Trapped

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.

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.

If you look for one of the most accomplished police drama series search no further. Excellent writing, photography and acting. You'll be immersed in a small Icelandic town where a series of crimes (murders included) need to be solved. Top notch realism. It's awesome how easily you can fall in love with well built/developed characters even if they're not good looking, dysfunctional, exceptionally smart or heroic: just normal. It's even more awesome you can fall in love with a well written police drama even if no child was killed, no supernatural stuff is hinted as possibly present, no worldwide conspiracy menaces mankind, no criminal mastermind always wins. It's a good lesson for all those creators modeling their products on a dumb target audience: you don't need to. There's already youtube and Hollywood and special effects and cartoons for that: if you write series, do it well.

I'm already addicted to this thriller after watching two episodes only. Even though there is nothing particularly original about the plot and the back story (don't get me wrong, it's edgy in a Crimson Rivers sort of way, and is very very interesting on all levels but everything's been done before), it's extremely well directed and all the characters are very strong and uncannily lifelike. Part of the appeal resides in the "novelty" of the Icelandic location of course - I read some Icelandic crime fiction before and I found it in exactly the same appealing but rather grim vein in fact - but what really, really makes this, is the incredibly charismatic lead actor playing Andri, the unusual chief of the local police. What an actor. Negatives would be some overuse of atmospheric music but that's about it (eta: only the first 2 episodes really. It's being much better used afterwards. And it's great music) .

Am excellent watch although definitely not recommended for children, whether they can read subtitles or not. It has dead body parts and things.

After episode 3 I'm pushing this to a 9. Wild horses wouldn't drag me out before episode 4 on this Saturday night! This is top class TV by any standards.

Episode 5....still top class stuff .

The series has ended in both a pleasingly conventional and unconventional manner and I feel bereft and orphaned, such as I normally only feel after reading a particularly enthralling book. Well done, I shall miss you all like (dysfunctional altogether) family.

I would also like to add that user ratings are virtually the same across the board, from under 18 (who love it best) to over 45, males and females, US and non US users. It's quite astonishing and not at all usual.