Joel Kullberg The actors: Madelene Jacobsson, Marie Richardson, Louise Peterhoff, Cecilia Frode, Niklas Hjulström, Karin Franz Körloff & the stunt performer: Madelene Barwén Trollvik really gets visible according to my view of things.The scriptwriters and the directing is great from my Point of view. One of few productions in modern-history of Swedish TV that succeeds as in making things interesting, money and so on!/Joel Kullberg

Bene Cumb I can imagine it is difficult to create a political series approaching wide audience, but yet versatile and not simplistic narration. The Danish Borgen or the UK and US House of Cards are fine respective examples, but I can easily say that Blå ögon is on their heels... Well, the pace is sometimes uneven, some characters are static and the authors have taken sides (letting understood that rightism is worse than leftism), but some witty turns, intertwining events/characters and solid performances (particularly female ones) make the 10 episodes of an hour each pass with interest and understanding. Perhaps the events in the last episode came with a certain rush and let many things open (and a hint for a next season), but no news of it so far - I would be definitely interested to follow. Being a fan of Scandinavian series, I try not to pay attention that there are same actors and actresses performing in most series (the more famous tend to spend more time on screen, so if the script lets you guess whether their characters vanish or die, so the chances are they do not:) ), but what the heck... Even mediocre Scandinavian series tend to me more interesting and realistic that good US ones.

jc-osms With Britain on the verge of its EU referendum, I mmigration emerging as one of the major campaign issues and with memories of the Paris atrocities still fresh, this Swedish political thriller could hardly be more topical. Over ten intense episodes, it starts with the covered-up murder of the senior female chief-of-staff to the Swedish Attorney General after attending a secret meeting of like-minded right-wing sympathisers.Her replacement, Jenna Coleman lookalike Louise Peterhoff, is the murdered chief-of-staff's predecessor, Elin Hammar, her position previously sacrificed on the grounds of political expediency but now recalled for her safe-hands trustworthiness by the swarthy, granite-hued Attorney General only for her curiosity and idealism to get her drawn into the mysterious disappearance which got her back her old job.Also in the spider's web of intrigue are the young sister and brother children of a female right-wing spokesman of a minority anti-immigration party who gets knocked down and killed after making a speech at a small-town rally. Approached by senior members of their late mother's minority party who are keen to make political martyrdom of her death, and boost their party's profile, they instead fall in with an extreme right-wing faction called Veritas, ready to highlight their anti-immigration agenda with acts of terrorism. With a general election looming and immigration at the forefront of the political landscape, Veritas embark on an escalating campaign of kidnap, murder and public bombing to force the issue. The combination of Elin's stealthy investigation which leads all the way up to the Prime Minister and governmental shady dealings with a powerful Swedish oligarch and the youthful duo's immersion in the ruthless doings of Veritas are entwined and play out right up to election night with a slew of more dead bodies along the way. I'd be lying if I said I followed every plot strand perfectly and the enigmatic ending, where the seemingly incorruptible Elin appears to sacrifice her principles for a promotion offered by her now ascendant but questionable boss, doesn't say much for the screenwriter's opinion of politics in Sweden. I also had to question whether the young sister and brother would let themselves be so easily indoctrinated by the false glamour of terrorism to the extent that the sister fires the bullet that kills a female hostage live on television and them both later participating in a chillingly real terrorist attack at the Swedish Stock Exchange.A slow-burner of a series in typical Scandanavian style, punctuated with shockingly real episodes like the two mentioned above, this was an excellently acted and tautly directed if possibly over-exaggerated drama which certainly kept me watching. Episode 8, featuring the Stock Exchange atrocity is particularly compelling.

Tweekums Like many other Swedish dramas of recent years the rise of nationalism plays an important role in this multi-stranded drama series. In the opening episode a leading member of a prominent nationalist party is murdered and it isn't long before her daughter Sofia, believing her mother was killed by immigrants, is getting involved with the violent side of nationalism, dragging her unwilling brother, Simon, with her. Meanwhile Elin Hammer works at the ministry of Justice as Head of Staff; she is curious about what happened to her predecessor Sarah; she appears to have disappeared so Elin starts to investigate the matter. As the story progresses things get more dangerous; the group that Sofia has joined go from being merely very unpleasant to murderous and she is in the middle of it. Similarly people don't want Elin uncovering what happened to Sarah. At first the authorities have no idea who is behind a series of attacks but after their latest attack some are killed and the police are soon on the trail of the rest.This is a gripping thriller that fans of Scandi-Noir are sure to enjoy. The various plot threads are interesting and come together nicely towards the end. As one might expect it is fairly violent at times and some of the characters are distinctly unpleasant; most notably Mattias; the psychotic young thug that Sofia gets involved with. The cast does an impressive job; most notably Louise Peterhoff as Elin, Karin Franz Körlof as Sofia and Adam Lundgren who played Mattias. As the series comes to an end the scale of political corruption becomes apparent but several plot lines remain open; this is probably in anticipation of a hoped for second season but even if there aren't further episodes it was a satisfying ending that shows that not all bad people are brought to justice and some corruption will always be there. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to other fans of political thrillers and crime dramas.These comments are based on watching the series in Swedish with English subtitles.