Bordertown Season 3 Update: The acting is superb, and the dynamics between the characters are brilliant — especially in the problems raised by Sorjonen’s sordid job and how it affects his home life despite his best efforts to keep the two separate. One of the strongest parts of the show is the interplay between Sorjonen and his daughter Janina.
The spectacular Lena (beautifully acted) came on strong at the beginning of season 1 yet seems to have become just another detective, which is a crying shame, as that character has great untapped potential (especially when played off Sorjonen).
Compared to most another Nordic noir, the crimes are kind of weak, suffering from unnecessary convolutions and improbable incidents, and replete with coincidences, unlikely motivations, and sudden, 11th-hour epiphanies — and this even allowing for the thrust of the show, which is to present us with an eccentric cop with a unique methodology that gets results in unsolvable cases. Still, love the show. It totally rewards binging.
Bordertown Season 3: Based on Love
I love how Kari’s autism is accepted by his colleagues and how he applies his eccentricity to uniquely solve crimes. His lack of communication skills and being understood can be amusing as his methods of solving crimes can be seen as weird to those who don’t know him.
He is humanistic and not judgemental, and sympathetic to everyone he encounters. He has a cool laid back approach and is not easily wiled when facing personal conflicts.
He struggles with his inability to show his affection to his wife and his love for his daughter is tested as she grapples to understand her father. Then there is his bad kick-ass colleague Katja who is the opposite and takes no victims. Not even her problem teenage daughter is any match.
Some More Important Review
Unfortunately, we don’t see much of Finland’s beautiful landscape and it appears most episodes were filmed during the winter. But it still offers an introduction to the Nordic lifestyle and the Nordic brilliance of making superb crime fiction TV.
Each storyline is 3 episodes playing on the viewer’s mind to some very deep psychotic storylines that are full of suspense. Human Beast being the most grizzly with macabre scenes similar to Seven with Brad Pitt and Kevin Spacey.
So, if you’re done with watching blood lust gun mad USA crime dramas with predictable storylines. Terrorist baddies and ex-Army veterans, Seal and SWAT members changing roles to detectives lol. Bordentown is worth a watch.
