Matt Mansfield

Initial plot driven by the conflicting police and scientist motives and efforts to locate a deadly virus and its mutations in the dramatic Northern Finland/Lapland winter world is engaging. Characters are well portrayed for awhile. Then, the shark-jumping undercuts the believability of just about everything. Plus the actors’ reactions seem so inconsistent at times as to make you think the scenes were shot out of sequence and without anyone tracking continuity. Annoying. Got through Season 1 but may only watch one episode of Season 2 to see if the show regains any credibility.

Netflix is to be applauded for investing in and airing this off-the-beaten-track show blending elements of noire-style mystery, Polanski-gothic and parallel worlds with time travel wormholes. A refreshing change from the more formulaic offerings with uninteresting characters and outcomes. Unfortunately, Netflix has also fallen prey to the ratings game rewarding the predictability of herd behavior until done to exhaustion. So a second season of this twisty path of devious delight is not in the cards…unless Netflix has the courage to continue this investigation of the fringe.