Entrapped

Well, it should be Trapped and Season 3, but someone somewhere decided that "a new start" would attract fresh audience? The number of episodes is also smaller (6 vs. 8), but on the ground of the story here, it could have been easily 5... Everything is slower, the star Ólafur Darri Ólafsson spends less time on screen, and the inclusion of otherwise great Danish actor Thomas Bo Larsen did not provide much value, as his character has a few dimensions only... The beautiful nature of Iceland is yet visible, but the distress and dreariness are more or less gone or in the far background.

Still 7 points from me as I was unable to surmise the wrongdoer and the reasons behind the crime was a nice twist.

As Episode 1 of "Entrapped" (2022 release from Iceland; 6 episodes ranging from 41 to 54 min each) opens, a rather weird group of meditating pagans is interrupted by a gang of bikers who feel the pagans have stolen their land. Late that night, one of the pagans is brutally murdered. Meanwhile Andri, a recently divorced cop, volunteers to assist in the murder investigation when he realizes that he knows the guy who was killed... At this point we are 10 minutes into Episode 1.

Couple of comments: some 5-6 years ago, there was an excellent Icelandic crime series called "Trapped" that stretched out over 3 seasons and 28 episodes. This new series is a sequel of sorts, with the main returning character being Andri, who based on a technicality is able to join into this new murder. We eventually learn that the murder may well be connected to one of the murders in the "Trapped" series. Unfortunately, as good as "Trapped" was, this new series doesn't come anywhere close in quality. It's not that it's outright bad, but the difference in quality, in particular in the writing, is quite stark. Also the fact that there are only 6 episodes should tell you something. It's like someone said, "hey guys, people are still talking about "Trapped", so we need to come with something, anything, that picks ups the pieces and gets this going again". "Entrapped" ultimately feels unnecessary but with just 6 episodes, it all goes by rather quickly.

"Entrapped" recently premiered on Netflix, and I couldn't wait to check it out. While it wasn't a complete waste of my time, I neverthele4ss feel like it was a letdown as compared to the original "Trapped" series. Of course don't take my word for it, so I encourage you to check it out, and draw your own conclusion.

I expected something as fine as "Trapped" but was disappointed, as it seems as are others.

The basic fault is a script that can't seem to raise above grade B theatrics. The cops continue to act stupidly. The bad guys are "Sons Of Anarchy" on Ritalin. The main character bumbles around like Gentle Ben. No-one comes across as real, merely caricatures, and the dialog is stilted.

It's all been done before but with a hackneyed plot line it helps to have a better script, and character development.

It all shows in the acting, which simply follows the dialog faithfully rather than striking out and creating some risk.

We do not need another sequel. Let this one lie.

"Trapped" was a pleasant surprise: A taut, emotionally-driven series with tight plots and engrossing environments. Sure, it was slow in parts but still amazing that a country of 400K residents can come up with something that blows much of Netflix programming away.

Saying that, this series lacks some of the tight scripting of "Trapped." Too often my mind wandered when it should have been glued to the TV. There just too much superfluous stuff, too many soap opera moments that the previous series avoided.

Still, it's an admirable show. I stayed with it and felt fully engaged with the characters. Perhaps a little too much at times as I would lose my place in the story. Thankfully, the ending neither disappoints nor insults the audience. Respect.

As someone who really enjoyed Trapped, I was looking forward to this. Sadly, it is not as gripping a tale. Even the Icelandic landscape and weather seemed less fascinating and forbidding. Trapped involved lots of artic ice and blizzards, whereas this is set mostly in a biker gang's hideout and a pagan cult's compound. There's lots of back and forth between the two on a coastal highway. Bikers and police, back and forth, back and forth. Every time a new issue came up, there was a road trip to one or the other.

The show attempts the obligatory task of making every character seem like a potential suspect for at least five minutes, but not all of these attempts succeeded. Without giving any details away, I didn't find the resolution very satisfying or worth the time I had invested.