I don't really watch much on television these days. Twitter has drawn me into a few of the reality TV programmes, but on the whole I like to watch well made drama and not much else. I rather like that BBC Four provides access to excellent European drama as homegrown drama seems a bit thin on the ground. Anyway, with that sly dig over and done with, let's talk about The Bridge.
The Bridge is a Scandinavian made detective series and opens with the discovery of a dead body in the middle of the Oresund bridge which connects Sweden and Denmark. It's the first in the series of murders committed by a perp seemingly intent on raising social and political awareness. The investigation unites Swedish detective Saga Noren and Danish Martin Rohde, and for me it's the excellent character development and awkward friendship that develops between the two detectives that was a engaging as the plot itself.
In the early episodes, there are several of sub-plots which run alongside the main thread. I wasn't sure whether these would eventually be connected to the main plot or simply run as parallel stories in a similar way to French series Spiral/Engrenages. I have to admit that I was pleased when they were neatly tied to the main plot over the course of the ten episodes, as I generally find sub-plots tedious.
Another aspect of this series that I found interesting was the introduction of a character with quite obvious Asperger's traits. I realise this isn't necessarily new and there were many hints that Lisbeth Salander from the Millenium Trilogy similarly had Asperger's Syndrome, but Lisbeth Salander was a really hard character to warm to. I found Saga Noren much more endearing. Predictably, her lack of social mores were used as good excuse to add a bit of 'the sex'!
I really enjoyed The Bridge and would heartily recommend it. I won't say much about the ending other than to say that it was gripping and had the sort of tempered happy ending that I approve of. I think that if you enjoy crime dramas, excellent production and don't object to sub-titles, this is a must-see.
Image credit: BBC website
