[Christmas Dynasnow]

War Sailor (Krigsseileren), a three-part drama on Netflix about the Norwegian
merchant navy in the second world war, is one of the best things you’ll see on TV this year.




War Sailor (Krigsseileren), a three-part drama on Netflix about the Norwegian
merchant navy in the second world war, is one of the best things you’ll see on
TV this year. But I doubt many other critics are going to rave about it or even
notice it, for some of the very same reasons that I think make it so cherishable:
it’s meandering, episodic, understated and made in Norway, with subtitles.

The dialogue is terse, sparse, which means you can concentrate on the visual
detail – both epic and intimate – superbly evoked by director Gunnar Vikene.
All the cast, especially the leads, have the most wonderful, expressive faces:
they could have walked straight out of a mead hall or fought in a shield-wall
in a Norse myth. It feels so right, so echt, in the way you just know it
wouldn’t be if, say, the BBC were to make an equivalent series about the
wartime merchant navy, which they’d no doubt ruin with anachronistic
casting and stereotyping.

Like Das Boot, it doesn’t take sides. It’s about human suffering and
endurance in war, not about goodies and baddies.

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/...ilor-reviewed/

[In the Drunk Tank]

Sounds good, will check it out

[Merry Mockmas]

"It's Meandering, episodic, understated, and made in Norway."

The Norway thing is okay for me as I'll watch a Show if it's good and I have no issues with Norway as a nation, but meandering and episodic is 99.99% of modern TV.

When will we get something that's aiming to be ambitious or just generally well written again? Shows like Dexter, GOT, The Expanse, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, 24, Life On Mars (the UK one obviously) the reimagining of Battlestar Galactica, Mindhunter, Criminal Minds (especially the early seasons) Monk, Psych, Parks & Recreation, Community, Arrested Development, Gilmore Girls, Smallville, Angel, early seasons of Supernatural, Star Trek: Enterprise, Bates Motel etc.

All of those Shows above were very strong in their own respective fields, and they certainly wouldn't brag about "meandering" as a positive.

I can only think of a handful of Shows today that actually understand what good characters and good storytelling actually is.