I watched the first season of Bron/Broen in 2014 after I saw the US’ version, The Bridge. I still have not finished the US version even though it ended in 2014 and was only two seasons, but after almost six years since watching the first season of the original Danish Swedish television series, Hulu warned customers that it would stop streaming the much longer running Bron/Broen so I had three seasons, twenty-eight episodes, to watch in two weeks along with several other television series and movies that were about to be pulled from other streaming services. I believe that Season 4 of Bron/Broen is only available on Hulu, and I always preferred the original so thanks to the unfortunate global pandemic, I was able to finish it in record timing.
Because I am not current with the US remake, I was no longer comparing Bron/Broen’s second through fourth seasons to its American remake so I was able to enjoy it purely on its own merits. The format generally conforms to the following pattern. Each season is generally devoted to a crime that superficially seems to be politically motivated and possibly that is a component, but it eventually gives way to a personal motive by a strangely creative deviant murderer. The crime is staged in such a way that Swedish and Danish cops have to work together to solve it, and most of those cops are the season regulars though there is some variety as the series unfolds. Some regular characters have storylines that organically lead to them no longer needing to appear as recurring characters.
If Bron/Broen has a real protagonist, it is Saga, the Swedish cop whose social graces are probably affected by something like autism. When I initially watched this series, I thought that it would live and die on the odd couple chemistry between the Danish and Swedish cop with a gender personality role reversal. The woman was the cold and analytical partner whereas the man was warm and instinctual. While the male partner continued to play a vital role in every season, the real star of the show was Saga, played by Sofia Helin. Helin really killed the role by never sacrificing her character’s traits, but still finding a way to communicate the baffling emotions that her character was feeling, which is at odds with her character’s inability to express them. Such a character could leave viewers as cold as Saga’s colleagues who find her off putting and alienating, but Helin never loses the audience. Each season, I began explicitly rooting for Saga more, looking forward to her throw down with perps who mistakenly thought that they could get the upperhand and just generally kick ass as a detective solving cases in her spare time while simultaneously working on high profile homicide cases, struggling to overcome her past and discover herself as defined by something other than her relationships, her past or her profession. By the fourth season, we get a complete resolution to her character’s entire personal story arc, and though the final season was a bit more predictable than prior seasons, I thought that it had earned the satisfying albeit less shocking finale.
I was completely invested in learning about Saga’s past, discovering her triggers and watching her overcome societal expectations. A small incidental criminal case that Saga solves in the second season becomes the key to learning more about her character in the third and fourth season of Bron/Broen. There is a small supporting character who only appears in the third season, and I just hated her character completely. Ann Petren was amazing because she nailed the fake simpering, but completely manipulative and threatening character perfectly. What should have been normal interactions became these utterly tense and foreboding scenes that made me feel more concerned for Saga than when she was going toe to toe with actual killers. Also how that villain affects her relationship with her boss was a complete nightmare that kept me on the edge of my seat. I just empathized with Saga for being placed in a situation that was not her creation. Because she is different, and everything seems superficially normal, her efforts to navigate this treacherous terrain is terrifying. Victims of abuse will either be triggered or utterly relate to Saga’s predicament of navigating a world that thinks they are being sensitive, but are unintentionally complicit in aiding an abuser further victimize his or her victim by making assumptions about what is normal behavior.
It was also a relief that even when Saga got love interests, her character never fundamentally changed her core profile or hijacked her storyline. She was willing to work on and wanted to be a good partner, but she just could not change aspects of her personality. In contrast to most depicted relationships, the men in her life had to accommodate her quirks and perceived selfishness. It was really refreshing to see a scenario where the woman was not changing while simultaneously making the audience not blame her for her flaws. The series really took great risks that could have made Saga unlikeable, but it just further endeared me to her.
A special shout out to Kim Bodnia, who plays Martin, Saga’s first Danish partner, does a great job of acting with his mouth. His smile could either be encouraging, warm or an indiscernible snarl. Another shout out goes to Gabriel Flores Jair, whom we never learn any personal details, but he always managed to steal every scene with his trademark flair and presence. I know nothing about him, but he managed to take a role as a pathologist who enjoys working with Saga that could have been forgettable and made him stand out.
If I had to complain about one storyline in Bron/Broen, I wanted to know how Cristoffer was doing, and I thought there was room to revisit his storyline considering how it led to the solution of another crime in which the victim revisited his village. Also Season 2 kind of never ends. I guess there will never truly be an answer so while overall it was a strong season, leaving such a huge dangling thread that was never revisited was kind of frustrating. The denouement still works, but I was waiting for the series to revisit that storyline, which it never did.
Bron/Broen has disturbing and sexual content. I have a pretty high threshold for violence so it did not bother me, but if you are averse to such content, then definitely avoid it like a handshake. I would applaud the fact that mature characters are depicted as having vibrant sexual lives. I am also normally not into crime dramas if they are not part of the Law & Order franchise, but a pleasant exception is if I empathize with the woman lead detective, which I did with Saga. Because it is a Danish Swedish series, there are plenty of subtitles, and it requires a little more attention from the viewer than an American series. I would occasionally fall asleep because in spite of the disturbing content, it is more plot than action driven, but it was never boring, just relaxing because of the soothing voices and relaxing music. I recommend it if you are into foreign crime dramas.