If You Like Your Scandi-Noir as Dark as Burnt Coffee... ("TV Tuesday")

"TV Tuesday"...

As much as we (probably) hate to own up to it, most of us—to one degree or another—harbor a perverse desire to see Really Bad Things. 

For some, that craving gets fulfilled via rags (or now, their online successors) dealing in sensational “news”… with headlines like “Batboy Eats Own Mother!” and “Woman Undergoes 128 Surgeries to Look Like Barbie!”. For others, it’s binging on trash TV, from the Jerry Springers of the world to gems like “Toddlers in Tiaras”. And for a lot of people, the wish to see bad stuff might take the form of the simple (but incredibly-annoying-to-others) act of always slowing waaaaaaaay down to rubberneck at any accident (on either side of the freeway).

As for me, I’m much more fascinated with stories (whether true or figments of someone’s imagination) about how strange, warped, or downright evil that people can be. Why? Because, as scores of real stories attest, we never truly know what anyone else is thinking… plotting… or doing… from the merely-twisted to the unquestionably-atrocious. (Hence my life-long fascination with psychological suspense, it would seem.)

So… Holy Wow. In what has to ring in as the biggest binge-watch I’ve been capable of in my entire life [little aside, here—I generally suck at what most people consider binge-watching], I devoured the Icelandic thriller “Case”, airing on Netflix, in just two short days. (To be fair, though, I did watch five of the nine eps while on the treadmill over those two days, so it’s not like I was lying on the sofa the entire time.)

“Case” is the darkest program I’ve watched in—well, I don’t even know how long... and I watch some pretty dark stuff. (Ironically, season 1 takes place during their daylight-all-the-time hours.) You wanna see some sad, depraved, scary, messed-up humans? Who could be your neighbors, your friends, your doctor, your barista, your kid’s school pals? (The fact that the characters live in and around Reykjavik, whereas most of us don’t, is irrelevant; my point is that these people are, by and large, so very “normal”.) Anyway, if you’re in the mood to see the dark depths of seemingly-“regular” folks, this is the show you need to stream, stat.

The story starts with a startling discovery: the body of a 14-year-old schoolgirl, Lára—a promising ballerina and good student—hanging from the rafters of the theater where her dance troupe performed.

The locals are understandably shocked—from the foster parents who ended up adopting her several years earlier, to her classmates and teachers, to the police assigned to the case (led by detectives Gabríela and Högni). It isn’t long at all, though, before we start to see discord, strangeness, and evil—in other words, some Really Bad Stuff—just below the surface. 

What transpires manages—importantly—to feel believable (in a frequently-awful way, because who really wants to think their neighbors could do such terrible things?). The ballet teacher is a cruel, vindictive man with an agenda and a plan. The high school students fall into the usual cliques—complete with the requisite meanness and backbiting. Lára’s adoptive parents aren’t the paragons they project to the world… while her embittered birth parents, who lost her to the system after abusing her when they were junkies, seem to have gotten their lives back on track. Some extremely sleazy dealers (with their fingers in some truly despicable side businesses), led by the impossible-to-take-your-eyes-off Pór (Björn Stefánsson, a perfect Really Bad Guy, if ever there was one).

Actually, there’s a lot of abuse of all sorts in “Case”. Physical, psychological, sexual, and drug abuses… ranging from mild to severe. (I mention this because these issues can be real triggers for people who’ve endured them, so take note if that’s a thing for you, ok?)

The “good guys” are equally fascinating, here, though. Gabríela (compellingly portrayed by Steinunn Ólína Porsteindóttir) is a singleminded workaholic—the proverbial dog with a bone—who’d much rather work the case than deal with her mentally-ill sister. Watching Gabríela think, stew, and fume is quite something; despite maintaining a mostly-flat expression throughout, she conveys a host of feelings via her purposeful strides, constant activity, and an air of perpetual agitation. Her partner Högni is her opposite; he’s more of a by-the-book, run-everything-by-the-boss-first sort of cop… yet is wise enough, most of the time, to let the bolder Gabríela take the lead. (A couple of scenes involving Högni’s home life provide the only bits of levity in the series, in fact.) 

And then there's lawyer Brynhildur, who works to prosecute child-abusers and gets pulled into the case—first, on the up-and-up by her firm, and then, on the sly by Gabríela, after the police label it a suicide (despite the number of questions that remain unanswered). She rides the fence, being both friendly with the dead girl’s birth parents and her adoptive ones… plus, she has to deal with her ex, the disgraced lawyer, Logi (in a mesmerizing performance by Magnús Jónsson). Logi is, in a word, complicated. An alcoholic ex-druggie who still drinks way too much (and often ends up shagging strange women, much to the dismay of his current girlfriend, the computer whiz, Ilmur), Logi now earns a living by doing shady, private-eye kind of things for some very, very dodgy clients. (Watching him go down the rabbit hole again and again is the train-wreck you can’t stop watching… even while you root for him to pull the damned brake to stop himself before careening into the next patch of trouble, full-tilt.)

Of all the foreign shows I’ve watched recently (and there have been quite a few), "Case" is the rare production that’s set in a beautiful place, but shows us very little of its splendor; the majority of scenes are indoors, or shot pretty close-up when outdoors. (Although I’ve long been looking forward to visiting Iceland one day, the lack of “beauty shots” didn’t disappoint me; instead, it felt appropriate, given the grim storylines.) 

You already know I’m not going to tell you what happens… but the real surprise here is seeing that so many people somehow manage to play a little part in everything that transpires. There’s a lot of gruesome, brutal, ugly, and sad stuff, but not everything is connected, which actually feels more true-to-life.  And, the ending reflects just that: things aren’t tied up with one gigantic, pretty bow; it’s more like a handful of strings and some mucky bits, trailing about in messy little heaps. But, if you believe, as I do, that all of life—even the ugly, depressing parts—are worth experiencing (especially vicariously) and understanding, then you’ll be hard-pressed to do much better than “Case”.

~GlamKitty