Ängelby

Like Haven it's a new girl in a country town apparently by chance but occultly predestined to be there and supernatural forces are thought to be at work. There's less of the concretely reified majic than Haven shows and less episodic storylines but it would seem to be derivative, not helped by the fact that Mia Skaringer looks like an older Emily Rose. But it's watchable and entertaining if you can binge-watch it. It's probably more for "Nordic Noir" fans than those of standard mystery series.

I was pretty gripped by this, having just binge-watched the last two episodes. There were times when I didn't really know what was going on, and times when I wanted to say, No, don't go into the woods AGAIN, in the dark, just don't! But I found the characters engaging and eccentric (I'm officially in love with Viveca) and there was enough of a cliff-hanger at the end of each episode to make me impatient for the next one. And ultimately, it doesn't matter whether you buy into other-worldly stuff or not - it can be complete tosh, like this probably was (see also: Stranger Things), but if you're enjoying it, why the hell not?

I fail to understand why our two Scandinavian friends are so vehement in their dislike - I got the echoes of Twin Peaks and Stephen King, but so what? It's all out there. And I thoroughly enjoyed it - and they're probably less enchanted by hearing Swedish spoken than I am.

I don't understand the purpose of making such bad series . When making it you had to realize it's bad???

Looks better from a distance?

Of the three previous reviews – the two Scandinavian reviewers were not at all keen but the one from the USA found a lot of good in it.

Is it a national culture thing?

I am from the UK but have visited Sweden a few times.

The show could well be derivative drivel / hogwash / nonsense but there are few things in life that are truly new.

It is however beautifully filmed with interesting characters and lifestyles.

Am I intrigued because I want to immerse myself in what I imagine Swedish country life is like?

The lead character appears brain dead as she fumbles her way through absurdly phoney scenarios one after the other. My feeling was it was written by a couple of 15 year olds with zero understanding of anything at all in the real world and the impact of life transition and trauma. Get out of my face!!