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The Bridge Season 3 has had higher expectations than the first two, not only because you’re wondering beforehand not only just how they can tie the bridge in again, but also how will they address the fact Saga (Sofia Helin) put Martin away last season? Yes, he did wrong in bumping Jens off and no-one should be above the law, but the man killed his son in a horrible way in the first season, and Martin’s a cool dude and they need to get the band back together! However, would you partner up with someone who put you in the jail, and was rather obtuse the rest of the time anyway? Probably not.
As always, the homicide department have to investigate a murder and seemingly Saga is the only cop there able to investigate. Normally, police stations tend to have a team of people who can go into the field, but with Malmo County Police, there is only Saga. The victim this time is Helle Anker, founder of a fertility clinic in 1988, before selling it on in 2000. She’s a divisive figure, given she was outspoken on LGBT issues and was in the process of setting up gender-neutral pre-school in Denmark. She was a Danish citizen, but was assumed murdered while in Sweden before she had returned back across the bridge. Hence, Saga needs a Danish colleague to work with her, given from where the woman hailed. Martin’s unavailable due to being in the clink, so Hanne Thomsen (Kirsten Olesen – The Legacy‘s Veronika Grønnegaard) is reluctantly assigned.
And since it’s The Bridge, the drama is dark and as well as being killed somewhere else and moved there, Ms Anker has had her heart cut out, leading to speculation that she was ‘heartless’. In addition, the crime scene was set up to look like a bizarre children’s tea party with her dressed as a doll with a ‘smiley’ emoticon on her face.
No.1 suspect is her eldest son Morten (Asbjørn Krogh Nisse), who lives in a run-down shack off the beaten track after returning from three tours of duty in Afghanistan and is suffering from PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder). Even more so when Saga and Hanne make a second visit to his humble abode and find it’s rigged with explosives, leaving Hanne requiring an operation that may require the removal of her right leg, and Saga requiring a new partner.
Also in the frame is Sweden’s answer to Katie Hopkins, Lise Friis Andersen (Sonja Richter), wife of Lars Andersen, who owns the transport company where Helle’s body was found. On the face of it, Lise is a mother of a young daughter who’s trying to ensure her child’s school stops her getting hassled and attacked by bullies. However, she also makes regular vlogs including one about Helle, glad she’s dead because she wanted no distinction in schools between boys and girls, and it was affecting the children.
Another vlog took a stance against same-sex mariage. She seems to have it in for Fabian Christensen (Anders Hove), a priest who staunchly defends it. As the second episode began, he was also bumped off, again with the ‘smiley’ emoticon, yet nothing was taken from the body, so is it the same killer?
Saga’s replacement Danish partner is Henrik Sabroe (Thure Lindhardt), a cop who we first see partaking in a singles club where they have to wear stickers and if you see someone you like, you approach them. So, basically, these are ‘shag tags’, which I’ve seen used in at least one Manchester club many moons ago. Nice idea, but totally useless. However, this club is clearly one where you pay a lot of money to get your end away, so it’s the Match.com of ‘shag tags’.
Go to page 2 for more thoughts on this opening two-parter.
Saga is as brusque as ever when talking to people. For example, early on she calls boss Hans Patterson (Dag Malmberg), who’s “on the job” – still loved up after being married to fellow cop Lillian for three months, saying to his voicemail “It’s 7.37am. According to our agreement, I should be able to reach you from 7am”. And when he gets into work having claimed he overslept, as Saga tells him they’ve identified the victim, the harrassed boss says, “Give me two minutes”. “To do what?”, she replies.
The press dub the crime as “The Clown Murders”, even though the faces are painted to look like emoticons, irking her immensely. And when challenged on her bossy behaviour by Henrik, Saga replies: “I’m not bossy, I’m efficient.”
As before, Sofia Helin is a powerhouse in this drama and everyone else blends in perfectly, making it looks effortless. But then to do that is a sign of expertise.
Will Martin ever return to The Bridge? It’s hinted that he might since, at this point in time, he is six months into a 10-year sentence. Saga is refusing to see him, but will she crack? I think he will have to make at least a token appearance. Let’s just hope there’s no Hannibal Lecter-style scenes as there were between Martin and Jens last time, where the cop got the killer to help with the investigation. That was rather daft.
There’s plenty more to get stuck into. Saga is at loggerheads with her mother since Saga’s father is dying, and there’s unresolved issues over what happened to her sister, Jennifer. In addition, Hans was attacked in the work car park and kidnapped with suspicion falling on the bearded Aleksander Dover who had made threats against Hans while in prison. When questioned if he knew anything, he countered that he was trying to go straight, not do life after having just done 8 years. But it was him all along, and with a neat bit of editing, the police were seen storming his house while Aleks was with Hans, preparing for the door to be battered down. But it wasn’t the police, it was a mystery individual, who shot Aleks dead and chloroformed Hans to sleep.
Who was it, though? The individual was dressed in leather… Lise had been talking about weather leather trousers… was it her?
Humour was also briefly present but perfectly timed. times. For example, after Hans gave Saga a much-needed hug in episode 1, following Hanne’s injury, this resulted in her subsequently, awkwardly asking Hans’ wife, Lillian, if she wanted one.
The first two episodes felt a bit disparate at first in the numerous events presented before us but they tied together well by the end as the various elements introduced took place. This dark and brooding drama clearly has much to impart, including far more than I can relate here, and sets it up fantastically for a third season. A return appearance from Martin would be welcome, but I just hope that if they do then it’s not just for the sake of it, but that if we don’t see him this time, it’ll be understandable. No spoilers if you know, however, since a lot of these episodes have already been broadcast in Europe… albeit without English subtitles, which makes them unwatchable.
Oh, and when it came to continuity announcers, there was no interruption at the end of the first episode (I expected one to tell us the obvious that episode 2 followed next), but sadly, the dimwitted dicks at Ericsson TV Media waffled all over Hollow Talk‘s breathtaking instrumental closure the second time. However, you can hear it in full below.
The Bridge Season 3 continues on Saturday on BBC Four at 9pm, and you can pre-order the Season 3 Blu-ray and DVD, ahead of its release on December 21st. Also, you can watch Episode 1 and Episode 2 on BBC iPlayer until the same date, and click on the top-right picture for the full-size image.
You can also pre-order The Bridge Trilogy on Blu-ray and DVD, also released on December 21st.
Episodes 1 & 2 Score: 10/10
Director: Henrik Georgsson
Producers: Bo Ehrhardt and Anders Landström
Writer: Hans Rosenfeldt
Cast:
Saga: Sofia Helin
Hanne: Kirsten Olesen
Hans: Dag Malmberg
Lillian: Sarah Boberg
Marie-Louise: Ann Petren
John: Rafael Pettersson
Lise: Sonja Richter
Henrik: Thure Lindhardt
Morten: Asbjorn Krogh Nissen
Aleksander: Boris Glibusic
Rikard: Anton Lundqvist
Alice: Katrine Greis-Rosenthal
Linn: Maria Kulle
Natalie: Marall Nasiri
Lars: Olaf Johannessen
Karen: Josephine Højbjerg
Samira: Sandra Stojiljkovic
Johnny: Per Lasson
Lene: Christine Albeck Børge
Roland: Magnus Skog
Emil: Adam Pålsson
Elias: Carl Munk Lægaard
Said: Demis Tzivis
Marianne: Petrine Agger
Rektor Birgitte: Tina Gylling Mortensen
Receptionist Ida: Karen Helene Haugaard
Elise: Bodil Lassen
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.
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