Let's talk about this great show.

I love Matador. Personally I think this show is one of the best I´ve ever seen, and I compare it to the best British productions, like The Forsythe Saga (the one from 1967). Matador is a wonderful mix of comedy and drama, character development, historic details, quality acting, stories within stories, wonderful locations and lovely music. I think perhaps no one in Matador is the main character, there´s so many parallel stories to tell, and each person in the small city is interesting. If I had to name a favourite character, I´d go for Maude. In many ways she seem like a fluffy airhead, and she is incompetent, spoiled and naive. But she also rise to a challenge, and it was genuinly touching to see her engage in saving Mr. Stein. But how could I pick, from such a rich gallery of characters. The pig dealer and his wife, they are solid gold. The waiter at the railway station café, Misse Møghe, Pusling, Laura, Agnes, the good doctor, they all deserve my praise. And the rude Viggo Skjold-Hansen and his vulgar wife Musse. The noble, good friend Baron von Rytger. The choleric oberst Ditlev Hachel.

In fact I was wondering about the annoying Mr. Schwann, who disappeared from the show without any explanation. He just went up in smoke.

I´d also like to mention the ending of each episode. They suddenly freeze the picture in the middle of a scene, and in such an intelligent way that they always get it right. Matador is a much better show than the original Upstairs Downstairs.

I think Mr Schwann was written out from the show because the actor who played him had health problems. He was the eldest of them all (born: November 9, 1897) and died even before the last episode was aired (November 28, 1981).

Rudolf Schwann wasn't my favorite character but I'm sorry for him because he was poor and had no money in the evening of his life and that wasn't his fault. Partially at least.

Yes, I agree, this show is worth so much more attention. But maybe the fact that it is a Danish production - and therefore less internationally known - is the main reason for this. We can hope that it becomes more known in other countries, because even though it is an old production it is completely timeless.

Anyway, I have just re-watched the whole series, (as my own personal Christmas calendar, 24 is a nice number!) and I still love it and am so fascinated how they managed to produce a series that could spellbind a whole nation, several times, even! Part of the reason I love "Matador" is that the story allows the characters to evolve. Maude steps into character when she has to face HC's adultery, Daniel learns to stand up for himself, Skjold-Hansen changes completely after his stroke, Agnes goes from being a humble - but obstinate - maid to becoming a successful and independent business woman, just to name a few of the personal developments. One of the less important characters, Mrs. Violet Vinter, changes after inheriting a small fortune from being a sympathetic and helpful person into a completely selfish drunk. But to me, the most important change in the story, is the one from enmity into friendship in the relation between the Varnaes and Skjern families. The first episode introduces the conflict and it is solved after so many intricate twists and turns in the 24th and final episode.

Maybe you won't agree with me on this, but watching the series also makes me a bit sad. Many, not to say most, of these lovely actors have passed away today and when you make a count, they make an impressively long list of brilliant 'creme de la creme' of Danish theater, that are with only a few exceptions, IMHO, replaced by actors of the same quality today.

jeg tror roligt i kan tale dansk... ingen andre ved det her eksisterer

Ned Charles:
THE REASON I DON'T LIKE BLACK RAPPERS
They don't rap about my life.

If anybody is out there, I want to talk about the character Mads Skjern.
Some sources make it seem like we should hate him for one reason or another.
That is not really fair though...
Sure, it is true that Mads put a rival store out of business.
But I don't think that he did anything illegal to become more successful than Arnesen.
Mads was also willing to help struggling people with loans.
Even the situation with Daniel is understandable to me.
Mads wanted his son to be his successor, and it was hard for him to see that that wouldn't happen.
And seriously, what father in the 1940s would have wanted his son to be gay?
Really, it is harder for me for understand his wife's anger towards him.
How had she expected him to react anyway?
I get a feeling that we're to supposed to cheer for Ingeborg when she calls him "sick in the head".
However, I just feel that she overreacts like crazy.
And by the way, I wonder if Oluf Larsen shouldn't have been Ingeborg's brother rather than her father?
They don't seem to be from two different generations to me.
Katrine could pass for her sister-in-law rather than as her mother as well...

Right now, I have just four episodes left to watch.
But that means that I just watched the scene, where we find out that Holger has died.
And even at this point, it is clear that Ingeborg and Mads don't want Ellen to receive a gift from her father.
In fact, they seem to not want Ellen to remember that Mads never was her biological father!
Really? How is that fair?
Sure, it is hinted that Holger's marriage to Ingeborg had been a disaster.
I guess that him joining the Nazis also made her turn against him even more than before.
However, the man still was Ellen's father and should have been allowed to see his daughter.
And I wonder if we're supposed to side with Ingeborg and Mads on this issue?
Because I just hate their attitude towards Holger and their refusal to even talk to Ellen about this.

But I do like that "Matador" was fair enough to not treat politics as an black and white issue.
No matter how much Ingeborg and Mads hated him, Holger never did anything bad on screen.
He must have made his mistakes, but seemed to be a decent man overall even after joining the Nazis.
And the poor guy wasn't even allowed to see his daughter one last time!
However, Gustav was more like an over the top caricature.
He seemed to be a spoiled brat though, who would have been annoying anyway.
Besides, he had clearly matured a lot when we saw him again after the war.
And on the other side of the spectrum, let's look at the Resistence and the "freedom fighters".
Kristen and Elisabeth and Louis are of course portrayed in a sympathetic light.
But as soon as the war was over, some of their allies picked up "traitors" to punish them.
We didn't see what happened after they were forced to stand with their arms up facing a wall.
But it was enough for Skjold Hansen to suffer a stroke before Elisabeth and Louis could save him.
Yeah, it is hard to sympathize with that movement after that!