The Darkness

You'd think that a combination of Ragnar Jonasson, Lasse Halstrom, Lena Olin and Douglas Henshal would result in something very special, but this series is just an irritating mess. I abandoned it before the end of the second episode and reading many of the reviews here I'm glad it's not me. Avoid. I agree with just about every criticism in the reviews.

We watched other Icelandic crime series before so we had high expectations, especially seeing Douglas Henshall's name amongst the actors, but we were soon disappointed. The conversations were absurd at points, serious plotholes, unexplored themes. The acting was terrible, especially Lena Olin. It was theatrical and ridiculous. The only actor who was almost good was Jack Bannon. We really wanted to believe that it could get better as we watch but no; it got worse and worse, to the point where we could not watch the last 20 minutes. Everything was cringe. It is sad that this story was butchered, it could have been good if it was done differently.

Everyone who reviewed this series so far has a valid point and, taken their individual pint of view, is accurate in his or her review. Not much to add here other than, for me, it was a huge disappointment. Only the addition of Jack Bannon, kept me from watching the series to it's torturous end.

What really got to me was the incredibly bad depiction of the Icelandic police force. If taken at face value, every policeman and policewoman is either an utter moron or too lazy to work. Everything in this series related to police work, police procedures and internal police management is so wrong, one questions the sanity of the person who wrote the script.

This could have been an excellent psychological twister-thriller, if the writer(s) wouldn't have assumed that the general viewing audience is comprised of morons as well.

3 Stars for the otherwise good, not great, performances of the lead actors and, of course, Jack Bannon.

The Darkness: A Nordic noir television series set in Iceland. Detective Inspector Hulda Hermannsdóttir (Lena Olin) is about to retire when she insists on taking over a suspicious death case. A young woman's body has been found frozen in a glacier. Enraged at her colleague who had ignored a missing person's report regarding the girl, she gets a new partner, Lukas, Icelandic born, recently arrived from England. Her search uncovers people trafficking from Eastern Europe, a local mafia, state corruption and incompetence if not more by the police. The darkness permeates her own life as can be expected in such a driven detective, the extent of it will shock you though. As another woman disappears she is struggling against bureaucracy, she fights for resources, even to be allowed to remain in her job as her own life comes under threat. Saw it on Virgin media Ireland. Channel 4 is due to show/stream it. Directed by Lasse Hallström, based on the Ragnar Jónasson novel of the same name. 8/10.

Some absolutely great parts here - the photography, the field locations, Reykjavik looks beautiful. There are also some weak red-herrings in the plot. Also, some real acting talent is available but Doug Henshall from "Shetland" is completely wasted in a nothing and pointless role. But it's all squandered on a poor and poorly stitched-together narrative that felt rushed to a conclusion. Too many plot lines went nowhere, too many ideas thrown in (misogyny, indigenous and migrant bigotry), character motivations were poorly articulated and the lead actress had a cryptically explained personality and background too say the least.

Really disappointing.