Scandi fans - The Bridge starts Sat 21 April - BBC 4 9pm

[Deux]

Personally, I can't wait. At a complete loss since the end of Borgen.

I feel the same, hackmum. If someone had told me a year ago that I'd enjoy sitting in every Saturday, watching scandanavian TV with subtitles for two hours, I'd have laughed in their face.

I don't think they found August. He wasn't in that box. Firstly, because the shots of him in the box were of him lying down and the box was upright (and he HAS to have been lying down because he was unconscious when he went in it, and then when he came round he was kicking at the end of the box with both bound feet) and secondly because that box had been there for a while. Jens / Sebastian simply couldn't have plastered and painted all of that in the time he had, and even if he had, the plaster and paint would not have been dry.

She couldn't tell Martin that August was definitely still alive, because they hadn't found him.

Er, couldn't he just have use plasterboard, and since he planned it all in advance, couldn't he have had the wall three quarters built with just the last couple of panels to slot in place.

I was upset when August got killed but then had to remind myself it is fiction (it is, isn't it? although the Bridge does exist, I have been over it.)

But he was lying down!!!!!

They did find him, but he was dead. I think the fact he looked like he was lying down was a production error.

He was definitely behind that ultra quickly constructed, non paint smelling, plaster board wall.

I was just so irritated with Jens/Sebastian at the end.

All that elaborate (incredulously elaborate) plotting just to get back at an ex friend who had poked your wife. Puh-lease.

Just checking in-have been away for a long weekend, but managed to watch The Bridge! I too wondered about the plaster-when Saga was taking her pain killer & saw the plaster dirt in the plug/strainer I thought-quick look in the garage . But why was the plaster dry? Even if plasterboard is used, it has to be plastered for a smooth finish. Having said all that I LOVED this Scandi drama. Also Teejwood, you helped me immensely when I was bogged down in all the names & drama, so tak to you & all the other wonderful posters who made this a very enjoyable experience.

HURRAH...it says on Nimbus Film website that
Den danske producent Bo Ehrhardt fra Nimbus Film udtaler: "Vi fortsætter med at arbejde endnu hårdere på at udvikle BROEN II, som vi regner med at få dansk premiere i efteråret 2013, hvis vi kan samle den nødvendige finansiering"

So basically series 2 will air on Danish TV in autumn of 2013, as long as they can get all the necessary funding to make it, but they are working on it. Woo hoo!

Well done fester!

just finished the last episode

agree, what a great baddie, even though a bit far fetched (I hope).
really enjoyed it.
have been to a danish furniture store yesterday. beautiful furniture, even the granny sofas looked stylish, very expensive though

told my mum this news. She said "I'll probably be dead by then" . Optimistic or what...

Aspirant - my DP was very exercised about the lying down/standing up thing. It seems like a massive continuity error - how could they not have noticed? But I think it must have been August, otherwise who else it could have been?

Oh. Poor August
so bleak.

I have really enjoyed all these skandi programmes- wallander, forbrydelsen, borgen, now bridge.

One thing that really struck me about the Bridge- the complete lack of advertising or product placement anywhere, not even billboards in the streets, on vehicles etc. It was very refreshing.
I wonder - is this because of rules over Danish/swedish television programmes, to show no advertising, or is this because advertising is so much less in those 2 countries than it is in the UK?
There weren't even posters or anything I could see, and thinking about it, I think borgen, and forbrydelsen the same.
I'm just wondering if it;s the less advertising in daily life that is responsible or TV rules IYSWIM?

Hi everyone. I've only just been able to come on here because I've been watching them all slightly late. What an amazing series!

First the music and the opening credits - they were amazing and just made the whole series. The cinematography was incredible - those shots were like paintings. I've been lucky enough to watch it in HD at my neighbour's house and the opening shots were spectacular. I loved the music - I don't think they could have found a better song.

Then Saga. She was tremendous. I've just read this thread through from the start and it's interesting that people didn't like her early on. That's how I felt. I thought she was annoying and would be a nightmare to work with. It took me a while to get used to her and her quirky behaviour, but then quickly grew to love her. What you see is what you get with her. The trauma she experienced in the final scene was incredible. She just couldn't lie in the end. She had to be true to herself. She's so straightforward that we think there's something up with her rather than with ourselves. Compare her with Martin and his layers of deceit and lies.

