Cold Courage

Yes, another show in which the villain is a Trump-like right wing politician. This one, played by the usually excellent John Simm, seeks to "Make Britain Great Again." He is, unfortunately, not a very well-written character. He varies from smart to stupid from scene to scene, as do most of the other characters, especially the two crime-fighting heroines.

Lia is especially lacking in credibility. The politician's blindness to what she is up to is almost comical. At least a few times in every episode, characters act in ways that completely defy logic. The cliches don't help, e.g. a rich bad guy who wears a shiny suit and sports a man-bun, a poor Muslim family sorely mistreated.

There was suspense, but part of that came from wondering when the series would improve. I did watch to the end but gave up expecting coherence by episode 3.

I lived in Finland for a while, so it got 6 stars instead of 5 just because of the scenes in Finland and the bursts of language in Finnish and Swedish.

The part of London that is the backdrop to the series is one of a poorer area that is partially becoming gentrified, although this is not the theme of the political campaign portrayed which attempts to show a sub-Farage figure whipping up racial tension to try to win a by-election. A shadowy group of justice warriors tries to stop him, along the way performing other good deeds whose resolution coincidentally ties into the main plot, as we see.

It's not a believable scenario by any means and nor are some of the plot devices or the actions and motivations of some of the main characters.

The producers clearly hoped for a second series being commissioned as there are at least four major cliffhangers in the final episode.

It's a series that you can just watch without much concentration. Will I bother with the second series? Unlikely if a vaccine against Corona has been found and we can go out again.

A sex, crime and political thriller set in London. You expect pomp, ceremony, uplifting views of the famous landmarks, the sense of common decency and fair play and the dry British sense of humour and the great British stiff upper lip seeing you through every situation. If this is what you want or come to expect then this isn't the series for you. John Simm's Farage-esque character seems to be the only British person in London and one of the few aged over 40. There is no humour, no warmth towards the characters, no British intensity and an international cast that only seem to be able to speak English in whispers and can't decide when to speak English or their own tongues to one another. This is an EU production, funded by various tax schemes so they are obviously upset at Britain's departure from the club. Without any British financial assistance, Britain is shown in a negative light with the flag-waving being used to show the Brits to be the bad guys and out of touch. Such a shame that what could have been a good drama allowed politics to get in the way. Slow, plodding and pointless. Should there be a series 2 then at least The Studio won't be in London. Not a bad finish to this Finnish drama though.

Kind of a british drama where they have tried to give a scandi-noir feel to it. For the most part, it works. Quite enjoyed it and hope they do a season 2. If you enjoy one of the lead actresses, Phila Viitala, you should also check out Karppi/Deadwind.

Cold Courage could have been a nice thriller if the writers & producers bothered to keep the story and plots clean and tie the various sub-plots in an arranged and neat way. They didn't do that and as a result we have messy plots and sub-plots all over, contributing only to a sense of dizziness episode after episode.

• (+-) Good acting overall by the cast, especially the British one; though Sofia Pekkari was unremarkable in her role. She was dry, lifeless and feeling old.
• (+) Good filming and cinematography on its own level.
• (+-) Mumbo jumbo plots and sub-plots fighting for the first prize.
• (-) Messy and jumbled English speaking by the Foreigners, especially Pihla Viitala. She spoke well, but in a quiet mumbled way. Maybe the English characters should have learned to speak Finnish and Swedish.
• (-) Too few episodes. Accounting the story, 10-12 episodes in the first season would have been much better.

They counted on a second season to tie the loose ends and bring fresh twists to the story, which unfortunately may never happen. Their biggest mistake was poor planning and counting too much on a green light for a next season.