We started watching the excellent series “Vigil” on the Arte app before its broadcast on television from this Thursday, January 23. Until we realize a huge flaw…
Arte has scheduled the British series from this Thursday, January 23, 2025 Vigila thriller in two seasons of six episodes which combines police investigation and suspense, in a military environment spiced up by geopolitical threat. The plot of this fiction will force an experienced Scottish policewoman to immerse herself (that's the word) in a nuclear submarine to investigate the suspicious death of a soldier. In the first episode of Vigilthe body of Chief Petty Officer Craig Burke has just been discovered on the HMS Vigil, a British nuclear submarine on patrol off the coast of Scotland.
Commander Amy Silva (Suranne Jones), of the Glasgow police, is sent on board to shed light on this death, attributed to a heroin overdose. Communications with the outside world being limited to receiving telegrams, the investigator chooses a trusted person, Lieutenant Kirsten Longacre (Rose Leslie as fans of GOT will recognize) to carry out terrestrial investigations. After examining Burke's body, Amy suspects an assault, but is met with hostility from Commander Newsome. The policewoman nevertheless learns that Burke, shortly before his death, had violently opposed his superiors over the sinking of a trawler…
-The criticism of Vigil rents a “breathtaking geopolitical thriller”
The series Vigil is an excellent lesson in suspense and if it is not based on a true story, it is based on a very coherent and realistic storyline and twists. The review is also very positive, with Le Figaro hailing “a masterful lesson in suspense”, while Le Parisien praises “a military thriller mixed with geo-political tensions, which has everything to keep your head underwater”. The specialist press agrees, with Première also describing “an oppressive but fascinating thriller” with a “duo of female investigators […] masterfully interpreted” and Téléstar also goes with its “exciting geopolitical thriller”. For its part, Télérama admits that “the recipe thus implemented is not entirely new, and is very reminiscent of that of Bodyguarda very effective miniseries from the BBC (broadcast in France by Netflix) which shares the same producers”. But the very demanding review considers that Vigil “remains nonetheless devilishly effective.”
Attracted by these rave reviews, we obviously threw ourselves into the episodes of Vigilalready available online on the Arte.tv platform. And after a few minutes of viewing, we still found a serious flaw: it quickly reminded us of something, a rather disturbing scent of déjà vu set in as the scenario progressed. And for good reason: Vigil is in reality a rebroadcast, season 1 having already been broadcast on Arte in 2021 and season 2 in 2023… And we really loved it! Unlike us who were a little distracted, you have been warned. Better to know this before you start.
