The wonderful Saga Noren

Well that was it - this weekend the BBC completed screening the final episode of what is reportedly the end for the wonderful Scandi-crime drama, The Bridge - AND IF YOU'VE NOT SEEN THE END OF THE SERIES YET THEN DON'T READ ON BECAUSE THERE ARE SPOILERS COMING - with a scene that could have been lifted from the climax of Dirty Harry, Saga Noren (Man, how will we live without her) stood on the bridge where it all started and tossed her police badge away.

And everything goes back to the beginning.....

Of course the thing that bothered me about the final episode was the twist where Brian/Kevin was revealed to have been able- bodied all along. It's not that  fact that bothers me so much but rather the way it was discovered, because certain photographs could have only been taken by someone very short - a child perhaps, or someone in a wheelchair. Why the hell didn't Kevin/Brian simply stand to take the photohraphs? Everything else was so meticulously planned so I call bullshit on this.

Fucked up people - Henrik and Saga

And of course when his accomplice in all the carnage throughout the season where revealed it was also commonplace given the clever way they had both  operated throughout the season. Suzanne Winter for example was identified by leaving her fingerprints on the steering wheel of a stolen digger – an  elementary schoolgirl error. This was the same woman  who had pulled off the  elaborate, evil, scheme of manipulating gangster, William Ramburg into administering his sick daughter with a lethal injection. Not just any old poison either but neuro-toxins produced by a rare breed of snail. And of course as noted Kevin/Brian was revealed at the last moment by the wheelchair photography thing.

Despite these niggles The Bridge still rocked. Right from the first gruesome scene of the politician being stoned to death, it didn't let up.

This time the relationship between Saga and Henrik seemed more established; and Martin's absence wasn't felt as much as it had been in the previous season. Henrik was really likeable; this time out I actually warmed to him. Too late I suppose because it was all over far too quickly. I guess at the end of the day the characters were far more important than the plot which when examined closely just didn't hold water. Though in fairness the plots have always been elaborate - take for instance the first season in which the storyline came perilously close to a 1970's James Bond plot. It didn't matter because we had such great acting, wonderful characters and in Saga Noren a truly original creation. Her relationship with Martin and later Henrik was what stopped it all falling apart.

'Shall we have sex?'

The definitive teaming - Martin and Saga

I like it that the final scene had Saga answer her phone, no longer in the way that has become iconic throughout the series but with a simple - 'Saga Noren.'

And so after four seasons, 29 episodes The Bridge, one of the best crime dramas broadcast anywhere, came to an end, but you know I've got the entire run on my hard drive so I think I'll go back to the beginning. After all that's where everything goes.

Back to the beginning.

After being blown away by the first season of The Bridge, I turned to the American re-make but lasted for only six episodes. It was OK but it had a lot to live up to and I couldn't accept anyone other than Sofia Helin in the lead role. I did like the American/Mexican storyline and had I seen the show before the original Swedish/Danish series I might have liked it a lot more, but once you've seen Sofia Helin in those leather trousers then everything else pales to insignificance. I so I went straight to the second season of the Swedish/Danish original.

Incredibly season two was even better than the first season, even if the plot did meander into some pretty far fetched territory - in fact the plot, involving a group of eco terrorists, wouldn't be out of place in a James Bond movie. And its all the better for it - on the surface it looks like a grimy noir with realism triumphing over fancy, but wash away the surface sludge and a pretty fantastical plot is revealed. A plot that is twisty, turny and tantalising. There's not a lot of out and out humour to punctuate the misery (and there is plenty) but instead there is the subtle humour derived from Saga Noren and her interactions with the other characters. Her penchant  to openly talk about sex and the problems it entails is absolutely priceless - the reactions of her main sparring partner, Martin Rhode (Kim Bodnia) are highly nuanced and the pair are simply the best TV COP double-act since Regan and Carter.

That this season ends -BIG FAT SPOILERS AHEAD - with Martin being hauled off to prison, dobbed in by Saga herself, would seem to set up an intriguing premise for the third season. And that was the intentions of the show runners but Kim Bodnia decided he was quitting the show before starting work on the third season, forced their hands. The third season then doesn't feature Martin at all and I wonder if that will change the dynamic of the show. Sega Noren is an absolutely superb character, one of the most interesting in all of crime TV, but she could be somewhat deminished without the heart provided by her co-star.


WHY BODNIA QUITE THE BRIDGE

I'm immediately moving onto the third season now - I just can't get enough of this show. After that I may try the Anglo/French re-make, The Tunnel. OK, so I was dissapointed by the American version of the show but I'm going to give The Tunnel a try but what I'm really waiting for is a fourth season of the Swedish/Danish original. Though I'm getting ahead of myself and so I load up season 3, episode 1 and PLAY.

Nordic Noir seems perfectly suited to the darker months. There would be something truly perverse to watch drama so bleak  on a cheery summer evening. Not so when the nights draw in, and the temperature plummets. Outside the wind blows, howls, moans across a landscape of moonlight and skeletal trees .

Capture that image if you can, keep it in mind for it is the perfect backdrop as we lock the doors, close the windows and draw the curtains. There has never been a better time
to  sit before the fire, a single malt in hand and binge on some of the best crime television around. This is just what I did recently when I sat and watched the ten episodes that make up season one of The Bridge. Original language and subtitles, of course.

Saga Noren, played by Sofia Helin, is an excellent creation - she seems to be equal parts Sherlock Homes and Lisbeth Salander, with a dash of Mr Spock thrown in. Her Watson is Dutch police officer, Martin Rhodes (Kim Bodnia) who provides the heart of the story as well as being a useful counterpoint to Saga's lack of emotion.

The story starts with a body left on the Øresund Bridge which connects Sweden to Denmark. The body has been placed along the border between the two countries which means that both the Swedish and Danish police authorities have an interest in the case. Things get complicated when it is discovered that this is actually two bodies - the top half belonging to a Swedish politician while the legs are from a Danish prostitute. It soon become clear that the killer, a man who calls himself the Truth Terrorist, is making a point. That point being - we are not all equal in the eyes of the law. The prostitute was killed many months back, her body kept in deep freeze until it was needed to join the upper half of the politician on the bridge. Her disappearance was briefly investigated and then forgotten.

The killer soon contacts the press and claims he is committing these crimes to highlight some very real social problems. He has other points to make -  which will lead to ever more audacious crimes - poisoning the homeless, abducting corrupt policemen and kidnapping a group of schoolchildren. However as the mismatched cops investigate it soon become clear that the killer may be one of their own and that his motives are actually much more personal and nothing to do with noble ideas of social justice.

It's an intriguing plot that is paced well throughout the entire season and I found myself immediately hooked after the first episode - For a week I found myself watching a couple of episodes a night and I enjoyed every minute. The chemistry between the two loads is pitch perfect and provides for some great character moments. Martin is the warmer character, a man who has no problems with social interactions , whilst Saga is socially awkward and finds it difficult to form real friendships or relationships. She seems to favour casual, unemotional sex and although her lifestyle is odd it is at least well ordered. The same can't be said for Martin who struggles to remain a good father and husband and soon finds everything falling down around him.

Compelling stuff then...I've still got two more seasons to watch and I'm eager to get into the second season. After that I think I'll try the American re-make, also called the Bridge, and if that's not enough I could always enter The Tunnel - which is of course the title of the French/British remake. Somehow though I doubt if any of the others will match the brilliance of Saga Noren as played here by Sofia Helin.