This eight part suspense-thriller set in Iceland is worth staying with until the end, where it improves sharply in both suspense and thrills. In fact I'd go further and state that whilst the first six parts were fairly meh for reasons I'll go into, the last two really kicked off and made for a tense, dramatic conclusion.
Those first half-dozen chapters were watchable enough but everything about them seemed second-hand, Icelandic-noir playing little brother to Nordic-noir. So we get two mismatched, rebellious, individualistic male and female detectives - check; both with family troubles which inconveniently bubble up just at the crucial parts of their investigation - check; a serial murderer whose origins can be traced back to child-abuse at a remote reform school for boys and a cover-up in high places - check and finally oodles of drone shots from on-high looking down on bleak wintry landscapes - check.
By the end of the sixth episode it seemed as if this up-till-then familiar story-line had completed its predictable arc with a nonetheless gripping face-off involving the two 'tecs, Kata and Arnur against the suspected killer back at the scene of the original crimes. But no, there were still two episodes to go so there had to be more and indeed there was as a fresh suspect appears from up above and even though I'd guessed the perpetrator the first time I saw them, there were still a few twisty-turny snowbound roads to go down before a second even more exciting climax is played out at dead-of-night at an icy harbour.
Both leads were excellent, each generally playing it strong and silent, communicating with each other and their colleagues with the minimum of expression or appreciation. There's a nice symmetry as to who does what to eventually solve the case and how one saves the other at the two climactic scenes. Apart from the already mentioned cliched use of the drone shots, the direction was otherwise taut and well-versed in keeping the viewer on the edge of their seats and I also found time to appreciate the atmospheric electro-soundtrack.
Yes I could have done without all the personal baggage which helped to unnecessarily drag down the pace of the earlier episodes, but it certainly came good in the end as all good thrillers should.
Those first half-dozen chapters were watchable enough but everything about them seemed second-hand, Icelandic-noir playing little brother to Nordic-noir. So we get two mismatched, rebellious, individualistic male and female detectives - check; both with family troubles which inconveniently bubble up just at the crucial parts of their investigation - check; a serial murderer whose origins can be traced back to child-abuse at a remote reform school for boys and a cover-up in high places - check and finally oodles of drone shots from on-high looking down on bleak wintry landscapes - check.
By the end of the sixth episode it seemed as if this up-till-then familiar story-line had completed its predictable arc with a nonetheless gripping face-off involving the two 'tecs, Kata and Arnur against the suspected killer back at the scene of the original crimes. But no, there were still two episodes to go so there had to be more and indeed there was as a fresh suspect appears from up above and even though I'd guessed the perpetrator the first time I saw them, there were still a few twisty-turny snowbound roads to go down before a second even more exciting climax is played out at dead-of-night at an icy harbour.
Both leads were excellent, each generally playing it strong and silent, communicating with each other and their colleagues with the minimum of expression or appreciation. There's a nice symmetry as to who does what to eventually solve the case and how one saves the other at the two climactic scenes. Apart from the already mentioned cliched use of the drone shots, the direction was otherwise taut and well-versed in keeping the viewer on the edge of their seats and I also found time to appreciate the atmospheric electro-soundtrack.
Yes I could have done without all the personal baggage which helped to unnecessarily drag down the pace of the earlier episodes, but it certainly came good in the end as all good thrillers should.