Bullets

Maybe I was spoiled by watching All The Sins, another Finnish series which was really well done, but this is too plodding, full of plotholes and unresolved tracks. The whole thing could have been done in 90 minutes instead of ten episodes.

Loved the show. It's gripping from the beginning all the way too the end. A must watch

Finland is a country that does not strictly belong to the Scandinavian nations mainly due to its peculiar language which doesn't share many common characteristics with Swedish or Danish, and secondly because of its cultural development that doesn't resemble the other Nordic countries. The same, of course, can be said about Iceland which also has its distinct cultural tradition. We nowadays tend to use the term Nordic when talking about the five countries: Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland. Nevertheless, there are many Finnish contributions in the ever-evolving Nordic noir phenomenon and one of the brightest examples is Bullets . a 10-part TV show with a storyline full of potential and a cast of noted Finnish thespians.

Krista Kosonen ( Blade Runner 2049 , Beforeigners ) is the main protagonist of the series, playing Mari Saari, a secret service super-agent who mourns for the loss of her friend during a police operation that constitutes the show's first scene. Furthermore., there is Sibel Kekilli, the German actress of Turkish origin that we saw in the early seasons of Game of Thrones , who portrays Madina Taburova, a Chechen woman who became radicalized during the war with the Russians and now recruits young girls to take part in terrorist attacks throughout Europe. Tommi Korpela is the middle-aged police investigator who helps Mari with her work, a man having family troubles and a teenage daughter that doesn't seem to like him. We also have the opportunity to see a familiar face in the role of the villain/antagonist, Dragomir -"Gago"- Mrsic, the Yugoslavian actor that we first met in the Easy Money ( Snabba Cash ) trilogy, as the brutal henchman Mrado, and more recently in Viaplay's crime TV series, Alex .

The plot involves Mari working as an undercover agent in order to meet and befriend Taburova who is suspected to plan the next terrorist attack soon in the Finnish soil. Mari will pose as a social worker who becomes responsible for the Chechen immigrant Taburova and gradually she earns Madina's trust as she helps her deal with personal problems. Madina also has a tragic past which is revealed gradually, through the use of flashbacks, to the audience and has a daughter that she was forced to abandon in Chechnya, more than fifteen years ago.

Bullets is a TV show that features lots of action and plenty of times we admire Mari's skills in martial arts in fighting sequences. But, what this show strives for is to show how difficult is to judge its characters who are repeatedly making questionable, in terms of ethics and morality, decisions because of extreme circumstances. It is evident that the creators didn't want a Hollywood-style action show based on the dazzling special effects, but a series that would portray, as honestly as possible, the impossible dilemmas and extremist actions committed by certain people that we quickly label as "terrorists" ignoring their personal histories and life dramas. But did they succeed in Bullets?

I think that each viewer should answer truthfully to this question and if the response is positive, then the series should be considered as a success. I haven't heard anything about a second season being on production, but I think it would be interesting to see what a sequel season has in store for the main characters.

... the number if flaws and inconsistencies, specifically in the last two episodes, was disappointing. By the way: Russians talk Russian with each other.

Mari Saari is an agent of the Finnish Intelligence Service who lost her partner during an operation where they followed a suspicious character. This character was also being followed by the local police drug squad. Soon afterwards Madina Taburova, a Chechen terrorist who was presumed dead, turns up in Finland and demands asylum. Mari must discover why she has resurfaced and why she picked Finland. This requires going undercover as a social worker at the asylum centre to befriend Madina. She must also work with drug squad officer Tommi Viita and his team because Madina was brought to Finland by people smugglers linked to the drug trade. Things are further complicated by a shadowy character dubbed 'The Ghost' who appears to be involved with Madina in some way.

I rather enjoyed this ten part Finnish series. Early scenes nicely introduce the key characters before the main story gets underway. Once things get properly started there are plenty of tense moments and a degree of mystery. The characters are mostly fairly typical of this sort of show; Mari is a bit of a mystery and like most TV cops seem to Tommi has problems with his marriage. Madina is a nicely ambiguous character; we know she has been involved in terrible things but her back story involves tragedy and she may be being coerced to do what she is doing. The cast is solid; with fine performances from Krista Kosonen, Sibel Kekilli and Tommi Korpela as Mari, Madina and Tommi respectively; Dragomir Mrsic is suitably menacing as 'The Ghost'. The winter setting adds to the series' atmosphere... as well as helping brighten night-time outdoors scenes. The ending wraps up most plot lines but some are left open; these leaves the possibility of a second season but after three years I wouldn't count on it. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of the genre.

These comments are based on watching the series in Finnish with English subtitles. Much of the series is actually in English as it is used when characters, such as Madina, don't know Finnish; it is also used between non Finnish speakers even if in reality they would be speaking a third language.