I immensely enjoyed the first two seasons of this Norwegian political thriller series. It was imaginative, suspenseful, highly original and very well written, weaving multiple intelligent storylines into one another and populating the show with interesting characters.
However, with the last season, things have taken a dramatic turn for the worst. There are entirely too many things going on for the short amount of episodes in this third and final season. Whereas the first season had 10 episodes and the second 8, the third is even further reduced to just 6 episodes. But there is so much intrigue going on, that it is impossible to fit them all neatly into this small number of episodes. One had to wonder why it was not given three or four additional episodes to work out all the storylines.
As a consequence, the third season feels immensely rushed. There is so much going on in every episode that you can't catch a breath. Plot lines are as abruptly finished as they began. Characters and situations change on the drop of a hat. And because all of this, there is precious little time for character development. The condension of so many storylines into such a short timeframe also diminishes the show's credibility, as it's simply not plausible that events of this magnitude would come in such quick succession or be resolved that quickly.
And plausibility was already a big weak spot of the last season. Whereas the first two seasons were fantastical, yes, they were still believable. In the last season, though, the writers went really over the top, and any semblance of believability is thrown out the window. It seems as if, in their zealous for stoking anti-Russian sentiment, the writers sacrificed credibility for sensationalism. Especially the finale was cringeworthy. This is too bad, because it really hurt my investment in the fate of the characters. But they are made to behave in ways that taunt my suspension of disbelief. Therefore, the finale for me missed the emotional impact it could have had.
The third season really did a disservice to the characters and robbed them of a satisfying conclusion. As is, I was left wholly unaffected by the finale, and considering what happened in that final episode, that's not a good sign. I recommend the first two seasons, but don't waste your time with the third one.
However, with the last season, things have taken a dramatic turn for the worst. There are entirely too many things going on for the short amount of episodes in this third and final season. Whereas the first season had 10 episodes and the second 8, the third is even further reduced to just 6 episodes. But there is so much intrigue going on, that it is impossible to fit them all neatly into this small number of episodes. One had to wonder why it was not given three or four additional episodes to work out all the storylines.
As a consequence, the third season feels immensely rushed. There is so much going on in every episode that you can't catch a breath. Plot lines are as abruptly finished as they began. Characters and situations change on the drop of a hat. And because all of this, there is precious little time for character development. The condension of so many storylines into such a short timeframe also diminishes the show's credibility, as it's simply not plausible that events of this magnitude would come in such quick succession or be resolved that quickly.
And plausibility was already a big weak spot of the last season. Whereas the first two seasons were fantastical, yes, they were still believable. In the last season, though, the writers went really over the top, and any semblance of believability is thrown out the window. It seems as if, in their zealous for stoking anti-Russian sentiment, the writers sacrificed credibility for sensationalism. Especially the finale was cringeworthy. This is too bad, because it really hurt my investment in the fate of the characters. But they are made to behave in ways that taunt my suspension of disbelief. Therefore, the finale for me missed the emotional impact it could have had.
The third season really did a disservice to the characters and robbed them of a satisfying conclusion. As is, I was left wholly unaffected by the finale, and considering what happened in that final episode, that's not a good sign. I recommend the first two seasons, but don't waste your time with the third one.