Conflict

As a special forces soldier, I find the series excellent. Aki is the Man. The criticism has been so inferior that this becomes a success. Few dare to present characters as stereotypes. A traditional officer is a traditional officer. Now there are also those women. Today there are women in the army. You'd think it would do. And there are also immigrants. You'd think that would do too. Fortunately, the audience decides. I'm sure the Defense Forces have been happy to help. Critics criticize and soldiers fight. That's the difference. Congratulations Finland 107 years! This is a good reminder to be ready. Not with a keyboard but with a gun.

Seen one episode in but it already feels just like an unbelievable commercial for the Finnish defence forces. Unnecessary sex scene, wannabe edgy president that you can't take seriously after her first scene and so much of unimportant idling makes me think that is there even a story behind all of this.

At least it looks quite good. The military equipment provided by the Finnish defence forces are authentic which gives some realness to this lame and stoic story. Peter Franzén is the standout as the other main lead in the series and gives a good performance as a Finnish military staff member. Hopefully the rest of the series will be better.

Update:

Quite surprised by the later episodes (4 and 5) the tension is really there and all the corny, cringe and boring scenes are gone. It's not a perfect show by any means but much better than the start.

This show had a lot of potential but I personally sensed an absence of good writing and directing. The acting was often very monotone and was missing authentic expression. I was having a hard time caring for the characters. The threat wasn't portrayed well enough and I found myself bothered by the lack of realism overall. I would've loved to see big invader troops with attitudes that could've been felt through the screen. I realise that stressful situations can make us react in ways we can't predict, but instead of lots of hesitation and even sluggishness I would've wanted to see stern strong leader figures with determination and fire in their veins (not only talking about the president). We have a huge high-stake situation in our hands and yet I, as a viewer, didn't feel it. I didn't feel the rush, the stress, the fear of the unknown.

Some aspects I liked, mostly the filming, set design and the editing. I understand the funding can be tough to find in a small country, shows like this easily eat away dozens of millions. Finland has some breathtaking scenery and landscape, those drone videos of nature really please the eye. The diversity of actors and languages was refreshing but also felt a bit forced.

My overall enjoyment score as a viewer is 6/10. If we were to compare this only to other Finnish shows, I would go a bit higher.

I did write a very favourable review, based on the first two or three episodes.

After seeing all 6 episodes, not so much. There are the admirable production values throughout, yes. And the Finnish Defence Forces carries through in every respect.

What fails, and keeps failing more and more in every step to the final episode is the script. It's just not believable. The characters keep getting more and more shallow. Nobody cares abt. Them in the end.

Also, the "main event" in the end (winning, and getting back the command of most everything) is just a big nothing. And I didn't expect a Hollywood / Star Wars shootout; it's just that the character arcs fall short of any believable outcome that's been built for in the first 4 episodes.

Story/promise: beliavable. Characters: marginal. Script: falls short. Believability: a far reach. Which means - Directing: too much to handle, tiresome. Overall (despite a very promising start), just 4/10.

Would I watch this again: no. Would I recommend this: basically yes, for people not knowing much about Finland. There definitely are elements that depict things realistically. But as a TV series, I was disappointed. Hope you're not.

Terribly sorry, but even the premise: that a few paratroopers could accomplish anything of military or territorial value, and that foreign military equipment and soldiers could "slip ashore" from "Venezuelan" ships unnoticed, is stupid and unrealistic. Even more strange, no plausible motive is given for why a "foreign force" would take this action, which in real life only could lead to said force being thrown back into the sea in record time. This unrealistic premise is then combined with the nowadays requisite and formulaic "conflicts" amongst soldiers and political leaders, and some totally unnecessary sex scenes. Apart from some refreshing exceptions, the acting is most often wooden, probably because of the likewise stilted writing. Even seasoned, normally competent actors can't seem to get it together. Like everyone is satisfied with the first take. To top it all off, the music score feels uninspired, and curiously detached from events rolling by. Production values are sometimes pretty good, but really feel wasted on this drawn out series (two episodes would have been enough).