Borgen series 2 - Danish political drama Saturdays BBC4 - no spoilers allowed. Tak

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  • StaxVoltStaxVolt Posts: 161
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    So there I was with nothing much to say about Borgen S2 for the first four episodes even though I thought 3 and 4 were much better than 1 and 2,I still wasn't compelled to post.


    That was until last night and the sheer quality of the 6th episode which was nothing less than a tour de force.I realise that my lack of background knowledge of Danish party politics could be prohibitive but somehow it isn't and not least because of the patience displayed by the Scandis on here and their wecome answers to various queries(Tak).


    I remember an episode of TK3 when the huge number of protagonists were heading for a live TV debate and the set looked ready a round of Fifteen-to-One!


    Anyway,back to last night and the superbly thought out climax to Kasper's horribly traumatic childhood so neatly delivered via the sale of his family home,a contemporary adversarial political situation to spin,and finally the desperate need for him to have a confidante,which was much more than someone with whom to share his secrets and I think he has chosen well.


    My only criticism of Katrine's character is simply that at this rate,she'll soon be giving Harry Redknapp a run for his money in the 'How Many Jobs?' stakes.Even when it's not at full throttle Borgen seems to be over too quickly but last night's double was superb stand-alone television imo.
  • tealadytealady Posts: 26,262
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    squadge wrote: »
    Oops - I do - sorry. past my bedtime when I wrote that. :eek:
    I to wonder who stine is? His mother? a hidden sister?
    Lotte described Stine as claiming to be Kasper's girlfriend, so I infer that Stine was Lisa the one he shagged. Unless her surname was mentioned as something else that is.
  • tealadytealady Posts: 26,262
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    Amazing performance as Kasper, really convincing.
  • milliejomilliejo Posts: 2,230
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    We saw a lot of Kasper's naked backside in these two episodes...
  • Welsh WitchWelsh Witch Posts: 58
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    Last night was the first time I'd seen this show. I thought it was brilliant, great acting, good story lines, and the emotional scenes were really understated. Can't believe I cried over a character that I've only invested one hour in :o Testament to the quality of the show though.

    Any idea how I can watch the previous series'?

    Ta :)
  • StrakerStraker Posts: 79,567
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    Any idea how I can watch the previous series'?

    DVD.

    .......

    Quality eps, especially the second - A proper choker although I do find myself asking why are they so fixated on child abuse in these Nordic dramas? Is there an epidemic of it in real-life over there?
  • LostFoolLostFool Posts: 90,623
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    tealady wrote: »
    Lotte described Stine as claiming to be Kasper's girlfriend, so I infer that Stine was Lisa the one he shagged. Unless her surname was mentioned as something else that is.

    I hope we see more of Lisa. She looked fantastic in although not in the usual Scandinavian blonde style.

    Kasper certainly does well with the women. I wonder if it's his power or the beard? Maybe I should grow a beard...
  • ShrikeShrike Posts: 16,591
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    catsitter wrote: »
    In the first of these two episodes, after Amir resigned, I was expecting Birgitte to hold off from announcing her new cabinet until a new Green Party leader was appointed and she had the chance to try and persuade them to stay in the government. I would have thought she would have a good chance of this with a new party leader?

    Yes it did seem very odd not to hold off. But Amir always seemed personally close to Birgitte, maybe she knows none of his likely successers would work with her so she cut her losses.
    tealady wrote: »
    Lotte described Stine as claiming to be Kasper's girlfriend, so I infer that Stine was Lisa the one he shagged. Unless her surname was mentioned as something else that is.

    I don't think the timeline worked for that - Kasper seems to have been with "Stine" for some time, Lisa was a very recent conquest (and I suspect a one off given she is a Labour party activist).

    Oh - and big Yay! Sanne's back!!! :D
  • Forget-me-notForget-me-not Posts: 1,434
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    LostFool wrote: »
    I hope we see more of Lisa. She looked fantastic in although not in the usual Scandinavian blonde style.

