Trapped

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.

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.

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

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.

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.