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Crossing Lines

From Alfawiki
Crossing Lines
Company typeTelevision series
IndustryEntertainment
FoundedJune 9, 2013; 13 years ago (2013-06-09)
FounderEdward Allen Bernero, Rola Bauer
Headquarters
The Hague (fictional headquarters of the crime unit)
,
Netherlands
Area served
International
Key people
Edward Allen Bernero (developer and executive producer), Rola Bauer (developer and executive producer)
ProductsTelevision series
Websitewww.nbc.com/crossing-lines

Crossing Lines is a crime drama television series produced through an international collaboration, developed and executive produced by Edward Allen Bernero and Rola Bauer. The show made its debut on June 9, 2013, during the Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo, followed by its initial airing in Italy on June 14, 2013, via Rai 2, and later premiered in the United States on NBC on June 23, 2013.

After TF1 confirmed a second season, the entire season became available on Amazon Prime Instant Video in the UK starting August 15, 2014. The first two seasons were available for streaming on Netflix. On February 20, 2015, the series received renewal for a third season, which premiered on September 15, 2015.

Plot

Carl Hickman, once an officer with the New York Police Department, battles morphine dependency following an injury sustained on the job and currently works as a carnival refuse collector in the Netherlands. He is enlisted to join a specialized crime unit of the International Criminal Court (a fictional entity) headquartered in The Hague. This team tackles crimes crossing national borders and is composed of specialists in areas such as organized crime, undercover operations, technical investigations, human trafficking, and weapons and tactics from multiple European nations.

Main

  • William Fichtner portrays Carlton "Carl" Hickman (seasons 1–2), Detective First Grade with the NYPD in the United States
  • Marc Lavoine plays Louis Daniel (seasons 1–2), Major at France’s Direction Centrale de la Police Judiciaire / International Criminal Court
  • Gabriella Pession acts as Eva Vittoria (seasons 1–2), Sovrintendente (Sergeant) with Italy’s Nucleo Operativo Centrale di Sicurezza / Europol
  • Richard Flood appears as Tommy McConnell (seasons 1–2), Detective from the Police Service of Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
  • Tom Wlaschiha is Sebastian Berger, Kommissar (Detective) with Berliner Polizei, Germany
  • Donald Sutherland plays Michel Dorn from the International Criminal Court based in the Netherlands
  • Moon Dailly features as Anne-Marie San (season 1), O.P.J. (Detective) at France’s Police Nationale
  • Genevieve O'Reilly appears as Sienna Pride (pilot only), Police Inspector at Scotland Yard, United Kingdom
  • Lara Rossi portrays Arabela Seeger (guest season 1; main seasons 2–3), Inspecteur with Regiokorps Rotterdam Rijnmond in the Netherlands
  • Goran Visnjic acts as Marco Constante (season 3), Police Inspector in Milan, Italy
  • Elizabeth Mitchell plays Carine Strand (season 3), Inspector and Senior Investigator at the International Criminal Court; formerly with Chicago Police Department, United States
  • Naomi Battrick is Ellie Delfont-Bogard (season 3), forensic psychologist graduate associated with the Metropolitan Police Service, United Kingdom
  • Stuart Martin portrays Luke Wilkinson (season 3), Inspector within the Metropolitan Police Service, United Kingdom

Recurring

Production

Crossing Lines was jointly commissioned by France's TF1 and Sony for its AXN network. This project represented Tandem Communications' inaugural hour-long drama series and its first venture following the 2012 acquisition by StudioCanal. The debut season's filming took place in Paris, Nice, and predominantly Prague, which served as a stand-in for multiple locations such as Paris, Italy, the Netherlands, Berlin, and Vienna. SoundSquare in Prague managed the audio post-production, while Universal Production Partners handled video post-production. The production budget for the first season in the Czech Republic was approximately €10 million.

Showrunner Bernero sought to combine recognizable storytelling elements with novel European backdrops to captivate audiences. Subsequent shooting also included scenes filmed in Opatija, Croatia, with notable sequences at Hotel Imperial during the third season.

Series overview

Season Number of episodes Original broadcast dates DVD and Blu-ray release dates
Season premiere Season finale Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
1 10 June 23, 2013 (2013-06-23) August 18, 2013 (2013-08-18) January 21, 2014 (2014-01-21) Template:N/A Template:N/A
2 12 August 15, 2014 (2014-08-15) September 4, 2014 (2014-09-04) Template:N/A Template:N/A Template:N/A
3 12 September 30, 2015 (2015-09-30) December 4, 2015 (2015-12-04) Template:N/A Template:N/A Template:N/A

Season 1 (2013)

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Season 2 (2014)

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Season 3 (2015)

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Release and broadcast

The series made its debut on June 9, 2013, during the Opening Ceremonies of the 53rd Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo, marking the first occasion the festival opened with a television series.

Its initial television airing occurred in Italy on June 14, 2013, on public broadcaster RAI via Rai 2. In the United States, the premiere was on NBC on June 23, 2013. The UK release followed on October 25, 2013, through the LoveFilm streaming service.

TF1 commissioned a second season consisting of twelve episodes, which became available on Amazon Video UK starting August 15, 2014; all seasons have been accessible there since 2019. NBC chose not to continue broadcasting beyond the first season. In Canada, the CBC aired second-season episodes during late-night slots.

Netflix streamed the initial two seasons and announced that season three would launch on February 19, 2015. The series was renewed for a twelve-episode third season on February 20, 2015, with airing commencing on September 15, 2015.

Reception

Tom Conroy from Media Life Magazine appreciated the show's European backdrop, particularly the inclusion of train journeys connecting various cities, which he found to be a welcome departure from conventional American television settings. He suggested that Donald Sutherland's involvement seemed primarily intended to leverage his star power, observing that his philosophical lines appeared minimal and mainly served to justify the production expenses. Conroy ultimately characterized the series as an "unimaginative procedural" that "mostly stays within conventional boundaries," despite what its title might imply. Similarly, David Wiegand of the San Francisco Chronicle emphasized the distinctive European locations as a notable element and viewed Sutherland’s role as advantageous. Conversely, Joanne Ostrow from Heritage Newspapers perceived the program more as a "device aimed at international sales rather than a serious dramatic work."

The series Crossing Lines has drawn criticism for inaccurately portraying the International Criminal Court (ICC). In reality, the ICC's jurisdiction is limited exclusively to crimes against humanity, war crimes, and genocide. Unlike the fictional special crime unit depicted in the show, the ICC does not maintain its own police force or investigative team. Kevin Jon Heller, Associate Professor specializing in international criminal law at the University of Melbourne, highlighted that the series fosters false impressions regarding the court’s powers and functioning, which depend heavily on state consent through ratification of the Rome Statute and collaboration in supplying resources for investigations and prosecutions.

In truth, when excluding the dramatized shooting sequences, Crossing Lines more closely resembles the multinational investigative teams of the initial International Criminal Tribunal based in The Hague. These investigators from diverse countries operated across borders to tackle severe offenses such as murder, rape, torture, and kidnapping committed during conflicts in former Yugoslavia. John Cencich’s book The Devil's Garden: A War Crimes Investigator's Story recounts how law enforcement officers from Germany, France, Belgium, the United Kingdom, Italy, and the United States functioned under United Nations Security Council authority—independent of national police agencies—to pursue justice against war criminals.

See also

External links

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