    Kasper certainly does well with the women. I wonder if it's his power or the beard? Maybe I should grow a beard...

    I think it is more the power of his puppy dog eyes....limpid pools of gorgeousness..... :o
  • CasmanaCasmana Posts: 1,861
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    chloe_26 wrote: »
    I'm still going through Series 1 and it does help as you see the PM from the beginning and the changes that happen.
    But then I think series 2 stands on it's own too.

    A newcomer to this particular thread but not the series .
    Imo there were some wonderful scenes between Birgitte and stay at home husband Paul not to mention how Birgitte came to be PM in Series 1 which I think should be viewed before Series 2 to gain complete understanding ... as well as the insight into Kasper's character via storylines with Katrine .
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,909
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    Shrike wrote: »


    I don't think the timeline worked for that - Kasper seems to have been with "Stine" for some time, Lisa was a very recent conquest (and I suspect a one off given she is a Labour party activist).

    Oh - and big Yay! Sanne's back!!! :D

    I'm not quite sure of Kasper's allure, he does seem to get the good looking ones, guess he must be good with words, his body wasn't much to look at when he took his shirt off (or bum lol) And Sanne still looked interested too
    Lisa was a conquest from a Labour event before, she just happened to call when Kasper was drinking in the office. We probably won't see the mysterious Stine...
  • FranglaisFranglais Posts: 3,312
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    david1955 wrote: »
    I can't add any more in terms of praise for the acting, but this series has some wonderful true to life comic touches.

    The Green Party leader being discovered to own a Cadillac, reminds me of the time when David Cameron made a great deal of his " Green" credentials by cycling to work each day , only for it to be discovered that a car carrying his suit followed directly behind.

    Great to see the lovely Sanne back in the PM's office, and still doing her curtseys .

    Another unforgettable comic quote was when they said "nobody plants trees in January". Brilliant!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,909
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    My favourite quote of the series has to be "Lets have a cup of Jytte's very bitter coffee" told in a deadpan style and the look on the Theis' (foreign minister) face :D

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01q6pg9/?t=36m32s
  • solarflaresolarflare Posts: 22,297
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    david1955 wrote: »
    I can't add any more in terms of praise for the acting, but this series has some wonderful true to life comic touches.

    I loved the end of the filming of the tree planting video, just after the "noone plants trees in January" quote Kasper just throws his cups of coffee away. Very green :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,909
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    solarflare wrote: »
    I loved the end of the filming of the tree planting video, just after the "noone plants trees in January" quote Kasper just throws his cups of coffee away. Very green :D

    That made me laugh out loud.
  • milliejomilliejo Posts: 2,230
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    LostFool wrote: »
    I don't think it has happened to a PM but John Prescott got away with it while DPM.

    Also the Late Robin Cook, had an affair with his secretary, then divorced his wife and married his secretary. He stayed on as Foreign Sec.

    And David Blunkett also had a tangled affair

    And then John Major shagged Edwina Curry, while talking about back to basics family values.
  • the_lostprophetthe_lostprophet Posts: 4,173
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    Last night was the first time I'd seen this show. I thought it was brilliant, great acting, good story lines, and the emotional scenes were really understated.

    I'm not sure if you've watched The Killing or The Bridge but the understated and nuanced acting are part of what many of us like about Nordic drama.
  • the_lostprophetthe_lostprophet Posts: 4,173
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    tealady wrote: »
    Lotte described Stine as claiming to be Kasper's girlfriend, so I infer that Stine was Lisa the one he shagged. Unless her surname was mentioned as something else that is.

    Stine isn't a surname - there's actually a Nordic first name called Stine. I think it's short for Kristine - or as we would spell it Kristina/Christina.
  • the_lostprophetthe_lostprophet Posts: 4,173
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    LostFool wrote: »
    I hope we see more of Lisa.

