ve still managed to keep the essence of the show, it’s still very dark (visually), and Lund still wears those fabulous jumpers. We even saw a rather risque v-neck version.

I’ve seen so many “knit your own Lund jumper” patterns that I am sorely tempted, but sadly I do not lack the skills. I have knitted a garment before but it was just plain knitting and my mother was nearby to a) pick up stitches when I dropped them and b) sew it all together once I got bored of it. Perhaps I’ll add it to my life list for something to do in the rather distant future.

In summary, then, the first five episodes have been great. I always struggle to find a complete hour at a time that I can sit and purely focus on the screen. I am an obsessive multi-tasker and that makes reading the subtitles and following the plot difficult. But I’m doing my best, and I always enjoy it when I do make the effort.

For the next few episodes, I want to know what the army is hiding. That Sorgaard chap seems no good but it may not be connected to the murders. I’m hoping Raben isn’t fitted up for all the deaths so far, despite the fact he’s always around when they happen. Although, we just left him with a gun pointing at his head, so he probably has bigger concerns right now. Finally, I want to see if Lund can actually manage to develop a relationship with Strange - not necessarily romantic, but it would do her good to have someone to talk to.