What is it about these Scandinavians? They keep throwing out these dark, engrossing thrillers. The latest saviour of BBC Four is The Bridge. This time we get a kind of buy one get one free, as the story involves the Police forces of both Denmark and Sweden after a dissected body is found on the Oresund Bridge which links the two countries. But the unsub (to use a Criminal Minds term) is not just your average, bog standard, serial killer. No he's a 'truth teller/ truth terrorist' out to highlight all the ills of Scandinavian society, mainly by wiping out Scandinavian society.
Charged with finding this o.t.t. loon is Swedish Detective Saga Noren (Sofia Helin) a woman so socially inept she makes Monk look like Jessica Fletcher and a 'seen it all before', middle aged Danish Detective Martin Rohde (Kim Bodnia) A lot of the fun, of the show, is watching this ill fitting pair try to get along and believe me with Saga that takes a lot. OK, the mismatched duo isn't exactly new but the characters are so strong and the dialogue so well written that it, somehow, appears fresh. As with The Killing, the story is engrossing with multiple characters weaving in and out and we are never too far away from another dark murder. In fact this show is so grim it should be called The Se7en Bridge.
Where we lose out a bit is that with the subtitles, it's hard to distinguish one language from the other; in fact it's hard to distinguish one country from the other. So what to Scandinavianviewers is no doubt a clash of cultures is lost on us. But, thankfully, there is so much more to occupy the outsider that it's of little consequence.
The Bridge is brilliantly acted, perfectly plotted and the ideal antidote to The Voice and Britain's Got Nutters.
Over
Bullseye
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