“Chantel” – TV Series Review

We’ll start the review of “Chantal: Season One” with a “consumer caution:” if you’re looking for an extension of the 2007 soft-core porn flick with the same title, this ain’t nowhere close to the same ballpark, so cool the jets of your libido before starting.

Regular readers know I’ve reviewed a lot of European crime series here, including many that were comedic in tone. This dramedy offers a couple of unique aspects: it’s our first from Belgium, and it’s more droll than other light faves like “Capitaine Marleau” or “Captain Sharif”. The familiar part is that the eponymous police detective (Maaike Cafmeyer) comes to a small town to head its unit. She moves there with her daughter (Anna-Marie Missoul) seeking a less taxing turf than before, so she’ll have more time to study for the Commander exam. This is meant to be only a short-term gig before moving to Brussels for the higher-level training if she passes, and a meatier position thereafter.

The little town of Loveringem, located in the western part of Flanders, isn’t quite ready for a female cop. Even though Chantal is middle-aged, everyone she meets assumes this newcomer must be an underling. She’s also resented by Rik “the Sheriff” Cloedt (Dries Heyneman) who assumed he’d become top banana, only to be outranked by the first distaff colleague they’d seen. Besides the sexism, Chantal has to circumvent smug cops from higher-ranking agencies who diss her little band of locals and try to shunt them off to menial tasks… or less.

Part of the droll humor comes from the prevailing cowboy motif of the community, despite its apparent dearth of cattle. Most of the guys dress like extras in an oater. They typically drink beer from the bottle, rather than wine. The homey main bar/social hub (Café Misery) looks like a roadhouse teleported from the southern US, complete with country music and line dancing. Everything but a mechanical bull in the décor.

Season One consists of eight hour-long episodes, opening and closing with two-parters, surrounding six stand-alone murders to solve. As usual for Euro-fare, there’s not much action or visible gore throughout. The scripts are written well enough so that even the more obvious mysteries are entertaining to watch. The cast is completely non-glamorous, making all the characters as relatable as they come, with a mix of bad eggs, good folk and oddballs. A bunch of players get fleshed out with story arcs, making the series grow cozier for viewers as they continue.

No cliffhangers. Season Two has already aired abroad, and most who start here should be eager for Chantal’s further adventures to join this charming intro to our side of the Atlantic.

“Chantel” Season One, mostly in Dutch with English subtitles, begins streaming on MHz Choice starting Tuesday, Feb. 25.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars