We’re warm weather people, so when the gripping mysteries and dramas set in Scandinavia take us into snow-covered landscapes we tell each other, “It’s pretty . . . in that way.” If you’re like us, you don’t have to like the cold to enjoy some of the fine Scandinavian series on offer from Netflix and MHz and Focus.
We start with Finland because Nick has Finnish DNA tucked away and identifies with the lead character in Bordertown on Netflix.
Bordertown
Gifted detective Kari Sorjonen acts on instinct and intuition. He conquered autism, and flashbacks to his childhood occasionally show the difficultly. His ability to live within himself apparently helps when he takes his family from Helsinki to a peaceful small town near the Russian border to spend more with them and work for the local police. But then cross-border skullduggery tests his skill and demands his time and makes him a 24-hour detective. Ville Virtanen plays Kari in this engaging three-season series.
Deadwind
Deadwind also takes place in Finland. A widowed detective, Sofia Karrpi (Pihla Viitaala), with two children and plenty of personal demons, begins to investigate a murder. The murder is linked to something bigger and she and a rookie, Sakari Nurmi (Lauri Tilkanen) from financial crimes, pair in homicide. The excellent scripts keep the odd couple scrambling to avoid danger, uncover the truth and deal with Sofia’s two children. Two seasons are available on Netflix and a third is promised soon.
Arctic Circle
On Amazon Prime’s Topic
Perfect viewing for our virus-hobbled times. Lina Kuustonen stars as Nina Kautsalo, a young Lapland detective juggling her work and single momhood. Her investigation initially involves Russian human traffickers who bring women across the border into Lapland to work as prostitutes in buses set up alongside roads in the middle of nowhere. She finds a woman at death’s door in a remote cabin, and it turns out the prostitute carries a mysterious and deadly virus. A German virologist, Thomas Lorenz, played by Maximilian Brückner, is brought in to identify it and help prevent the spread. The team must find Patient Zero before the world is infected while they both deal with their family problems and romance. It’s a thriller, largely in English, and if you long to fantasize about snowmobiling through icy wastelands then you’re in for a bonus. Arctic Circle is on Amazon Prime’s Topic channel.
From Norway
The Valhalla Murders
A home for troubled boys in the snowy Icelandic outback holds dark secrets in its past. These begin to surface when Oslo detective Arnar (Björn Thors), a native Icelander, is brought in to team with Reykjavik detective Kata (Nina Dögg Fillipusdóttir) to investigate a pair of murders. Turns out he’s got deep problems rooted in his upbringing. That unspools as the pair follow threads of violence and corruption back to the now-abandoned boys home. The series lasts eight episodes and is (very loosely) based on a true story.
Ragnarock
This is different. It’s a version of an old Norse myth, updated for climate change, and is a lot of fun. The young hero, Magne (David Stakston) discovers his superpowers when his mother Turid (Henriette Steenstrup moves him and his brother Laurits (Jonas Strand Gravli) back to a small remote town where she grew up. At school, we learn Magne is dyslexic and we watch a romance of sorts develop while he gets tutoring help from Isolde (Ylva Bjørkaas Thedin). She is an environmental activist and her discovery of pollution by a rich local family leads Magne to uncover the truth about the family. He also discovers, like Thor, he can throw a hammer almost two kilometers.
Varg Veum
This MHz series, named for the private detective character created by novelist Gunnar Staalesen, takes place in the fjords and islands around Bergen in western Norway. Veum, played by Tron Espen Seim, gets beaten up a lot as he ignores danger to chase clues that lead deeper into more elaborate plots. His cases keep viewers on the edge of their seats guessing where the leads will go. Two seasons of six episodes each.
The Heavy Water War
This six-part series on MHz takes us to Norway during World War II. Germany invades and captures a Norwegian heavy water plant that it needs to build an atomic bomb. Six local men are trained in England and return to sabotage the plant before the Germans can crank up production and produce a weapon that will win the war. It’s based on a true story and is one of the gripping chapters of the war.
Twin
Kristoffer Hivju, who viewers will remember as the tall red-bearded wildling in Game of Thrones, plays identical brothers in this MHz series. Eric is a slacker surfer who lives in a bus. He’s estranged from his uptight entrepreneurial brother Adam. But when he visits to try to borrow money to save his surf camp, both brothers suffer accidents. Adam dies but authorities think Eric’s the fatality, and with the lead of Adam’s wife Ingrid (Rebecca Nystabakk), with whom he has a history, Eric assumes Adam’s identity. The ensuing complications over ten episodes make us root for Eric and Ingrid even as we rethink the wisdom of ever making snap choices.
You can find our recommendations for France and Denmark here.
And recommendations for great Italian shows here.
