Deadwind

I decided to watch Deadwind (Karppi) as Nordic Noir is my favourite genre of TV show. After watching the first episode I was hooked and watched the entire series over 3 days. I loved the 2 lead characters, Karppi and Nurmi, and enjoyed watching their working relationship develop. The Finnish scenery was stunning and made me want to book a flight to Helsinki! I have recommended Deadwind to many friends and all feedback has been very positive. Hopefully the wait for Season Two won't be too long!

As others have eloquently pointed out, Season 3 was a bit of a disappointment. They threw in so many plot twists that directly involved the characters personal lives that it stretched the limits of credulity. This took away from the main plot of the psycho murderer. By the end of the show, I had a hard time remembering why the bad guy decided to murder all these folks in the first place.

Still, it beats most of the stuff out there on Netflix so I'm still giving it an 7. I know, it doesn't make sense but I like this show even when they goof it up a bit. Looking forward to Season 4 and the next cool car that Nurmi will be driving!

The things that work well throughout the series are the filmography and the acting. The lead actor and actress have good chemistry and give nuanced performances. The filmography is beautiful and really showcases the bleak beauty of the Finnish landscape.

Season 1 was okay, I would rate it a 7½. The downfall of season 1 is definitely the lengthy subplots. They should have trimmed it down considerably and focused more on the lead characters and the lead storyline. The 12 episodes could have been condensed into 8-10 episodes. But that said, though it is a downfall, the season carries out satisfyingly enough, it just needed a couple episodes to properly pull me in. If you are expecting this to be like Broen or Karppi to be like Saga, this is not the show for you. And I say that as someone who doesn't think Broen is perfect either, it has its own pitfalls. This is its own series and feels more procedural with enhanced filmography. But if you come into it without Broen-like expectations or an Excel file ready to compile possible plot holes (I can't even remember if there were considerable ones, but I'm pretty good about watching something to my enjoyment and ignoring things so take that into account), I'm sure you will find enjoyment in it as I did. Saga Noren and Sofia Karppi are completely different characters though they may look a bit alike. But a lot of Nordic women have blonde, curly hair, so it's not that unusual.

Season 2 really evolved with how the plot was constructed. There's 8 episodes in total and it's completely sufficient to cover the storyline. There are still subplots that are given due focus, but this time they held a lot more interest to me and they connected to the main plot. I did figure out who did it, but I don't count that as a bad thing as I often do with these series. Overall it was a pleasing viewing experience, I would rate Season 2 8½.

So, rating the series 8/10.

As a sidenote, reading through these comments some people seem properly upset about a boy having long, curly hair. It may come as a shock to some, but in Finland boys are allowed to grow out their hair as long as they want, if they wish. Similarly, girls can have hair that's not gender normative. Also, who cares, I think Karppi's son's hair length has very little to do with the story.

Nice look into modern day Finland using a murder mystery plot. Gender equality, brainy eco entrepreneurs, sports, sex, drugs, religion, winter, Germans, families. All mixed into a 12 episodes plot. OK maybe some eye rolls, I mean c'mon a 20 year old E31 V12 BMW coupe used as a winter daily driver? Finns curse a a lot in creative ways, bull baska is a new one. And the panoramic wide shots of waterfronts and sunsets are an artistic touch.

I love Nordic/Scandinavian books and movies, this series to me was very enjoyable. It was a little slow at times but not bad. I loved the characters, I felt for all of them and I have to say I knew who the killer was by second or third episode, but the twists kept making me doubt myself. I look forward to the next season! Also how beautiful is Finland!