12 March (12 March 2017) – 29 March 2017 (29 March 2017)
Spravedlnost (Slovak: Spravodlivosť,'Absolution, Justice') is a Czech crime television series. It tells the story of police investigator Richard who investigates the murder of a prominent judge which was committed by his daughter, Lily. The first episode premiered on 12 March 2017.[1][2] It was directed by Peter Bebjak. Ondřej Vetchý, who stars in the series, collaborated with Bebjak on Případy 1. oddělení.[3]
Spravedlnost received the Czech Lion Award for the Best Television Film or Miniseries of 2017.[4]
Plot
Richard is a police investigator who has not seen his daughter Lily in a very long time. The series starts when Lily shows up at his door and asks for help. She tells him that she has fallen in love with Judge Kowalský, but he attacked her and she killed him in self-defense. Richard decides to help her at all costs.[3] Richard becomes the lead investigator in the case of Kowalský's murder.[5]
Cast
Ondřej Vetchý as Richard Koller, the series protagonist. He is a chief investigator whose team is assigned a murder case committed by his daughter. He tries to save her even at the cost of his career.[5]
Martin Finger as Tomáš Lohnický, Richard's colleague who investigates the murder committed by Lily and who suspects Richard.[6]
Elizaveta Maximová as Lily Kollerová, Richard's daughter who commits a murder.
A shocked, twenty-year-old Lily runs to her father's door to tell him that she has killed her lover in self-defense. Her father, a police investigator, decides to cover for his daughter. He cleans the evidence and digs up the body. When the body is eventually found, he is assigned the case.
Richard knows his daughter is hiding something. An investigative journalist comes across evidence linking the murdered man with a shady firm. Soon, he realizes that he is becoming part of a dangerous game where interests are even higher.
An autopsy confirms to Richard that the victim was under the influence of sleep medication at the time of the killing, changing the direction of the investigation. Richard must decide whether to protect his daughter from justice or come to terms with reality.
Reception
The series competed for an audience with Temný kraj by TV Prima and with the third series of the entertainment show Tvoje tvář má známý hlas by TV Nova. Each episode gathered around 700,000 viewers the age over 15, which was also the limit of audience accessibility of the show.
According to Martin Svoboda, reviewer at Aktuálně.cz, the overall miniseries is "more successful than its problematic first part". He gave it a rating of 65%. According to him, it is also worthy of praise, in contrast to the richness of motifs common elsewhere; "[in] Justice, one and the same motif appears repeatedly, only the backdrops differ. Thanks to this, the creators can go deeper and uncover new corners of a single idea.”[14]
Entertainment One Television Production acquired the rights to produce a remake of the miniseries.[15]
The miniseries Vedlejší produkt, a thematic successor to Spravedlnost was broadcast in 2024. Vedlejší produkt and Spravedlnost are linked by the themes of crime and punishment. Both series are directed by Peter Bebjak, while Kateřina Ondřejková serves as creative producer.[16][17]
