Mammon

Mammon (which is biblical for material wealth or money) is advanced mix of crime, corruption, religion, rituals, media criticism and bad childhoods. Sounds as a lot? Well it is, and this series is a deep woven mystery, which is almost impossible to read before you the last episode.

That is of course positive in a world of a TV-series and films which are all too like. This differs from most, due to it being a mystery involving media, politicians and old school time secret networks.

We follow a newspaper journalist, Peter Verås, which is reporting on a case which entangles him way more than is good for the job, the paper, his family and friends. And he can't grasp what it is about, but it goes right down the core of his own family.

Some will love this due to it's complexity, others will have a hard struggle with understanding the complicated plot. This series has been a great success even before the first episode was screened, and sold to the folds of countries eager to get more of Nordic noir. Therefore the plans for a second season is already on the way, which once more will follow the journalist, I guess. This series goes right into that category, though it's more a mystery than a crime story.

The series was immensely popular when it was aired, having a 40 percent of the total marked when being aired, but was criticized for having advanced surround sound, making it difficult to grasp all being said on a small TV-set, but great on a surround system. As dubbed, or with subtitles, this will not be a problem outside Norway. From the third episode they decided to subtitle the series even on Norwegian TV.

It was also criticized for being unrealistic due to how a Norwegian independent newspaper would react to be scrutinized by the investigative police, but this came more out of pride of journalistic integrity than reality. I'm afraid the integrity isn't that strong, even in an otherwise low corruption nation as Norway.

I both liked it, and didn't, but I just had to watch the series through, and didn't have a clue who was responsible.

Exciting, yes, but easy to understand, no! Interesting due to the ethic dilemmas, yes, but easy to make a second season, no!

Norwegian political, conspiracy, action thriller. Lost of twists, nothing becoming relatively clear until the end. Some familiar Nordic faces makes this a good drama.

Nordic Noir genre is alive and kicking as Norwegians prove with this excellent addition to a whole bunch of quality entertainment based on Scandinavian crime fiction. I enjoyed season 1 of ''Mammon'' but I thought that it was a rather poor production, kind of a tv series''b-movie''. Nevertheless it managed to keep the viewer glued to his seat due to its intricate plot and notable actor performances, mainly by Jon Øigarden and Nils Ole Oftebro as two journalists of VG newspaper, one of the most popular ones in Norway. Season 2 though was close to perfection. Great actors joined the cast like Trond Espen Seim, Ingar Helge Gimle, Anders Danielsen Lie and others, with the first two being marvelous in their roles as frenemies in the country's governing party, often adding a comic touch to the tightly-woven, elaborate plot. The story begins with the murder of one of VG's prime journalists and unfolds in a nice, steady pace, leaving no questions unanswered in the end. The plot consists of shady politicians, corrupt lawyers, femme fatales and has every ingredient of a superb television production. Nordic Noir fans are bound to love ''Mammon'' and the finale will leave them begging for more.

As Norway is considered as one of the least corrupted countries in the world, crime rate is also low, so you see many scenes depicted in series like Mammon with certain limitations, they do not seem realistic in full... So some mystery is in place, but you have to concentrate on other elements still. The story goes with ups and downs, there are some catchy twists and turns, but when rounded up, you realise some loopholes or start to think: how come?

The performances are okay, with several famous Norwegian actors included, but, compared to other series, the main character performed by Jon Øigarden tended to be a bit arid... All in all, my apparent "mistake" was that I wachted it recently, not when it was first screened, as Norway has created several more interesting/versatile series after that.

I'm a big fan of "Scandi-Noir" genre but to be honest, this one is just overly complicated with very little return. To keep track of the plot with its biblical references, moral discussions, tedious dialog which at times seems out of place, and the number of characters that keep appearing out of the woodwork, one of the boards that police use to solve a crime would be helpful. You need to try an remember who's who, who's connected to whom, and what their role is in the overall plot. The story could have been told in half the number of episodes, and without some of the very pointless scenes that seemed unrelated to the plot. The editing is not great as things jump around too much. The characters are not very likable, and the lead is very flat and two-dimensional. I'm not sure I'd watch a second season if it were produced. UPDATE: I thought I'd give the second season a chance to see if there was any improvement in the writing or extreme and unnecessarily complicated plot. There was absolutely no change at all. In fact, the second season proved to be even more ridiculous than the first, sequencing a series of confusing events that just seemed to happen and appeared unrelated to the story. It was as if the writers did not use a story board but came to work each day with a new idea. Whether that idea was relevant or not to the story, appeared immaterial. New characters would spring from nowhere and as the series progressed, each episode became just a celebration of chaos. You could watch the first and last episode only and not miss anything because the episodes in between were just fairly pointless. One can only hope we'll be spared a third season of this very silly series.