Bordertown: Season 2 – Review

“Bordertown: Season Two” continues another solid crime drama from the Scandinavian countries. It’s set in a Finnish town near the Russian border, so the subject crimes frequently come with complications from the other side of that line. Our hero is Kari Sorjonen (Ville Virtanen), a brilliant, intriguingly quirky police detective who moved there from Helsinki, seeking relative peace, allowing more time with his wife Paulina (Matleena Kuusniemi), and teen daughter Janina (Olivia Ainali). Naturally, it doesn’t work out that way, or we’d just have a pastoral travelogue, instead of a suspenseful procedural series.

Kari has a number of hand movements that help him retain and recall memories in his vaguely autistic mind. Like many such characters, his intense focus on each new crime comes at a cost, as his family feels shunted to the side, aggravated by his inability to remain engaged in the moment whenever a clue or lead kicks in. He’s prone to bolting from any activity without a word of explanation when insights pop up in his mind. There’s a bit of wry humor in some of his methods, but his mood and the overall tone of the series are quite somber. Kari is admirable and worthy of our empathy despite his lack of social awareness. Basically, he looks like a less-macho Liam Neeson, with the eccentricities of an Adrian Monk – minus the comic elements in and around him.

Though often alone in his “memory palace” during a case, he’s assisted by a couple of astute colleagues – Lena (Anu Sinisalo) and Niko (Ikka Villi). The first season was 11 episodes, with separate crimes handled in 2 or 3 apiece. Subject cases are solved, but subplots and characters run through both seasons. It’s highly advisable to see Season One before diving into this one. For me, it had been so long since I watched the first, I had some difficulty in getting up to speed on the people and issues in Round Two. Also, Kari’s triggering gestures are well explained in the first year. Without knowing their purpose, they look more deranged than deliberate.

Season Two is ten 50-minute episodes, with each crime handled in two of them. Kari’s family and Lena’s daughter Katia (Lenita Susi), who is Janina’s closest friend, often wind up in the middle of the proceedings – and not in a good way. An ongoing thread of import lies in the machinations of the wealthy family that controls much of the region’s land and economy, as is often the case for dramatic series in small-town settings, regardless of country of origin.

The intelligent scripts are well-written for both sleuthing and character development. The whole cast gets a fair share of screen time, including seminal backstories for several and growth arcs for more. No caricatures merely playing the conventional types for such fare. Not much nudity or on-screen violence. Fine production values with interiors, exteriors and character actions presented in realistic scale.

For serious crime fans, this is one worth adding to your repertoire of odd, yet effective detectives doing their thing. And no need to worry about closure on all the people and plot points. Season Three has already aired in Finland, and is sure to follow these two in short order.

“Bordertown: Season Two”, in Finnish with subtitles, joins Season One streaming on MHzChoice on April 16, 2024.

3 Out Of 4 Stars