TV Review: Bordertown (Sorjonen)

 

For the first entry in my series of TV reviews I’m going to be discussing the Finnish crime drama ‘Bordertown’ (also referred to as ‘Sorjonen’ in Finland). I touched upon this series in a recent post about Autism in the media but after recently completing the entire series I feel I am more ready to tackle the programme as a whole. As the series could be considered quite niche (even compared to other subjects I’ve talked about) I am sure many readers have not seen it. In which case I would like to cast a spotlight on an excellent series that may have flown under your radar.

 

‘Bordertown’ tells the story of Kari Sorjonen, a police detective with implied Autism who moves to Lappeenranta with his wife Pauliina and daughter Janina. Whilst there he joins SECRI, a special police task force focusing on more serious crimes. Aided by Lena Jaakola, a former-FSB officer with a mysterious past, and Nikko Uusitalo, a likable everyman, Kari solves some of the most difficult crimes of his career whilst also trying to thwart the plans of his enigmatic nemesis. An easy comparison to this show would be BBC’s ‘Sherlock’ series with Kari’s personality, intelligence and Moriarty-esque nemesis being very similar to Benedict Cumberbatch’s performance as Sherlock Holmes, albeit in a more grounded fashion. As such, I feel that anyone who’s a fan of ‘Sherlock’ or similar shows would find something to enjoy here. Whilst these comparisons are hard to ignore, it’s the backdrop that really make this series stand out. ‘Bordertown’ takes full advantage of the stunning Finnish locales available in order to create an atmospheric and immersive experience. This is seen in full effect in the third season, where some of the most intense cases are framed against a beautiful winter. Yet, despite the praise I’ve just given the series, I felt there was a crucial issue that held ‘Bordertown’ back from being a perfect series.

 

For me, ‘Bordertown’ was often let down by its own mysteries, which tended to be hit-or-miss. Unlike a programme like ‘Sherlock’, which already had pre-existing and beloved stories by Arthur Conan Doyle to adapt, this series has had to create them all from scratch, which results in a mixed bag of mysteries. Whilst some stories are strong, providing a perfect mix of suspense, emotion and logic, others are forgettable at best and almost comical at worst. Perhaps the best example of this juxtaposition comes in the first two narrative arcs, ‘A Doll’s House’ and ‘Dragonflies’. Whilst ‘A Doll’s House’ is an engaging, sinister opening to the series with personal stakes for the characters, ‘Dragonflies’ is a dull story about two teenagers having a party with lethal drugs, which sounds like something out of a bad teen drama as opposed to a gritty detective series like this. This inconsistent quality is an issue that the show never truly escapes. For every intense, memorable narrative, there’s a more convoluted and uninteresting one to follow. This wouldn’t be a major issue if each case was a single episode long but instead each one takes 2-3 episodes (roughly 2-3 hours) to complete, making its inferior storyline feel even slower. While the occasionally weaker narratives did lessen the show for me, the stronger ones more than made up for them.

 

However, for me, the main strength of ‘Bordertown’ is not its stories but its people. Going into the series I had little expectations for the characters and whilst they do conform to typical crime drama archetypes, I soon found myself enjoying all of them. I found myself more interested in Kari’s struggle to balance his work with his duty to his family and Lena’s past than I was in the cases they had to solve. Even better than this is the interactions the characters have with each other. Despite initially being sceptical about Kari’s methods of memory and solving crimes, Niko is shown to have a great amount of respect for Kari. The two form a relationship akin to Holmes and Watson, which soon becomes an issue when Niko has to be responsible for Kari’s actions. Even more interesting is the dynamic between Kari and Lena. At first the two seem like polar opposites, with Kari’s calm, analytical personality contrasting Lena’s more brash and violent nature, but they are soon able to form a strong platonic relationship based on their mutual trust. Kari and Lena also serve as a good foil to each other as parents, with Kari’s loving but often distant relationship with Janina being a far cry from Lena’s tempestuous relationship with her daughter Katia. Because of these interesting characters and dynamics, ‘Bordertown’ was able to keep me interested even in its weaker episodes. When the mysteries weren’t interesting, simple scenes like SECRI discussing their next actions or Kari spending time at home helped bring out the best aspects of the series.

 

In conclusion, whilst ‘Bordertown’ doesn’t match the calibre of other crime dramas I’ve watched, I still found it to be an entertaining series that provides a good alternative choice. Whilst I went into it for the mysteries and left somewhat disappointed, I stayed for the well-developed characters and beautiful visuals. There are other crime shows I would recommend before this (such as ‘Sherlock’, ‘Hannibal’ and ‘The Bridge’) but if you want something a bit different and are looking for a longer series to delve into, I’d strongly recommend watching this series. With a film continuation of the series (‘Bordertown: The Mural Murders’) planned to release this autumn, I look forward to seeing how the lives of these characters continue to develop.