The Bridge (starting 2011-)

As the days are short and the nights are long, what better way to pass the time than with watching some Scandi-noir! That's why my wife and I have been enjoying the TV series called The Bridge. The one we're watching is I think the original with English subtitles and the audio in Swedish and Danish - well I can't be sure about that as I speak neither. There are 4 series of this that I have watched and enjoyed. The central character is Saga Norén, a detective with the Malmo police in Sweden. Over the course of the 4 series we see her with 2 main partners, Martin and Henrik.
The Bridge in the series is the Øresund bridge that spans between the 2 Scandinavian cities Copenhagen (Denmark) and Malmo (Sweden). Saga's partners are both Danish detectives and during the course of the series we see some of the relations between the detective's superiors.
What is interesting is that Saga continues to fight crime with a form of autism that means she doesn't empathize at all with victims or suspects, she is also working out how she has relationships involving more than just sex. She has a somewhat liberated attitude to sex I'd say. Seeing her grapple with how a partner can provide more than just the regular availability of sex is quite amusing. Despite being a serious crime story the personal stories of the characters involved is what makes the series special. Saga also has a past with her sister committing suicide at 14 and a mother with undiagnosed Munchhausen Syndrome. Martin is unfaithful to his wife and has a son from a first marriage and children from his current wife who is pregnant again. Henrik is haunted by his wife and children who disappeared 7 years ago and haven't been found. He asks Saga to help him find them off to the side of their normal cases.
So during the course of the different series there is a lot going on. The plots are intricate and somewhat confusing in some cases but as each series goes on then more and more is revealed, so the viewer is kept interested. At least I was! So, in my view this is a great series and definitely worth seeing if you like Scandi-noir style stories.

Saga and Martin

Saga with Henrik