Lifjord - Der Freispruch

How many times are they going to bring this guy in for the murder? It's tiresome. It's as if they ran out of ideas.

After reading the announcement of the series on German TV I was intrigued by the theme: A businessman returning to the small village in Norway, where he grew up and, after being a prime suspect in a murder at the age of 18, was acquitted of the crime. He left the town, made a successful career in the Far East, only to return after 20 years or so to save the main employer in the town from going bankrupt. Such a topic offers plenty of opportunities to make an intriguing TV-series. However, already after watching the first episode I was really disappointed. The actors walk, behave, and are dressed like clichés. The investors are of course all smartly dressed good looking young men, who prefer to travel by helicopter, but many of the details have nothing to do with the reality of this world. Their behaviour is irrational, and they take risks that investors would never take, even if they were driven by sentiments. After watching for a while, this gets so annoying, that the basically great theme of the series disappears into the background. There are really much better Scandinavian crime series to watch (like The Bridge), don't waste your precious time on this one.

Good things: The cinematography of the series is impressive. The actors give a solid performance. The music helps the atmosphere of the series to stay consistently gripping. Every second contains an excellent amount of uncomfortable tension that prevents the otherwise overdramatized script from falling into the soap opera category.

At the same time, the script is still plagued by some serious illogicalities. It is simply questionable whether an international high tech company could have been managed successfully by a woman whose behavior is seriously neurotic at worst and someone whose background is such a huge question mark could work as a big shot in an investment company and stay married with the same woman for 17 years.

Moreover, it is nothing short of unconvincing that the small town in which the events of this series take place could be so remarkably void of people who would just listen to reason and act sensibly under most circumstances.

Summary: While I still enjoy to watch the series, I can't help being nagged by the feeling that something just doesn't make sense in the script.

I approached this series with low expectations, so I didn't completely hate it. But I wouldn't recommend it unless you are really running out of things to watch. The scenery is beautiful, but the writing leaves something to be desired. The mystery is not just whodunnit but who will stay together, who will break up, who will hook up, etc.

There's a great deal of inconsistent behavior.. Characters seek the truth then suddenly don't want to know. They're in and out of love for no apparent reason, or they seek reconciliation, then revenge, then whatever. They reveal secret upon secret upon secret, until it's clear that the entire town should be in psychotherapy. Season 1 just barely held together, and Season 2 was a real setback for plausibility in law and crime shows.

Maybe worth a shot for some, but I didn't feel it improved as it went on.

despite negative reviews the story is gripping and unexpected turn of events in the very end is delivered only to the patient viewer. it kept my attention and i rated very high for the original surprising ending and interesting plot, not to mention gorgeous lead character and scenery.