''Evelien'' is a Dutch

dramedy Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

made for broadcaster

Net 5 Net5 is a Dutch free-to-cable commercial TV channel and is part of Talpa TV, formerly a part of SBS Broadcasting B.V. and now owned by Talpa Network. Other channels of the group in the Netherlands are SBS6, Veronica, and SBS9. It is aime ...

. Actress

Kim van Kooten Kim van Kooten (born 26 January 1974 in Purmerend, North Holland) is a Dutch actress and screenwriter. In international cinema, she is best known for the 2003 Dutch/US co-production ''Phileine Says Sorry'', filmed partly in New York City, in wh ...

plays the eponymous starring role. So far two seasons have been made; the first episode was broadcast on 7 March 2006. In 2007 the series was sold to

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channel Een.

Plot

Season 1 (Spring 2006)

Evelien is a 38-year-old woman; she has two young daughters, a loving husband Harko and a beautiful house in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the capital and most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population of 907,976 within the city proper, 1,558,755 in the urban ar ...

. But still she feels that something essential is lacking. Each episode chronicles her daily routine; waking up next to her husband, coming downstairs and telling her two children turn the TV off (

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

: ''"Tv uit !"''), struggling to the end of the day and going to bed. In the first episode it becomes clear that she has a lover. Theo runs a construction company; he can afford to book a hotel room for himself and Evelien for a year and a half. When confronted with a fellow divorcing mother—who caught her husband having an affair—Evelien reconsiders her relationship with Theo. In the following episode, she flatly tells Theo that she doesn't want anything to do with him anymore—even though Theo has fallen in love with Evelien and keeps proposing to her. Things come to a head when he makes a phone-call while Evelien's husband is in the room. When she gets called out for her strange behaviour on the phone, Evelien's husband realizes what happens and storms out of the house. The following episodes show the aftermath of this temporary breakup, though the two eventually reconcile. However, all is still not perfect, as Evelien still has some doubts about not seeing Theo anymore. Soon afterwards she learns from Theo's sudden death.

Season 2 (Autumn 2006)

The family moves to a more spacious house in

, but things are still not serene. Because the house is largely decorated in a

new-age New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...

minimalist sense, it causes tension with the children, Evelien and Harko too are struggling to get used to the new furniture. Breaking out of her boring routine Evelien takes a part-time job (which she loses for reasons of bankruptcy), but Harko is now going through the throes of a

mid-life crisis A midlife crisis is a transition of identity and self-confidence that can occur in middle-aged individuals, typically 40 to 60 years old. The phenomenon is described as a psychological crisis brought about by events that highlight a person's grow ...

. Things only get worse when she finds out that one of her neighbours is an old lover of Harko's. Seeking relation therapy doesn't help and Harko eventually announces that he needs a weekend off in London; away from Evelien, and together with Wendy. Evelien bursts into tears when she discovers the truth, but her marriage turns out to be made of strong stuff and eventually all is forgiven.

Cast

– Evelien *

Peter Blok Peter Stephanus Blok (born 7 April 1960 in The Hague), known as Peter Blok, is a Dutch stage, television, film, and voice actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" ...

– Harko * Sterre Herstel – Regina * Naomi van Es – Julia * Olga Zuiderhoek – Agnes * Genio de Groot – Gert * Rifka Lodeizen – Sylvia

References

External links

Official homepage ''Evelien''
{{in lang, nl Dutch comedy television series Dutch drama television series Net5 original programming