Cold Courage

... not yet sure about this series... going to take another season to maybe come to a firmer conclusion... ending of this first season was a bit of a letdown after all the buildup... acting was fine.. cameras at times lingering a bit too long, placing undue stress on facial expressions that came off sometimes as odd... nothing though that couldn't be worked out... looking forward to S2.

Yes, another show in which the villain is a Trump-like right wing politician. This one, played by the usually excellent John Simm, seeks to "Make Britain Great Again." He is, unfortunately, not a very well-written character. He varies from smart to stupid from scene to scene, as do most of the other characters, especially the two crime-fighting heroines.

Lia is especially lacking in credibility. The politician's blindness to what she is up to is almost comical. At least a few times in every episode, characters act in ways that completely defy logic. The cliches don't help, e.g. a rich bad guy who wears a shiny suit and sports a man-bun, a poor Muslim family sorely mistreated.

There was suspense, but part of that came from wondering when the series would improve. I did watch to the end but gave up expecting coherence by episode 3.

I found this to be a very difficult watch, i didn't like any of the cast at all and there were just so many plot holes and questions. I couldn't stand Lia at all, one of the most annoying characters in a tv show in a very long time.

Wasn't impressed with the beginning/opening of the mini-series and stopped watching halfway the 1st episode. Four weeks later, decided to start watching it again from the beginning and persevere and binged right through to the end. It is not too bad and not very good either ... just okay, and I have only three comments: (1) John Simms is completely miscast here (2) they made the police look like fools ... not doing anything! (3) the writers doesn't really seem to know how to end the story ... made it such a way like as if there is going to be a series two? Give me a break :)

Cold Courage could have been a nice thriller if the writers & producers bothered to keep the story and plots clean and tie the various sub-plots in an arranged and neat way. They didn't do that and as a result we have messy plots and sub-plots all over, contributing only to a sense of dizziness episode after episode.

• (+-) Good acting overall by the cast, especially the British one; though Sofia Pekkari was unremarkable in her role. She was dry, lifeless and feeling old.
• (+) Good filming and cinematography on its own level.
• (+-) Mumbo jumbo plots and sub-plots fighting for the first prize.
• (-) Messy and jumbled English speaking by the Foreigners, especially Pihla Viitala. She spoke well, but in a quiet mumbled way. Maybe the English characters should have learned to speak Finnish and Swedish.
• (-) Too few episodes. Accounting the story, 10-12 episodes in the first season would have been much better.

They counted on a second season to tie the loose ends and bring fresh twists to the story, which unfortunately may never happen. Their biggest mistake was poor planning and counting too much on a green light for a next season.