Valkyrien

This is a great series. OK, the medical stuff isn't in the least bit realistic and the developments happen much too quickly - but, hey, it's a thriller. It rattles along and it's thrilling.

Best of all, though, is the fact that there are such good characters and such good acting. A standout is Pal Sverre Hagen, who is excellent as the very unusual Leif. The comic relief from the disaster-prone Teo, also very well acted, really made me laugh.

A fantastical series with awesome and sideways characters. It's dark, has specters of humors in the shade of the story that hardly give time for a laugh yet definitely add to the personality of the entire movie. Of course there were medical potholes, but this movie is more about other things (being abandoned, shamed, loving each other, the value of money, all kinds of thing; what we value and what we don't). I enjoyed it very much.

On the heels of the Swedes and the Danes, the Norwegians have vigorously stepped into the world of Scandi Noir, usually successfully. The synopsis of Valkyrien was intriguing as well, but as the events progressed I began to realise that it was too much a medical drama (which I tend to avoid) and much less crime-and-noir. The pace appeared to be slow and some characters did not provide additional value to the series (e.g. Teo´s and Leif´s families), but both Teo and Leif (Pål Sverre Hagen is the most versatile type in this series) produce lots of giggling and wtf! moments, breaking otherwise mostly static run of events. Sven Nordin as Ravn Eikanger is good, but nothing special, and the rest did not impress me too much. The moral ideas remained somewhat wishy-washy and the ending was too trivial as well.

So, Valkyrien is more like Det Tredje Øyet or Mammon, rather than Okkupert or Frikjent, for example. No, it is not a bad work, but additional smoothness and less scientific character could have made this series more interesting to me.

If you are looking for playful and exciting entertainment but don't care about medical or scientific impossibilities, then you can manage to get through this series. I guess the creators of the series thought that if the show is entertaining enough, people wont focus on the medical impossibilities that litter the show e.g operating on people with anesthesia, two doctors who seem to specialize in everything under the sun etc. You also have to put up with the usual moralizing about global events (climate change, pharmaceutical companies, health care)that is fairly common in Danish and Norwegian movies, and to a lesser extent in Swedish series. So, if you can ignore the scientific silliness and just go on a crazy roller coaster ride for the entertainment, this series is for you. If there's a second season, I'll probably watch it but after a while I fear that the sheer impossibility of the plot events may just cause me to lose interest.

I echo the comment of previous reviewer that the field is in desperate need of some different plot premises. We made it, I hope, past the unlikable dysfunctional, usually addicted to drugs, alcohol,or an equally destructive behaviour who is gruff beyond rude, head-strong beyond reason. Now we have the formula: scenes alternating between violence and sexual, often both together, without much plot device. With required violence, often extended, on women.

I look forward to something new, even if I have to suspend disbelief occasionally. i hope it discards those over-used tropes.