The Mallorca Files

Rated TV-14 • Prime Video

Season 3 of the BBC’s The Mallorca Files once again sees Welsh detective Miranda Blake (Elen Rhys) and German detective Max Winter (Julian Looman) teaming up to solve crimes on the beautiful Spanish island of Mallorca.

The breezy crime series offers the typical buddy-cop setup—two officers are forced into a partnership despite their conflicting personalities. Miranda brings a no-nonsense British sensibility to her police work, while Max seems to be on a permanent island holiday even as he tracks down dangerous criminals. The fact that the duo dash around a sun-drenched island in a convertible makes the series reminiscent of Magnum P.I.

The Mallorca Files takes a case-of-the-week approach with the detectives solving a variety of crimes—for example, kidnapping, murder, fraud, or arson. Although each episode revolves around bringing criminals to justice, The Mallorca Files maintains an upbeat, sunny vibe. It’s the kind of crime show in which the heroes rarely fire their guns. In fact, Miranda—in typical British fashion—refuses to even carry a firearm.

Rhys and Looman have good chemistry, but Looman’s goofy Max is the more likable of the two. In Season 2, Max’s girlfriend turned down his proposal of marriage, so this season turns up the romantic tension between Miranda and Max. We see occasional sparks of interest, but the two don’t spark at the same time. Even so, the overarching narrative of Miranda and Max takes a back seat to their weekly escapades.

The show is mostly family friendly but contains occasional mild swearing. Even so, fans of the buddy-cop genre will appreciate this lighthearted, sometimes silly, series.