Deadwind

When I started watching this I thought it wasn't going to be much good, but by the second episode I was loving it. There were so many threads but I nevere felt like it was wandering. Some reviewers said they figured it out early, but I must be a bit dim :} It kept me guessing right to the end. Not the best every, but enjoyable and well worth watching. Also, I love seeing the scenery and the landscape. I'm Australian and I'm always like ... why are they out in the middle of the night, but of course its probably late afternoon in wintery Finland!

Nice look into modern day Finland using a murder mystery plot. Gender equality, brainy eco entrepreneurs, sports, sex, drugs, religion, winter, Germans, families. All mixed into a 12 episodes plot. OK maybe some eye rolls, I mean c'mon a 20 year old E31 V12 BMW coupe used as a winter daily driver? Finns curse a a lot in creative ways, bull baska is a new one. And the panoramic wide shots of waterfronts and sunsets are an artistic touch.

The things that work well throughout the series are the filmography and the acting. The lead actor and actress have good chemistry and give nuanced performances. The filmography is beautiful and really showcases the bleak beauty of the Finnish landscape.

Season 1 was okay, I would rate it a 7½. The downfall of season 1 is definitely the lengthy subplots. They should have trimmed it down considerably and focused more on the lead characters and the lead storyline. The 12 episodes could have been condensed into 8-10 episodes. But that said, though it is a downfall, the season carries out satisfyingly enough, it just needed a couple episodes to properly pull me in. If you are expecting this to be like Broen or Karppi to be like Saga, this is not the show for you. And I say that as someone who doesn't think Broen is perfect either, it has its own pitfalls. This is its own series and feels more procedural with enhanced filmography. But if you come into it without Broen-like expectations or an Excel file ready to compile possible plot holes (I can't even remember if there were considerable ones, but I'm pretty good about watching something to my enjoyment and ignoring things so take that into account), I'm sure you will find enjoyment in it as I did. Saga Noren and Sofia Karppi are completely different characters though they may look a bit alike. But a lot of Nordic women have blonde, curly hair, so it's not that unusual.

Season 2 really evolved with how the plot was constructed. There's 8 episodes in total and it's completely sufficient to cover the storyline. There are still subplots that are given due focus, but this time they held a lot more interest to me and they connected to the main plot. I did figure out who did it, but I don't count that as a bad thing as I often do with these series. Overall it was a pleasing viewing experience, I would rate Season 2 8½.

So, rating the series 8/10.

As a sidenote, reading through these comments some people seem properly upset about a boy having long, curly hair. It may come as a shock to some, but in Finland boys are allowed to grow out their hair as long as they want, if they wish. Similarly, girls can have hair that's not gender normative. Also, who cares, I think Karppi's son's hair length has very little to do with the story.

This series is difficult to properly review. I think that it was worth watching, simply because the storylines in the two seasons (so far) were complex, and it was intriguing enough that you wanted to see where everything ended up. I won't delve into either of the main stories, but each involved a complex number of characters, and you were never sure where things might go next. Again, all that was worth the trip.

It also had what I thought was a solid cast of actors, who carried their performances as convincingly as they were written. The problem with this whole series is that whoever wrote it (or maybe it's a directorial issue) seems to have never been exposed to any actual police-related activities. I realize that the main character has intentionally been written to be non-conventional, but nobody who goes as rouge as she does, all through the series, would ever be allowed to continue to be active in any large police organization. You quickly begin to lose count of all the (really) stupid/wreckless things that she does, not only endangering herself, but all of those around her, and yet, despite some occasional scoldings, her superiors just continue to let her run amok.

So, again, I am glad that I watched the series, simply because the stories were interesting. I recommend the series for that alone. But you need to be prepared to suspend your beliefs with regard to how the main character has been portrayed, and if you can't live that, then you might has well not watch it at all. (Again, no fault of the actor, as she's obviously just portraying what was written, or how she was directed.)

Many reviewers are unfavorably comparing this show to The Bridge (SE). Except for its being a Scandinavian thriller with a strong female lead, I don't see it. The Bridge's protagonists and villains are broken, while this show's characters are simply odd. Also, The Bridge is severe and intense, while Deadwind is puzzling and rambling. Still, I liked this Finnish procedural. The show's central mystery kept me guessing. Its story goes down many detours, but the detours are intriguing. The show's leads could easily be underwear models, but they nevertheless bring their characters to life. The Helsinki of Deadwind is stark, but also beautiful. In short, Deadwind is not exceptional like The Bridge, but it is certainly better than average. If you like the Scan Noir subgenre- not just the one or two shows that transcend it- then you'll probably also enjoy Deadwind.