Monster

A little different in terms of comparing this series to other Nordic thrillers. A little slow and plodding, but makes for some interesting characters....especially the women. A relatively new and young actress who plays JANI in the series is interesting in that she emotes much in her facial expressions and lack of speech. Nice job for her first major role. The main female cop, HEDDA, is also interesting in that she shows emotion both in expression and facial responses. most male characters, except for one, are old and dull, and you get tired of seeing them so much...but, alas, they are necessary to the story. The scenery is gorgeous and moody. This is definitely not your typical Hollywood crime thriller. Nordic regions, keep them coming.

Monster seems to fall under a sub-genre of Scandinavian noir that I've run into far too often: A crime drama set in rural Finland or Norway or Sweden that involves an ultra religious sect. Invariably, these shows have a large number of unlikable, damaged characters doing unlikable things. As a result, it becomes almost impossible to identify with or root for most of the characters. In Monster, even the detectives are hard to root for, with all their flawed and destructive behavior.

I quickly realized that I was getting little enjoyment out of watching the series. Yet, I somehow felt an obligation to see it through to the end. It was like a bad medicine that I had to take in the hopes of finally getting a payoff at the end. When I finished the final episode, I felt like I had run a marathon. I did in fact like the ending, but the journey there it was so filled with bleak and cynical characters that it was a joyless ride.

I watched the series on the PBS Masterpiece platform. Another strange thing about it was that the episode previews that would appear as you start each new episode were often inaccurate in their descriptions of the episode. Strange. While Monster wasn't terrible, I gave it a 6 and would not recommend.

Whilst I agree with most of the negative reviews and the mind numbing stupidity of the script , I also agree that a very good cast made the best of it and I actually ended up enjoying it . No idea WHY but I did.

Monster draws on a long tradition of Nordic family sagas to weave a tale of a contemporary investigation into the murder and ritualistic burial of a young member of a religious cult.

Hedda Hersoug is a police officer on leave in her home town. She's there to look after her ailing father (and escape her ailing marriage), but is drawn into the murder investigation. Soon, another team of investigators arrive to assist with the inquiry. Hedda clashes with Joel Dreyer who is dismissive of her credentials and her local knowledge.

Hedda and Joel eventually manage to work together, only to reveal a connection between the present-day murders and the unexplained disappearance of Hedda's mother when she was a child.

The series explores the entanglements of family and community and the efforts to preserve and avenge family honour, often--as in the sagas--by violent means. The performances are understated and powerful and mirrored in the stark landscape where silence, like snow, blankets much. The character of Margot, a local crime matriarch, played by Goruld Mauseth, was a stand-out for me.

I love Nordic Noir and this is a fairly watchable entry into that canon. Unfortunately, the implausible plot, wooden dialogue and plotlines that are too confusing to hold this snowy saga tightly together, prevent me from awarding it any more than 6 out of 10. The problem is it's trying too hard to be weird and quirky to really engage on any plausible level. The two lead detectives are weird and quirky, the locals are just weird and the plot is lifted from about a dozen better films and tv shows. Mysterious blonde teenage girl is murdered in a ritualistic manner in small Hicksville town and said murder is investigated by inadequate local cops and fish out of water city cops. The city cops both dislike each other and then through mutual blackmail work together to solve a current slew of murders which may be linked to murders 30 years previously. The cinematography is great and the scenery breathtaking but a handful of good action set pieces, including a machine gun shootout at a drugs factory, cannot save this chilly potboiler. On a positive note, the acting is pretty good but the dialogue is very stilted and strange which adds to the off kilter feel of the show. None of the characters are very likeable and seem to have no issues with breaking or twisting the law to their own ends - and that's just the cops! I did like the portrayal of Hedda, a very unglamorous female cop who at least had some dimension to her character. Could have been so much better, the potential was there!