Man in Room 301

Partly created by Briton Kate (Shaun of The Dead) Ashfield but transferred to Finland, a twisty piece of fluff. Twelve years after a child is killed, the extended family are targeted by someone they believe to be the person held responsible. Half the series drip-feeds the history, the other half covers the repercussions. There are storytelling absurdities - a young couple who think it is acceptable to take a child from a hotel without seeking permission from the parents - but suspension of disbelief leads to a fun story. After the first two episodes I sought out the other four via on-demand services rather than wait.

Perhaps the series is unfairly lumped in with Scandi-noir, which it is not. The story is basic and allows us to stay a step ahead of the plotting at all times. The ending should be a surprise to nobody but it is still fun getting there. Only the most inexperienced watcher will be caught out by the twists, and I found myself adding others that weren't there, but the innocent characters are likeable and we want them to survive. Even the final resolution is largely satisfactory.

The show is not going to change the world but it helps pass the time and should offend nobody.

I have to admit I nearly gave up after the first episode. The constant toing and froing between now and back then was wearying and confusing. I stuck with it and by the end of episode two, things had started coming together.

I think this production suffers when compared to some of the other excellent stuff that has recently come out of Finland. It's nowhere near on the level of Sorjonen or All The Sins. Nonetheless, it's a competent, if predictable drama that entertains in a series of six manageable-length segments.

The plot twists and revelations are obvious a mile off. We know that the original accident cannot be as was alleged because we are not shown it in its entirety. It's also pretty obvious that the least likely person is going to be the baddie. And that the original plotters are going to get their just desserts.

There are gigantic plot holes, unfortunately. It's unlikely to the point of impossibility that any Finn (or even any Western European) would waltz off with someone else's kid, on one occasion taking him to another island, without parental consent which was not even sought. There were also dichotomies in some of the characters' personalities that made them act in ways that were not consistent with their previous motivations. I can't believe how superficial the police investigation was either nor how forensics, which were mentioned, didn't manage to drill down further to the truth.

I didn't binge watch. I took it at a pace of two episodes a day and that was quite enough. I was perfectly happy to have watched this for what it was which is an easy bit of confectionary to while away some empty afternoons (we are still locked down here).

Usually, the Nordic nations are masters of thrill and suspense, with static meaning not boring, but here, in spite of a promising starting point, it becomes protracted soon, with too heavy dominance of burden and oppression. Perhaps the number of episodes could have been less (4, for instance), some confusing twists added, and the round-up less sophisticated. The characters and performances not too elaborate either...

Finland has produced several interesting crimes series, e.g. Sorjonen or Karppi. Alas, Huone 301 is long behind of them.

Unfortunately for me this show delivered characters that seemed to have very little emotion or energy. After watching all the episodes I actually read somewhere, that the script was British and that it was modified to better suit "the Finnish way of communication and self expression" which was considered to be more low-key. I cannot see why this would have been necessary, and cannot be happy with the result. They could have left a pulse at least...

There are some great supporting roles and actors such as Elias Gould and Elias Salonen, who bring the show to life. I was more interested in them, than in the "main family". The story itself is great, I liked the game with timelines and it did kind of pick up towards the end.

I really liked this series. I can understand the people who felt lukewarm about it - it has its fair share of contrivances and slightly unbelievable plot twists. But what made it for me were the performances - mostly 10/10 imo - and the way it didn't overreach into the backgrounds of the families to try and explain why they were so dysfunctional. I thought the direction was good and the storyline just about plausible. And the ending was satisfying - obviously very contrived, but the key message that the sins of the fathers do not necessarily have to be visited on the generations that follow left me feeling a bit more upbeat about life, especially after being in Covid isolation for a few days :)