The Darkness

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.

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.

I was originally going to skip this one based on a couple of reviews I'd read but decided to give it a shot, and I'm glad I did.

The scenery is stunning and atmospheric, and is essentially a character in its own standing. It has strengthened my resolve to visit Iceland one day!

The story I found to be captivating - it hooked me in and kept me watching. It is a suspenseful and emotional storyline, and the cast did a great job with their performances, especially the Icelandic actors performing in English. Kudos to them.

I look forward to a second season and seeing more of what this team has to offer.

Really tried to keep going with this, mainly because I loved Jack Bannon in Pennyworth, and he holds up, but only just against the furious, unhinged and screeching Lena Olin - what has happened to her? She used to be good, maybe she was badly directed, but her character is completely over the top and unbelievable, and every time she's on screen her face writhing with inexplicable expressions, you wonder what part she thinks she's playing. A Vampire?

And I agree, shouldn't have been filmed in English.

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.