Händelser vid vatten

This is one of the best Scandinavian series I have seen in a long time. But don't come expecting a standard Nordic crime series. This is more a crime story in the sense that Hamlet is a crime story. It's about man and nature, time's arrow and existential questions - and the acting is superb. They manage to make something work that usually never works: to have a younger and an older version of most of the characters, since it takes place in 1973 and 1991. Highly recommended if you like Twin Peaks and Top of the Lake - but I would also point to brilliant period recreations like Fanny and Alexander or Dazed and Confused.

The series proceeds at a methodical pace akin to travel in the remote area of Sweden that it's set in. It was confusing at first with the jumps from 1973 to 1991 but once one got to grips with who the characters were and how they changed with age, the episodes were easy enough to follow.

I don't care about the anachronisms of certain cars being manufactured after the events or products shown not existing till later in the century. To me, the atmosphere and surroundings evoked by the different years were convincing.

There were two unexplained deaths - murders - in the two years covered by the series. The perp of the earlier incident was clearly not the main suspect but it took me till episode five to be sure of who it really was. Unfortunately, the 1991 murder was signalled far less delicately in the script and it was pretty obvious who'd done it.

I loved the touches such as the party ferries between Finland and Sweden. I've been on them in the 80s and 90s as well as the ones between Finland and Estonia. The remote vastness of the north with its untarmacked roads evoked strong memories of when I lived in Finland - our cottage only had a dirt road to it even though we were in the south. So many of the buildings and landscapes of where I lived were similar to areas in the series.

In short, even without the memories, I'd have loved this and recommend it.

The strengths here are the drama and the scenery, but it falls short on tempo and how plot twists are connected to the main storyline and cues. It's not like you would think "Of course! Why did I not think of that? That was clever!" Instead, it is like you watch some drama that you become invested in, but in the end, it does not matter much. So, they could have portrayed almost anything to provide filling time. Based on a book I haven't read, I cannot comment on the adaptation, but I strongly suspect you would not feel the same disconnect reading the book. Ultimately, this mini series feels unsatisfying as a murder mystery series, which unfortunately was my main expectation going in. But, if you just want some slow moving drama spiced with murder mysteries and a 70's collective imagery to go with it (and along with that, contentions on sexual liberty and political themes of the day), this is totally worth watching. And then you might land on a better rating as well.

This is so much more than just a murder story. It's also a brilliant semi-dramatic and quite touching story about Annie, Mia and Birger's lives living in the middle of nowhere (and then some) somewhere in Sweden. The first episode I was confused but I quickly understood the method of storytelling, and I was intrigued so I kept watching. After episode 2 I was hooked. I was a bit creeped out by the realization of how difficult things were back then (1973) without access to the technology we have today, and that made me feel like this show is special from a lot of other crime stories. Some events I guessed pretty early what was going on, and other events had me surprised.

The calm but yet hostile atmosphere that was presented in ep 1 was managed throughout. I'd say this is a relaxing watch for anyone interested in fictional crime.

Hope they do more like this. Didnt wanted it to end. The August family and Lassgård is excellent.

I especially liked the 70's part of it, it felt like I was in that pediod of time with the clothes, music, cars and so on.

Didnt think it was obvious what was going to happen, it is very mysterious and special and I can understand why its not suitable for everyone.

Its a serie where you dont do anything else than whatch it, cause if you look at the phone at the same time you might miss clues. I think I will watch it again sometime just to understand some of the mysterious parts in the beginning and just to se the beautiful nature up in north. And ofcourse dont forget the music its perfect.