Too much politics?


We enjoyed the series as much as anyone, particularly the performances of the main characters, but really, we thought that the political element got far too much screentime. Obviously the mayoral candidate was a viable suspect and had to be treated as such, but really the political element could have been cut by around 60%, to the benefit of the entire production, after all, with due respect to the Danes, who cares, the mayoral candidate for Copenhagen is not exactly leader of the free world.

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Maybe I'lm a far-fetching looney, but I feel that the overall theme of this show -aside of the investigation itself- is obsession
-the family can't let go and is obsessed by the death of their daughter
-Lund by this unnerving affair
-and the candidates by power
And each episode after the other we see how these obsessions have tragic consequences on the life of those who can't let go, entangled in these horrid circumstances. They all mean well but they all fail in their personal life driven by their obsession
so I thought that the ethical fall of this politician was quite relevant and added to the story.

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Maybe I'lm a far-fetching looney, but I feel that the overall theme of this show -aside of the investigation itself- is obsession
-the family can't let go and is obsessed by the death of their daughter
-Lund by this unnerving affair
-and the candidates by power
And each episode after the other we see how these obsessions have tragic consequences on the life of those who can't let go, entangled in these horrid circumstances. They all mean well but they all fail in their personal life driven by their obsession
so I thought that the ethical fall of this politician was quite relevant and added to the story.

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Maybe I'lm a far-fetching looney, but I feel that the overall theme of this show -aside of the investigation itself- is obsession
-the family can't let go and is obsessed by the death of their daughter
-Lund by this unnerving affair
-and the candidates by power
And each episode after the other we see how these obsessions have tragic consequences on the life of those who can't let go, entangled in these horrid circumstances. They all mean well but they all fail in their personal life driven by their obsession
so I thought that the ethical fall of this politician was quite relevant and added to the story.

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You can say that again.... And to OP I suppose this means you should stay away from Borgen?...it's got a little politics...ha...and ..good.

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I agree the politics occasionally had too much airtime in the latter episodes.

I think it was important though to have a large secondary plot to allow time to pass between stages in the investigation. Otherwise, it would end up in the unrealistic compressed time frame of Jack Bauer's 24, or be reduced to a linear process of detection. We needed disruption, contrasting perspective, and time to ruminate on what each stage of Lund's investigation revealed to become fully engrossed.

I thought the personal interactions between Troels, Rie , and Morten were intriguing. The noticeable divergence between the obsessive Lund and, the machinations and political expediency of the town hall, that helped clearly define her character.


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The corruption in the political system and the power play (potential for powerful people to cover up heinous crimes) is what made Forbrydelsen work for me.

It wouldn't have worked without the politics. The politicians added mystery and intrigue.

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I agree with that, but I still think that could have been brought out without quite so much office politics - tedious after a time.

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"Leader of the free world" is generally used (in the U.S.) to mean the President of the United States.

As someone who lives in Seattle, I have a hard time thinking of the mayor of Seattle being any more important than the mayor of Copenhagen; much less so, in fact. I love my hometown, but it's not New York or Chicago.

Most people outside the U.S. aren't that familiar with Seattle, and aren't sure where it is. The same is not true of Kobenhavn (a beautiful town, by the way; I've been there twice and really loved it).

I did feel that some of the scenes with the politicians were a bit talky and the story dragged a bit in places. What kept it going for me was the characters: they are genuinely interesting people, not just stereotypes.

The political storyline in the American version is quite different, and the characters are much more one-dimensional.



We report, you decide; but we decide what to report.

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