13 Commandments TV Series | Review & Summary

Table of Contents

13 Commandments (original title: 13 Geboden) is a 2018 Belgian crime-thriller series that explores morality, justice, and the dark boundaries between law enforcement and vigilantism. Across its ten episodes, the series follows a series of brutal, morally complex crimes inspired by the Ten Commandments.

1. Setting the Scene

The story is set in a quiet Belgian town, soon rattled by a series of crimes committed by a vigilante known as “Moses,” who uses the Ten Commandments as a twisted moral framework to target people he sees as sinners.
Detectives Peter Devriendt, a seasoned but jaded cop, and Vicky Degraeve, a younger and ambitious detective with a complicated past, take the lead on the investigation.

2. Episode 1: A Gruesome Start

The first episode opens with the shocking abduction of a young woman, Leentje, who is discovered alive but traumatized. “Moses” leaves a cryptic message, signifying his intention to carry out a series of attacks tied to each Commandment.
As Moses claims his first “sinner,” the police recognize they are dealing with a highly intelligent and dangerous adversary.

3. The Commandments Unfold

In subsequent episodes, Moses systematically carries out punishments that correspond with each Commandment, focusing on those he deems morally reprehensible.
The crimes are graphic and often leave the victims marked both physically and psychologically. For instance, he punishes an arrogant influencer, a corrupt priest, and a woman accused of exploiting immigrants.
Public opinion becomes divided—some see Moses as a hero, others as a brutal extremist. This split complicates the detectives’ job as the townspeople start to sympathize with the vigilante’s cause.

4. Peter and Vicky’s Dynamic

Peter and Vicky struggle with their own moral dilemmas and dark secrets as the investigation proceeds.
Vicky’s complex past—marked by her mother’s tragic death and a former relationship that ended badly—continues to haunt her, affecting her work and her partnership with Peter.
Meanwhile, Peter grows increasingly obsessed with catching Moses, often to the detriment of his personal life.

5. Building Tension

As each Commandment is violated, Moses becomes more brazen, and the town’s frustration with the police’s failure to catch him intensifies.
The detectives’ relationship grows tense as they butt heads over their different approaches to the investigation, and Moses stays one step ahead.
Public support for Moses reaches a peak when he targets a known criminal who has escaped justice due to legal loopholes.

6. Twists and Revelations

Midway through the season, Vicky begins to suspect that Moses might be someone within their circle, possibly a former officer or someone with inside knowledge of police procedure.
At this point, Peter uncovers links between Moses’s methods and past unsolved cases, suggesting a broader history of vigilantism.
The detectives find themselves facing growing suspicion from their own colleagues and family members as they try to outwit the cunning vigilante.

7. The Final Commandments

Moses’s punishments grow increasingly violent and indiscriminate, targeting both perceived sinners and innocents alike, raising moral questions about justice and redemption.
As the tension reaches its peak, Peter and Vicky’s partnership collapses under the weight of mutual distrust and personal struggles, each suspecting the other of possibly sympathizing with Moses’s ideals.

8. The Final Showdown

In the climactic final episodes, Vicky faces a shocking betrayal from someone close to her, while Peter is forced to confront his own dark impulses as the lines between right and wrong blur.
The ultimate identity of Moses is revealed in a shocking twist that forces everyone to question their understanding of justice and the lengths they are willing to go to enforce it.
The season closes on an ambiguous note, leaving viewers with lingering questions about morality, justice, and the role of law enforcement in a flawed world.

List of the commandments mentioned in the series

1- Thou Shalt have no other gods before me

2- Do not take the name of the Lord in vain.

3- Thou Shalt shalln’t covet thy neighbour’s house

4- Thou Shalt shalln’t kill

Key Facts & Characters & Ending Explained

This thirteen part Belgian crime thriller sees the police searching for an attacker who has been targeting people based on the Ten Commandments; each attack is accompanied by the appropriate commandment. While the attacks are brutal they are not fatal… that of course would break the commandment against killing.

The attacker, dubbed ‘Mozes’ gains some sympathy amongst those who believe society has moved too far from Christian Ideals. The investigation is led by Peter Devriendt and his new partner Vicky Degraeve; each of whom have their own problems.

Peter’s daughter seems to be somewhat off the rails and Vicky’s mother is in hospital with no chance of recovery following a car accident some time before. As the investigation progresses there are inevitably some false leads and Vicky finds herself in real danger.

During the hunt for Moses, the investigation team misidentified two convicts as Moses. One of them turned out to be one of his accomplices and the other was entraped by Moses.

The real Moses follows the ten commandments in torturing his victims(words carved on a forehead with a knife, a tongue cut out, someone set on fire) but as the show progresses he started to purposely kill his victims as part of his personal agendas thus violating one of the commandments (Thou Shalt shalln’t kill).

The real hero of the show is Vicky as shown in the last two episodes.

In most of his killings, Moses motives are to save daughters from abusers.

At the end, Moses commits suicide by killing himself (as apparently shown in the last scene of the last episode)

Who is Moses

Without any spoilers, Moses is revealed in the last episode of 13 commandments but the spectator could start to predict the real identity of Moses after episode 10.

13 Commandments vs Seven

Very reminiscent of Seven, which has become the touchstone for assessing all thrillers with a biblical theme (in one of the episodes a cop sarcastically calls his colleague Brad Pitt in Seven). However, the show stands on its own and the characters are different from Seven. Unlike most other shows where the lead cop has a rebellious and jerk teenage child, the lead detective in this show has a 21 year old daughter who is trying hard to find her own path in life.