Pørni

There seems to be a current trend for small-scale Nordic family drama series, and Pörni is yet another great one.

The opening scenes are brilliant!

It is easy to watch and follow, without being superficial; the characters have depth and as is often the case in Nordic drama, the older characters are allowed to be their age and show it, and still get to enjoy life and romance.

Beautiful.

There's the usual tropes of this kind of drama-series format : parent/child relationship, the challenges of parenting, romance in the mature years, living with grief.

Pörni does it all very well, effortlessly moving between heartfelt drama, everyday life and comic moments. Something the Nordics are amazing at.

The series is also brilliant at bringing together the particular mindsets and worldviews of three generations of characters.

Of course, we get to laugh at the teenagers and how impossible they are, but we also get to love them.

I have some reservation about the way the father is depicted: the usual trope of the well-meaning, charming but unreliable and ultimately inadequate father...I feel this has become a recurring character-type in many contemporary series, not just Nordic, and I don't think it's always necessary to have a crap father-character in order to showcase how brilliant the mother is.

As a character, Pörni is a great, competent, loving mother, and she would still be all of that, even if the father of her kids was a great father as well.

I absolutely love that Pörni enjoys the occasional joint with her father, and it's presented as something cosy and relaxed.

When will this happen in a Swedish family-drama ?!

And it is also a pleasure to see a mature daughter-father relationship that is loving, supportive and driving some of the comedy in the series.

I loved that it ended in a way that does credit to the entire series, and I very much look forward to Season 2.

Its hilarious, awkward and gut wrenchingely sad, and the show manages to send you through those emotions in span of 30 minutes EVERY episode! You fall in love with the characters immediately. Really good so far!

I love how the Norwegians and Swedish are doing the opposite of the Americans etc because they cast realistic looking people, and everyone isn't perfect, and the writing is realistic and real! I believe what makes a good show into a GREAT show is the real factor because when its realistic people are transported into what they are watching. Yet, when its fantasy its all just make believe kid stuff and its just not interesting. The reason most film makers use some fantasy with realism is because they use the fantasy writing and casting etc to make up for the fact that their writing is subpar and their style isn't good so they make up for it with silly fantasy plots and pretty faces but bad actors. The main actress isn't the most beautiful woman, but there is something about her, and it shines really bright! She is still beautiful, but she is beautiful on both the inside and outside, a healthy mix, whilst most of the time, actresses that play her part are just pretty on the outside and don't have the personality nor the acting talent this actress clearly has! She is a real actress and she is going to continue to do well. All of them are great actresses/actors! Bravo.

I'm convinced this show could go on forever, honestly. The acting is superb, the writing is great, and the characters (except the ex Finn and the bad parents Pernille meets as a worker in CPS) are so likeable. It's also a very realistic portrait of a Norwegian modern family, and there is moments of joy, sadness, fun all mixed up in a way that creates a great drama.

Especially the scenes between Pernille and her headstrong daughters are so fun to watch.

This is a cool, funny and heartwarming show. Even my fiancé who's a tough motorcycle guy loves this show.

DO NOT watch if: -You're offended by swearing/foul language -You have very conservative family values.

This series is high quality in every possible aspect: script, acting, storyline. Warm and down-to-Earth. I love Pørni!