Outlier

I find most of the Scandinavian crime dramas and psychological thrillers to be very well acted and written; Outlier is no exception. It kept me interest in ways most American shows no longer do.

I loved this because it's a departure from the predictable series out there.

The central character is not likeable throughout, which is what I believe explains some of the poor reviews on this list. (Lots mention bad acting and directing, but I disagree. Both were very well done.)

Genuine disagreeableness on the part of the central character was like a breath of fresh air for me. I prefer characters to be flawed and intriguing rather than statically heroic. Just be prepared to pay close attention as you're watching. This isn't the sort of series you can have on in the background while you're making supper.

The series is also slow-paced, but not boring. The psychological theories expressed by the central character, Maja, were technical but also interesting and kept the tension taut. The subtext that budget restrains were hampering proper policing seemed very true to life and added a layer of complexity that is often left out of more action driven series.

Ultimately this show is worth it. It is very slow in parts. I mean even for a Nordic drama it is slow. It does have a decent pay off, but they could have sped up the pacing some.

There are several large plot holes. If you can forgive a few glaring "no way would the police allow that" moments and the pacing you will be fine.

Really though Maja was guilty of the same thing she was blaming the local police for. So maybe she doesn't know everything?

The review posted here 21 July 2021 says it all. All of the SLOW comments are probably from the point and click generation raised on rapid fire camera work and lots of blood.

And predictable. It's like they didn't know how to fill the hours with enough content so they just made everything really slow instead. And several of the characters are just annoying including the lead character. I made lots of 10 seconds jump forwards the last two episodes. It just made me annoyed because it was so ridicolous.