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Borgen: Power and Glory is technically released as Season 4 of the original drama, Borgen, in Denmark, but for some reason, in the UK and via Netflix, we’re getting it with a new moniker.
Many moons ago – well, from 2010 to 2013, Birgitte Nyborg (Sidse Babett Knudsen) was Denmark’s first female Prime Minister, and now, she’s the Foreign Minister, which her ex-husband Philip reckons was done on purpose so that she can’t challenge the new PM – also female, Signe Kragh, on home affairs. Plus, Birgitte’s annoyed that the Signe has scheduled a press briefing at the same time as her’s.
Yep, these two are not going to get on. It’s also noted that the new boss adds the hashtag #TheFutureIsFemale onto each of her posts on social media.
So far, I’ve seen the first two episodes, and as there’s 8 of them here, I was wondering early on Birgitte is going to launch another bid for leadership, or has she had enough of that side of things? Either way, at 53, some are calling her a “political has-been“.
There’s a few moments of “let’s reunite with previous cast members”, a lot of whom have moved on to different departments, including how Katrine (Birgitte Hjort Sørensen) is basically running TV1’s news output just as Torben (Søren Malling) used to. Given that he’s still working in the same department, I’m not yet sure how that change has come about, but then there’s always more to discover, and while he was always quite laidback, she looks like she’ll take no prisoners in her new position.
Oh, and TV1 still has standing-up interviews with their guests. Is that really a thing in Denmark?
About the plot, oil has been found in Greenland, but the drilling site is just off the Ilulissat Icefjord, which we’re told could cause a climate catastrophe, which will get a lot of backs up, including Birgitte, and she isn’t happy that the PM is sticking her nose in because, as it’s the Arctic, it’s a matter for own her dept, so Signe should keep to her own domestic remit.
Along the way, Birgitte has a new right-hand man, Asger Holm Kirkegaard (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard), and she’ll also have ot deal with some aimal rights protestors, but you’ll learn more about them as it goes on. We also see the pain she goes through of not being able to spend much time with her son because she’s dragged away by work, making me wonder why she still wants to stay in frontline politics while he’s growing up.
There’s also an individual who’s being promoted to a great job, but is not an elected official, making him seem like the equivalent of former No.1 Tory spin doctor Dominic Cummings; and allegations of corruption with Russian involvement, whilst also addressing the real-world sanctions on Russia because of their invasion of Ukraine.
Overall so far, Borgen: Power and Glory feels like a comfortable pair of slippers, and just as engaging as before, but it is as dialogue-heavy as it used to be, so even trying to watch more than one episode at a time is not the easiest task.
As an aside, Danish dialogue is subtitled in English, but any English dialogue isn’t subtitled. I know that’s been the case with some of the previous series on Blu-ray, but I’d still prefer for them ll to be fully subtitled. There’s no reason not to do so.
Thanks to our friends at Netflix for the screener prior to release.
Borgen: Power and Glory is not available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but is on Netflix from Thursday June 2nd.
Detailed specs:
Cert: 
Running time: 60 minutes per episode (8 episodes)
Release date: June 2nd 2022
Studio: Netflix
Format: 2.00:1
Episodes 1-2 Score: 8/10
Series Directors: Per Fly, Mogens Hagedorn, Dagur Kári
Producer: Stine Meldgaard Madsen
Creator: Adam Price
Writers: Adam Price, Maja Jul Larsen, Emilie Lebech Kaae, Martin Lidegaard
Music: August Fenger
Cast:
Birgitte Nyborg: Sidse Babett Knudsen
Katrine Fønsmark: Birgitte Hjort Sørensen
Torben Friis: Søren Malling
Pia Munk: Lisbeth Wulff
Laura Christensen: Freja Riemann
Asger Holm Kirkegaard: Mikkel Boe Følsgaard
Dan: Kasper Lange
Philip Christensen: Mikael Birkkjær
Bent Sejrø: Lars Knutzon
Michael Laugesen: Peter Mygind
Niels Erik Lund: Morten Kirkskov
Jon Berthelsen: Jens Albinus
Anne Sophie Lindenkrone: Signe Egholm Olsen
Søren Ravn: Lars Mikkelsen
Magnus Nyborg Christensen: Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen
Nadia Barazani: Laura Allen Müller
Oliver Hjorth: Simon Bennebjerg
Rasmus Gren Lundbæk: Magnus Millang
Hans Eliassen: Svend Hardenberg
Tanja Pípaluk Johansen: Kiki Godtfredsen
Mikkel Thøgersen: Peter Zandersen
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.