Blood Makes for Bad Decisions... (Scandinavian Noir review)

TV Tuesday...
On the heels of a major bust—one which resulted in his naming a fellow, decorated, senior cop as a young woman’s murderer—detective Nikolai Andreassen (played by Tobias Santelmann) is given some time off… to decompress, and to let things settle around the police station and in the media. 

Before leaving town, though, he’s roped into attending a party thrown by the victim’s family—jubilant at receiving some closure—in his honor. And there, amidst all the merry-making, Nikolai shares a tender, passionate kiss with… the victim’s brother.

Thus begins the never-predictable Borderliner (or Grenseland, in its native Norwegian), one of the latest in a recent crop of totally-immersive Scandi-Noir crime dramas, streaming on Netflix. 

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So, where does a suddenly-in-the-spotlight detective go after being commanded to hole up for awhile? The same place a lot of people would: back home, which in Niko’s case is a small town in the beautiful fjords of Norway. And, just like those of us who moved as far away from where we grew up, and where everyone knew—or thought they knew—us, as fast as we could, he finds that nothing much has changed. His younger brother Lars (Benjamin Helstad)—despite being recently widowed and left with two children to look after by himself, and serving as a cop on the hometown force—is still an irresponsible doofus. Their gruff father, Hans Olav (Bjørn Skagestad), also a cop, remains at odds with Nikolai, while viewing Lars with a surprising degree of benevolence. And area “nightlife”, as always, consists of grabbing a pint (or three) down at the local watering hole… and getting into some sort of trouble afterward.

It’s that whole “getting into trouble” thing that almost immediately concerns Nikolai, after one of Lars’ friends is found hanging from a tree—an apparent suicide—following a night at the bar… and the undermanned police chief, knowing Nikolai is on leave from the city, assigns him to the case, along with Anniken (Ellen Dorrit Petersen), another investigator pulled from Oslo to help out.

When Nikolai realizes that the suicide was actually a murder—then learns that his brother Lars was involved—things start to go downhill… but go from bad to awful once Nikolai decides to try and cover up what Lars has done.

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The list of top-notch Scandinavian noir just keeps growing, and Borderliner is another great example of what that sub-genre does so well, with its atmospheric setting, multi-layered (and believable) characters, and complex personal stories. Nikolai’s moral dilemma—to let his brother, a more-good-than-bad guy, get away with taking part in a crime (which, frankly, involved the death of a not-very-nice man)… or to turn him in, which would effectively wreck the lives of two young children (who’d already lost one parent)—is a compelling one, and the way his decision snowballs is a guaranteed hook.  

Been looking for your latest binge-worthy show? Do yourself a favor, and try Borderliner; I seriously doubt you’ll regret it.

~GlamKitty