    I doubt we will. Surely she was just a plot device to emphasise Kasper's mental torment (through impulsive behaviour) due to the child abuse storyline. Also of course how he isn't happy in his relationship with Lotte and really wants to be back with Katrine.
  • the_lostprophetthe_lostprophet Posts: 4,173
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    Shrike wrote: »
    Oh - and big Yay! Sanne's back!!! :D

    Unfortunately I'd known for a couple of weeks that Sanne would be coming back as someone on the Guardian blog ruined it by telling us she'd be in some upcoming eps.
  • Welsh WitchWelsh Witch Posts: 58
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    Straker wrote: »
    DVD.

    .......

    Quality eps, especially the second - A proper choker although I do find myself asking why are they so fixated on child abuse in these Nordic dramas? Is there an epidemic of it in real-life over there?

    The first scandinavian film I ever saw was 'Festen' - although it was a comedy of sorts, one of the characters was abused by his father as a kid....and there was all sorts of other weird shenanigans!

    Lukas Moodysson's films are very dark and full of abuse... 'Lilja 4 ever' scarred me for bloody life!
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 11,688
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    tealady wrote: »
    Lotte described Stine as claiming to be Kasper's girlfriend, so I infer that Stine was Lisa the one he shagged. Unless her surname was mentioned as something else that is.
    Stine isn't a surname - there's actually a Nordic first name called Stine. I think it's short for Kristine - or as we would spell it Kristina/Christina.

    Stine is a first name. There is someone called Stine in the crew credits at the end. Part of the Kostume crew - all women. The ''Klit'' was played by a Stine as well in Season 1.

    Why the call to Stine was cut out in the actual ep is odd. Was the Danish transmission the same. Or has the BBC version been cut for some reason. Kasper says he will see Stine soon in episode 5. Then Lotte gets the Stine call in episode 6. So is Stine another girlfriend on the side. Or maybe Kasper got her to make the call pretending to be his girlfriend. Giving him a way out of his relationship with Lotte. Devious boy our Kasper.
  • VerenceVerence Posts: 104,577
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    catsitter wrote: »
    In the first of these two episodes, after Amir resigned, I was expecting Birgitte to hold off from announcing her new cabinet until a new Green Party leader was appointed and she had the chance to try and persuade them to stay in the government. I would have thought she would have a good chance of this with a new party leader?
    Shrike wrote: »
    Yes it did seem very odd not to hold off. But Amir always seemed personally close to Birgitte, maybe she knows none of his likely successers would work with her so she cut her losses.

    Amir said he was having difficulty selling the deal to the rest of his party so Shrike probably has it right

    The only other party on the left seems to be Soldarity, who are equivalent to the real-life Red-Green Alliance

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-Green_Alliance_(Denmark)

    They would appear to be a bit too left wing for Birgitte and Theis to deal with
  • tealadytealady Posts: 26,262
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    Stine isn't a surname - there's actually a Nordic first name called Stine. I think it's short for Kristine - or as we would spell it Kristina/Christina.
    Ah, OK. Even more intriguing!
  • suesuesuesuesuesue Posts: 15,989
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    Am I the only one to let out an involuntary "woop" when Birgitte asked "What's Sanne doing these days?"

    One thing that hasnt been mentioned, I dont think Birgitte's failure to pick up the very clear signs that something was wrong with her daughter rang true. The woman has enough emotional intelligence when dealing with her ministers that you'd think she'd realise straight away there was a problem bigger than stroppy teenager syndrome. When she said she didnt want to go to camp and that "they arent my friends" I thought she was being bullied.

    Kasper's flashback was painful to watch. When Dad said "my friends want to teach you poker" I was wincing and shouting NO! When he gave him the dagger I thought he might have used it then. It was still a shock when K watched the news video and we learned he had eventually stabbed him. Thought the news cuttings and video was an excellent method of telling his story.

    Only 2 weeks to go, it's flown by .... not a huge fan of Spiral (too grim) but I cant wait for The Bridge.
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