Spiral: State of Terror

Series four, episodes one and two
The French thriller series has never shirked from tackling tough issues, and this fourth season has a doozy: the relatively unexplored grey areas of left-wing anarchism. Laure and the gang get involved when a gruesomely mutilated corpse is discovered in the woods, and the trail leads to just such a group. Away from clandestine violence, however, the legitimate side of the organisation lobbies against the detention of illegal immigrants – which is where odd-couple legal eagles Pierre and Josephine enter the fray.

With Gilou keeping more bad company and the shooting of serial killer Ronaldo still hanging over Laure from the previous series, there’s no shortage of physical or mental trauma for our ill-starred antiheroes. It’s effortlessly intriguing, with only the absence of silver fox Judge Roban a matter of regret. And for fans of gratuitous gore, there’s a scene for the ages involving a crow, a rat and a dismembered hand.