Björnstad

Having read through the previous reviews here the main gripe i find people having with this show seems to be how it isn't an accurate portrayal of it's source material. So having not read the book i'll judge it purely on it's own merit.

Now i pretty much boycott every production that springs from Sweden. What made me give this one a go was mainly how it was an HBO production, a company i associate with quality tv. As i suspected the production was very good with nice cinematography and sets etc. But the best thing was the story and the actors who kept me glued to the screen all the way through. I do however have a few gripes about this show, and the reasons to why i'm not rating this any higher than an eight.

First of i think that the delivery of certain lines from the younger cast felt a bit stiff even if the written dialouge itself was very good and believable. This didn't happen often and the cast was overall very good. My main gripe however was that i felt the show was a bit too short. The build up to the main conflict was great, with the show doing a good job at introducing us to a large amount of interesting characters. The pacing was also really good at first but i thought the second half of the show was a bit rushed. Character motivations started to change too quickly and i felt some more screen time should have been handed to some of the side characters to flesh out the story more and cover more topics. But all in all it was a great show, well made and exciting from start to finish whilst also raising some important questions.

As episode 1 of "Beartown" (original Swedish title: "Björnstad; 2020 release; 5 episodes of about 55 min. each) opens, Peter, an ex-NHL player, and his family (wife and two teenage kids Maya and Leo) arrive in Björnstad (a small town in northern Sweden), where Peter grew up and whose hockey team has seen better days. Peter's task is to turn the hockey team's fortunes around. One of the stars on the hockey team is Kevin, and Maya and Kevin are drawn to each other, even as Peter and Kevin's dad (same age as Peter) can't stand each other... At this point we are 15 min. into the opening episode of this mini-series, but to tell you more of the plot would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the TV adaptation of the Swedish best-selling book of the same name. I haven't read the book so I can't comment on how closely the TV series sticks to the book. Regardless, after seeing Episode 1, the best way to sum up what we have here is that it is a Swedish small town hockey soap, pure and simple. There is so much plot in just Episode 1, I'd need pages and pages to describe all of it (which of course I wouldn't do in any event so as not to spoil your viewing experience). So let me just say that by the end of Episode 1, we have been familiarized with the primary characters, and it's only a matter before we get get some explosive plot twists (if you've seen the trailer airing on HBO, you know exactly what I mean). The winter scenery in norther Sweden is pure eye-candy from start to finish. Makes you want to go check it out for yourself.

Episode 1 of "Beartown" premiered on HBO this week, and is now available on HBO On Demand and other streaming platforms. New episodes air Monday evening at 9 pm Eastern. Can't wait to see how it will all unfold! If you have any interest in a good ol' fashioned soap opera, albeit with a Swedish twist, I'd readily suggest you check this out and draw your own conclusion.

So I wasn't keen on the subtitles as I tend to go for dubbed versions (please don't judge!) but seeing how much I enjoy the books by Fredrik Backman I wanted to give it a go. Note - I hadn't read the book so can't compare.

I really enjoyed this, the pace, the location & cinematography, the acting, the soundtrack & the story.

Don't let the subtitles put you off if you can't understand Swedish.

After two episodes one can tell that this is a great piece of swedish tv-drama. Former NHL-player and his family comes back to his old home town in the north of Sweden and makes an immediate impact on former friends and enemies. And there is this feeling of something bad and disturbing lurking around the corner from the beginning of the first episode, which also gets you hooked at once. Great cast where the actors actually act and talk like normal people (not very common in swedish productions) and the adaption from the critically acclaimed book by Fredrik Backman seems to be very successfull. Can't wait for the rest of season 1.

It's interesting the way the story is told. Little by little. Wasn't aware of the book so everything was unexpected and fortunately it was worth the watching. Scandinavians never disappoint. Well, this last is not objective...