The only thing that bugs me is the actual story. Whereas with The Killing the whole thing was about one murder and we suspected different people each week (or each minute), with The Bridge there was at least one major death per episode. My problem is that as a plot it has holes.

Jens wanted to kill Martin because he slept with his wife and, he believed, he inadvertently caused his son's death. Why did he wait so long? It was about ten years, wasn't it?

Then he wanted to kill the lawyer (she was the one found on the bridge, wasn't she?) Again, why wait so long? And the journalist, too. I can understand him wanting to kill all of them and can understand the time delay to some extent.

But why the young girl? Why the homeless? Why was Stefan even in it? Why was the wig-wearer in it? What were they really to do with anything?
I'm glad it went on for 10 hours. I just think the plot was over-convulated and lost something as a result.

Does anyone fancy an MN trip to the killing fields of Scandinavia???

(Btw I was atswimtwolengths on The Killing thread - I still count that thread as something that massively enhanced the experience.)

Agree Imperial - it's almost as if the producers feel we need a lot of twists and turns to keep us hooked, whereas a big draw for me and I suspect many others is the characterisation and the evocative atmosphere.

Exactly!

Imperial he waited 5 years I think cos that is how long it took his inlaws to clear their holiday cottage and send his wife's diaries where she wrote about sleeping with Martin. That was the final straw for Jens who was by then homeless and at rock bottom and he started his fiendish plotting...

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I didn't see that. Hmm, so they sent him her diaries, where she talked about sleeping with another man? Was he 'dead' at that point or was that when he did it?

How do you think he tapped into the system to shut down the lights on the bridge? Just being a cop years before wouldn't enable him to do that. I understand that he was hacking into police radios but don't know how he managed to do the rest - I think teej had a great list of qualities this man should have - just found it here:

• knowledge of how to insert a canula to drain someone of blood in a particular way (medical knowledge?)
• knowledge of where homeless people tend to be - to deliver the wine (works with the homeless?)
• knowledge of poisons (again medical knowledge?)
• knowledge of people with mental health issues - to find and work with samurai guy (again medical knowledge???)
• financial knowledge of the top 4 property magnates in both countries (could come from financial papers to be fair)
• knowledge of empty properties
• access to police premises/computer systems and the computer systems running the bridge's electricity (cop? computer whizz?)

How was it he could control those guys?

Also, he presented himself to Mette as an IT guy. Gah, he can't be everything!

yes after he received the diaries he "killed'' himself and went underground to start all his intricate plotting. He was living at the homeless hostel in Copenhagen where Stefan worked when he got the diaries. If I had been his MIL I would not have sent him the diaries .
And I agree, he must have been very busy learning all the specialist crime skills, not to mention plastering, canula insertion, explosives acquisition etc....
Is it me or is there still the implication that someone inside the police was helping him?

Now you see that's not a very tight plot, if your in laws send you your dead wife's diaries which state she was having an affair with your best mate, when you're living in a homeless hostel... Surely they would have read her diary?

I think The Killing spoilt me forever for plots.

exactly. And I agree that the lure of the Scandinavian way of doing drama is strong and interesting characters who we get to know, rather than the method GB drama makers favour which is plot driven and 1-3 episodes at most. Which I guess is why I can forgive the Bridge its dubious plot twists, because no, you just wouldn't send a load of diaries without checking them I think....

The development of Saga was fantastic, I thought. I felt like I really understood her by the end.

And did you notice when she was stumbling around (when she'd been shot) and she was so determined to work it all out - she looked so lonely. It made me realise how it must be like for her for so much of the time. When she phoned up the sexman I was so happy!

lol to the sexman :). I hope we get to see more of the same characters again. I loved her by the end for her complete honesty. Still liked Martin, but found him an immature sort of person by the end of it, though I felt very sorry for him. I wonder if his marriage could survive all that....

What was interesting was that he wasn't a player. I was really surprised when he went to bed with wig-woman. (Btw does anyone know why she was wearing a wig? Someone upthread mentioned her being Jewish but if she was traditional, surely she wouldn't be smoking, drinking and shagging cops?) I know they'd mentioned Mette was his third wife, but he was obviously up for it with plenty of women. Interesting that he wasn't giving anyone the gladeye but still ended up getting involved.

he sort of blundered around doing 'whatever' without really thinking about it and hurting lots of people in the process didn't he. Which I think is partly what it was all about....