Trapped

Being a fan of Nordic noir I thought I would give this series a go and I'm glad I did. Trapped is every bit as good as anything Icelands Scandinavian neighbours have given us. Set in a small port on the Icelandic coast a spate of murders take place taking the local police force out of there comfort zone. Not that this stops the local head of police played by the excellent Olafa Olafson. With no help from the mainland due to the freezing weather he single handily attempts to track down the perpetrator. Trapped is well written,acted and beautifully shot so much so it's the first show that's so cold it makes me want to put a jumper on just watching it! Highly recommended 9/10

The lead character is engaging and you'll feel for him. Right from his hair to the way he walks to the way he dresses is all so real. And so is his life. The world created is so lovely you'd want to keep going back. Thoroughly enjoying it.

I was hesitant at first, as I find myself increasingly reluctant to watch anything where I must rely on unblinking attention to the lower region of the screen to catch subtitles in English, (myself being woefully and completely ignorant of the spoken language of Iceland, in this case) However, after the first episode I was hooked. The acting was excellent, the characters believable, the Icelandic backdrop eerie, melancholy and the mountainous backdrop achingly beautiful. I found myself fully invested in the outcome and, indeed, stayed up well past my bedtime to watch as many episodes as I could. Cheers ! 10 out of 10 in my humble opinion.

Ófærð is an amazing, dark, slow-burning drama, where you feel the tension building from the very first moment. Ólafur Darri Ólafsson depicted a single-father (for the time-being), living with his parents-in-law, working as the chief of police with so much details and such psychological depth that it leaves the watcher in awe. He is strong but easily-hurt, he is tormented by his love to his wife and still naivelly believes that maybe, just maybe everything will be fine. The story - wow, so many paths that it takes us on, such tangled connections between closed-knit society of a small community. The scenery - breath-taking; I'm from Poland so we do have some strong winters, but the creepy atmosphere of being completelly cut-off by the snow fall is something I don't know :) And it worked for me - I was binge-watching the series with 38 degrees Celsius outside and I felt frozen to the bone :) It was a combination of the story and scenery that made the film so thrilling. Overall - great acting, good story and somewhat surprising ending.

Like a lot of people, I started watching Trapped because of the novelty of seeing a show made in Iceland. But when I finished the series, I had to admit: it's as good as the very best cop/mystery shows out of the UK, or anywhere else.

Trapped has several things going for it:

* The location, and the (icy-cold) atmosphere. What a great concept: a horrible murder, and all the suspects snowed-in in a tiny Icelandic town. (It reminded me of the excellent horror-adventure, 30 Days of Night.)

* The characters. The creators of this show must have used every top actor in Iceland, and even then they had to borrow some. But every role is beautifully played, and intelligently written. Every person depicted in this series has a believable personality, and even the villains remain believable and sympathetic.

* The plot. Unlike so many mysteries, Trapped is resolved in a totally plausible way. There are no lapses in logic, no improbable contrivances. Just human greed and stupidity, playing out in the way you'd expect. This is what really wins that 10/10 rating from me. Very few TV mysteries manage to come up with a really credible plot.

Trapped works perfectly on every level: as adventure, drama and mystery. Bear up with the subtitles (or brush up your Icelandic), and see this show as soon as possible. And join me in hoping that its creators have a lot more like it in store.