Borgen

With Borgen series 4 in the works and series 1-3 now available on Netflix in some countries (and coming soon to others), it’s time to rekindle Birgitte-mania and head back to a time when politics could reasonably be seen through idealistic lenses. Here are my recaps of the episodes from series 1 and 2, a news blog about series 3 with links to all the articles as they happened, and other articles.

I wrote the recaps as a way to marshal my thoughts about the show and let off steam a bit. When Borgen first came out in Britain there were a few newspaper blogs but they didn’t go into enough detail. What follows is one fan’s view of the TV show. For each episode, a short synopsis is followed by some general comment or recap, sections on how the episode affects the main characters, and anything else that caught my eye. (Different episodes may have different sections.) We also look at the links between Borgen and the show it has most been compared with, The West Wing.

The opening synopses won’t tell you what happens at the end of each episode, but the main comments section assumes that you know, or don’t mind knowing, how the episode ends.

Borgen is blessed with lots of fine acting, but we don’t look at the actors, nor at links between Borgen and the other Scandinavian shows that have wowed audiences recently – you can find that material online already.

I’m certain you won’t agree with some of the comments so please add your own views and insights. Being a fan means engaging with the material, playing with it, enjoying it, bringing different things to it and taking different things away. I hope you’ll find enough in here that helps you to deepen your own relationship with the programme. On the other hand, I have not yet come across anyone who finds the character of Pernille Madsen appealing, so if you’re a Madsen fan you’re probably on your own.

Tusind tak!

NOTE: I’ve posted the first up and the remainder will go up during June and July 2020.

The recaps from series 1 are still available in Kindle form in the ebook How to win power and lose everything in case that format is more accessible to you. If you have Kindleunlimited it’s free (if you download it on Kindleunlimited and read it or at least get to the end then I get some money which is nice).

Recaps currently available

S1 E1 Decency in the Middle

S1 E2 Count to 90

S1 E3 The Art of the Possible

S1 E4 One hundred days

S1 E5 Men who love Women

S1 E6 State Visit

S1 E7 See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

S1 E8 The Silly Season