Reykjavik Fusion (TV Series REVIEW) — Where Fine Dining Meets Dirty Money

Imagine for a moment that you’re a chef—brilliant, by all accounts—until one day, everything goes horribly wrong.

You lose your career, your family, and your reputation.

(Oh, and also your freedom, because you wind up in prison.)

The police think you burned down your own restaurant for an insurance scam—even though you insist you didn’t.

So you do your time, and it’s not great... but because this is Iceland, it’s not unbearable, either. 

You make friends with other inmates—and get to impress them with your talent, because you’ve earned kitchen privileges.

And then you’re released... carrying the baggage of being an ex-con.

Reykjavik Fusion is the story of what happens next.
And that “next”? Should’ve come with a big ol’ warning sign.

 

When Jónas (played by Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) gets a job cooking at an elementary school, he considers himself lucky; no one else had shown any interest in hiring him. 

But when parents learn the new cook making such tasty meals for their children did time, the school is forced to let him go.

It doesn’t matter that his “crime” (which he still denies) was white-collar; the fact is that no one wants to hire an ex-con, or go into business with one.

Except, that is, one of his shadier fellow inmates, Kristján—a construction mogul whose stint isn’t quite up... but who still has access to all of his outside connections.

The two strike a bargain: Kristján will provide a location, build it out, and be a silent partner... and Jónas will run the restaurant.

[You know that old saying, about how things that seem too good to be true..? Yeah, keep that in mind.]

When he goes to check out the location, Jónas finds it already occupied by Marý, a take-no-$hit woman (who loves leopard-prints and black leather pants) who works out of the office there. 

She says the office is her domain, and the kitchen—and the rest of the restaurant—are his.

But “things happen” [here’s where the warning about things that seem too good to be true returns], and Marý finally breaks it to him that the real purpose of the restaurant is to serve as the front for Kristján’s money-laundering business.

And that? Is the kind of “business arrangement” it’s notoriously hard to extricate yourself from.

 

 

From the moment I first heard about it, Reykjavik Fusion was a “must-watch”.

Nordic Noir? Starring Ólafur Darri Ólafsson (whose work I loved in Trapped, Entrapped, La Palma, Severance, and Your Friends & Neighbors)? Set in a gorgeous restaurant in fascinating Reykjavík? 

Um, yes, please.

And it really does hit that perfect Scandinavian note—of being just different enough, to both completely identify with each character and never be entirely sure what they’ll do next—all set against a city that feels starkly clean and modern, yet also sparse. 

It also delivers in a big way on the foodie front. If you enjoy fine dining, you’ll be delighted every time the camera hovers lovingly over exquisite food preparation in the kitchen, or pans across the warm, glowing interior of the restaurant. Reykjavik Fusion is a gorgeous space, and one I’d definitely make a point to visit.

And, if you’ve ever worked in a restaurant—whether in the kitchen, front of house, or waiting tables—you’ll appreciate how accurately those dynamics are portrayed here.

Jónas, of course, carries the show, with a mostly-resigned demeanor. He isn’t happy with how anything is playing out, but he knows there really isn’t much he can do about it.

Marý (beautifully-played by Hera Hilmar) actually becomes the most fascinating character to me, because she’s such a wild card. (Yes, the leopard prints, black leather, and stilettos telegraph that general idea early on, but the fact remains—she’s been working for Kristján a lot longer than Jónas has, which means there are reasons... which we don’t know yet.)

There’s also the matter of Jónas’s family. His ex-wife, Katrín—a lawyer, now remarried (to Skúli, an annoying toad of a man)—is hesitant to agree to joint custody... even while his kids—a teenage daughter and pre-teen son—want nothing more than to have their father back in their lives.

And of course there are the fellow inmates Jónas forged friendships (“situationships”?) with... most notably, the business-savvy Kristján. As a viewer, I was left in little doubt how these men earned their prison time... but more to the point, I also fully understood how Jónas would readily see the good in them, over the bad.

Things come to a head—multiple heads, really—in Reykjavik Fusion, making it a thrill ride from beginning to end... with tension, melancholy, and a lingering sense of grim reality.

And, since all of those things end on cliffhangers? I can only hope there’s a season 2 already in the works.

If you’re a fan of Nordic Noir crime thrillers, you need to put this one on your list. 
~GlamKitty

[Reykjavik Fusion is available to stream on MHz, which you can subscribe to on its own, or via Amazon Prime.]