Nordland '99

Story set in '99 in Danmark. Back when mobile phones were barely a thing and cars were really rectangular. The story is about a couple of teens in a small town who want to find their friend who has gone missing. One of the boys' father is a tired police officer, the only one the town has. A year earlier another boy had gone missing, but that remained unsolved.

The story is really well put together. The episodes are short and the storyline keeps you on your toes. I binged the entire series because I was really curious about what was going to happen next. You start to feel for the characters, all having their own troubles, miseries and issues. You learn that through all the miseries there is still so much good in this depressing little town and the main characters. I enjoyed it thoroughly and it the ending touched me, I hope there will be another season.

I watched 2 episodes. During episode # 1 I already watched it with irritation as really nothing happened and the loud music pretended it did. So, much against my own wise advice I decided to watch another episode. Same thing. Pretentious, boring and tedious. I realy was annoyed by both 2 episodes, so called it quits after those 2. Now, I am sure the rest of the series is superb and it will be on the year's final lists;-) At the start I got the idea this series will be captivating and would have many subplots and links to things happening in the past. Although I got it that the youths in this series are living in a cul-de-sac village where everyone knows one another and the past is hoovering about the present it still did not interest me. Maybe it was all too dark, sombre and the same.

The plot begins as a lad (Alex) with either ADHD or on dope causes trouble then disappears. There is mysterious signalling from a car on a lonely road. Another boy has disappeared earlier. The main characters are two boys and a girl, with the father of one, the village policeman, widowed. Other characters appear, but the main action is trying to piece together where Alex is - common answer, 'He has just gone away.' The plot gets quite complex but the action and acting moves deliberately slowly; more realistic than "rushing about".

It is explained finally, but it would have been better to fill in just some of the movements to give a bit of direction - it would not have spoiled things. The ending is a bit "sugary" and might have been done differently.

The last touch suggests a sequel.

I wasn't hoping for too much here, a teen drama of twenty-five minute episodes. I've been disappointed too often in the past. But this offering was different. The acting was good, the plot was (mostly) believable, the tension ratcheted up at the right moments. The series was downright creepy at times and certainly scary. That means that the viewer invested something in the strong cast of characters.

Clearly there were inconsistencies and actions that weren't true to life but in the main this was a good portrait of life in backwoods Denmark, far from the sophistication of Copenhagen. At least they had a village bobby unlike similar small places in the UK despite his utter uselessness. And that's what forced the teens to do their own investigation. Even the city cops when they were called in were hopeless.

The ending of the last episode sewed things up, but I was frustrated that Lasse didn't get his comeuppance. And there's clearly a second season on the way. I'll be watching it.

Edit: There are no spoilers here. Stop flagging this up for no reason.

I nearly gave up at first - it starts with a bunch of drunk, angsty, promiscuous teenagers, depicted so accurately it was off-putting - but I'm glad I persisted.

I'm not nostalgic for the 90s; I was young then and it was a dull decade; but the thriller aspect was fun - over the top to just the right degree to be exciting, but also to hint truthfully at dark social realities.

The small town was brilliantly portrayed, populated by druggies, thugs, squalid in-breds living in filth and abusing their kids, moralising locals, and the long-suffering normal people forced to live far too close to them. It was all very realistic in my experience of small towns, and really brought the series to life.

The characters and acting were also very good - even the more extreme characters were just like people you might have been unlucky enough to encounter in real life; and many of them do that Nordic thing (also common in my society) of conveying their deepest emotions with a single twitch of the face.

An excellent, well-written and well-executed genre piece - highly recommended!