Bordertown

The VIDEO GUY just finished watching Bordertown (Season 1) on Netflix. How good is it? The series won the awards for Outstanding TV Drama, Best Actor (Ville Virtanen), and Best Actress (Anu Sinisalo) at the Finnish Golden Venla TV awards, Finland's version of the Emmys, in January. The series is another entry in the Scandinavian detective crime drama genre, and it is terrific!

Lead detective Kari Sorjonen (Virtanen) is sort of a cross between Abe Vegoda (of Barney Miller fame) and Sherlock Holmes, sporting a lumbering gait and a unique method for sussing out the details of crimes. Sinisalo plays Lena Jaakkola, an enigmatic co-detective. Both actors create distinct characters with interesting back-stories, plenty of flaws, and families that are integral to a variety of the storylines. Most of the series comes in two and three-part episodes, and I guarantee you’ll binge through them. The first season nearly resolves, except that it doesn’t. It was not a painful cliff-hanger, but I’ll very anxiously await Season two, which is reportedly in production.