Series « The Reserve »: When an au pair disappears without a trace

For many young women from Luxembourg and other countries in Europe, it is rarely men, life as a au pair sounds like great fun: a year abroad, stand on their own feet for the first time, earn some money and see a little of the world. Not always, but often this time is in the distance – for teenagers from local latitudes, this usually means USA or Canada – a phase of life in which valuable experiences are gained and friendships are closed for life.

But there is also a downside of the medal: Because to North America, but also to Central and Northern Europe, there are also many young people from developing and emerging countries who see the trip to the western world as a possibility to escape misery in their homeland.

The dream is within reach

« Secrets We Keep » is more in this milieu; In a suburb of Copenhagen, in which the au pair girls do not come from Spain or Italy, but from the Philippines. You hope for a restart here in Europe. This even coincides with the actual figures: most of the au pairs in Denmark comes from the Southeast Asian archipelago. And for decades.

One of these young women is Angel (Excel Busano), who not only takes over the care work for the two children at Cecile (Marie Bach Hansen) and Mike (Simon Sears), but also throws the household. The Filipina is well integrated in the family and therefore leads a more pleasant life as a colleague Ruby (Donna Levkovski), who has a sad existence at a friend of Cecile as a cheap work.

And even more seems to be in the Argen: Ruby turns to help with Cecile one evening. But this blocks and does not want to interfere with her friends’ affairs. The businesswoman regrets this decision a little later, because Ruby disappears overnight and leaves everything behind.

Now Cecile is listening and, like Angel, goes in search of the missing person and thus immerse yourself deeper into the life of her fellow human beings. The police will only be switched on later. Aicha, a young investigator, seems to be the only person with the authority who is the heart of the fate of the missing person.

When Aicha makes a discovery, the circle closes to Cecile and her search. The question of whether family man Mike has his fingers in the game because a crime in the past makes him one of the suspects is getting louder. And the two teen sons of the two families also have secrets that could possibly contribute to clarifying the circumstances.

The facade is slowly crumbling

Gradually, the facade in the villa suburbs of Copenhagen crumbles in the first episodes of the six -part series. After just a few seconds, the viewers become aware that Cecile lives in an illusory world. And yet it remains exciting to see how the blonde protagonist immerses them deeper and deeper into the world, which was not visible to her until the time of the au pair disappeared.

The shooting team initially gives history to develop. There is no information, the connections of the figures to each other remain unclear, the atmosphere dramatically cool … and then the puzzle fits together. But the solution to the riddle, which is revealed much too early, is not that satisfactory.

While some characters are excellently developed, such as those of suspicious mother Cecile and the Angel Angel, which is troubled by worries, other central characters remain underdeveloped. Or do you really have to represent a woman as a high-heels-wearing bitch, present her husband as a greasy racist to make it clear that there is something lazy with a couple? “Secrets We Keep” is always suitable for an exciting TV evening despite some weaknesses.

Incidentally, the series is entitled « Reservatet » in the Danish (in German: « The Reserve ») and releases the serial fans with further questions about which it is worth discussing: Who lives here in a protected area and who needs to be protected? The wealthy people who areolate themselves, or the young women from Asia, who are looking for their happiness unprotected in a foreign world full of disappointments?

The six episodes of the « Secrets We Keep » series are available on Netflix.