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Finished series three, so disappointed. (contains spoilers)

posted 10 years ago by bourke-simon
4 replies | jump to latest

At the end of the second season of Borgen I was ready to compare it to the finest TV dramas ever made. It was brilliant, magnificent, amazing, one of the best things I'd ever seen. I wondered how on earth they could top that, in truth I knew they couldn't, but I didn't think they'd mess it up so badly.

Where to begin? The storylines which gripped us in Series 2: the collapse of Birgitte's marriage and its potential repair, Katrine & Kasper's 'made for each other' romance, were completely ignored. Instead the producers did the whole 'two years later' thing and expected us to just imagine none of it had happened.

The first rumblings of discontent came with the appearance of Jeremy, he had zero chemistry with Birgitte and their scenes together were cringeworthy. The Kasper and Katrine situation was brought to the fore briefly but then swept under the carpet with a quick explanation of why they couldn't be together. What was the point of making their relationship so pivotal in series two if it was just going to be marginalised in the following series.

As for the political stuff; there was no end-game, nothing for us to hang our coats on. Indeed it wasn't until the last couple of episodes that we were even made aware of Birgitte's ambition, how can we be interested in the outcome when we're not even sure what the central character wants. Maybe we were supposed to be too busy worrying about her cancer scare, which was shoehorned in there to add some drama where none existed.

The only plot-line which really struck a chord was Torben's struggles with his new boss and its effect on his family life. This was reminiscent of the first two series, brilliantly constructed drama with well-rounded, real characters. By far the best thing about this series. And certainly much more believable than Katrine falling for a middle-aged professor with a penchant for difficult sums.

All in all a huge disappointment and a big let-down after the brilliance of the first two series. I would still rank Borgen as one of the best TV dramas of recent years but with a stronger last series it could have 'the' best.

[–] SMORacka 10 years ago

I totally agree with you - I can not believe how much I disliked S3 - especially Jeremy. For some reason, I did not even like hearing her speak English - I think this has more to do with Jeremy.

And then the kids - when the daughter's getting better, the son starts acting up over. I know, I know - but I found them to be such a distraction. I liked her ex though.

Torben was great and so was gay guy - those 2 saved the series.

I think the series got Americanized because they tried to wrap everything up too perfectly and it failed miserably.

[–] DeepCinema 9 years ago

Thanks for this.

I have been engrossed. Then started S3 and have become increasingly wary.

You've helped me decide to bounce the final half-dozen episodes DOWN my Netflix queue and, who knows, possibly nix altogether.

Am glad for the time invested to date, and for having met some good actors. Am a fan of Danish film and can now approach it via new facets!

[–] 9 years ago

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[–] dean-griffiths 7 years ago

I totally agree regarding the relationship between Kasper & Katrine.

We spend the whole of the first 2 seasons willing them to get together it finally happens and then all of a sudden they've split up.

I suspect the reason probably had something to do with Pilou Asbaek's unwillingness to commit to a leading role in season 3.

I also thought at the end of season 2 Birgette and Phillip would patch up their issued and get back together but we only see phillip as peripheral character in season 3 which was also a shame.

I suspect the reason for introducing Jeremey may have had something to do with the show's international success. Perhaps the writer thought it would be a good idea to introduce an English speaking character so some of the dialogue was in English, meaning English speakers had some some relief from the subtitles, however that really wasn't needed in my view.