The Outliers

Outlier has been compelling. Two stories coming together in one mid-summer, with commonalities in their disturbing events while separated by several years. It would have been easy to present the stories with the crash, dash, bash approach that we often see, but instead the producers have used a steady pace, with the slow reveal of the truth. This is as it would happen in a small rural community where everyone knows everyone, where some have been damaged by the acts of others. Recall Woman at War. The characters were great, and allowed to develop with time and with the realisation of current and past events. I liked it a lot.

The setting in northern Norway with the midnight sun is very interesting, the shots are cinematic, young Elle is portrayed well but... Vvveeeeerrrryyyyy slow paced, Main character Maja is annoying - partly because the script lets her down but I suspect that it's simply poor acting. In addition the head of the local police (Johan) is frustrating to watch and listen to. Plot holes. Constructive criticism: new lead character and reduce number of episodes from 8 to a maximum of two.

I loved this because it's a departure from the predictable series out there.

The central character is not likeable throughout, which is what I believe explains some of the poor reviews on this list. (Lots mention bad acting and directing, but I disagree. Both were very well done.)

Genuine disagreeableness on the part of the central character was like a breath of fresh air for me. I prefer characters to be flawed and intriguing rather than statically heroic. Just be prepared to pay close attention as you're watching. This isn't the sort of series you can have on in the background while you're making supper.

The series is also slow-paced, but not boring. The psychological theories expressed by the central character, Maja, were technical but also interesting and kept the tension taut. The subtext that budget restrains were hampering proper policing seemed very true to life and added a layer of complexity that is often left out of more action driven series.

And predictable. It's like they didn't know how to fill the hours with enough content so they just made everything really slow instead. And several of the characters are just annoying including the lead character. I made lots of 10 seconds jump forwards the last two episodes. It just made me annoyed because it was so ridicolous.

I really don't understand how everytime I read reviews on here people are just trashing everything. If you don't like it, don't watch it.

This series is really good and well acted as most Norwegian shows are. I sometimes wonder if these people even watch the shows or just decide to write fake bad reviews! Just say you didn't like it that is enough.