Below the Surface

I liked the first couple of episodes, looked like it was going to be a great taut suspense thriller but after about episode 5 I was starting to yell at the screen over some of the actions/behaviour/decisions being made by the characters . And the Police seem to do nothing but sit around having dramatic moments, arguing & eating pizza. I mean, surely Denmark has better cops than this? They are excruciatingly useless. I'll stick with it for now but honestly they better do something POLICE-like soon or I will give up on the show completely. Nothing much makes sense at this stage either. I'm hoping there's a point to all this somewhere coz the ransom is way too small to be their main aim. Anyway - watch it, you might enjoy it and it's not terrible but there are some niggling issues here.

Great micro-environment setting. Jumps into the action quickly and draws out well over the episodes to an intense conclusion. Takes time to personalize the hostages viewpoints. Closes with a moral issue.

As an admirer of various thrilling series, Denmark is definitely one of the countries which related production I follow as much as possible. So I was glad again when I heard about Gidseltagningen - and again, I can say I am contented.

True, it is no Bron/Broen, but its realistic plot (suitable for modern world with its hostage dramas), depiction of decision-making in a democratic country (when comprehensiveness brings about tardiness in harsh situations), not strained characters and performances (particularly supporting ones, e.g. Paprika Steen, Alba August, Dar Salim) make this series interesting to watch. Well, the real reasons behind could have been different, more sophisticated, but then it could have diminished its plausibility perhaps. We have to bear in mind that Gidseltagningen is no American or Asian series, after all, and anti-war mentality and topical mood were so maintained.

All in all, 8 strong points from me, and you are welcome to watch, unless you dislike strong military presence and prefer works with good and bad distinctively marked.

PS Season 2, with events on and around a ferry, is not weaker, and Season 3 is not excluded - with reference to the ending scenes... The only issue is that as the Danes tend to benefit from same film actors, one can easily guess who might die in the middle and who definitely not :)

I'm hearing impaired and need captions in English, my native language, as well as captions that translate foreign languages. Most dialogue is in Danish, so I get captions. But some of the most dramatic dialogue is muttered or quickly spoken in accented English, with no ability to turn on captions in PBS "Masterpiece." C'mon folks, do better and make this accessible!

Now to the show itself. The first episode is intense and traumatic. Try the second episode, and you'll be rewarded with a suspenseful drama with unpredictable plot, well-written dialogue, terrific acting and character development.

I can only think of one word to describe this show. Intense. The show was believable. There were errors made on both sides. It wasn't the perfect solution to a bad situation. There was no pushing of political agenda. No single hero. Just pure entertainment. So refreshing. Highly recommend it.