Borgen 2 electrified me even more than BROGEN 1 did. These 10 episodes show the talented Sidse Babett Knudsen as Birgitte Nyborg, the first woman Prime Minister of Denmark, facing political and personal crises. No CGI, no elaborate sets, no spectacular effects. Just a great cast and solid scripts. Borgen 2 builds on the plots from BORGEN 1 so to appreciate the drama, you’ll need to start the series with the first season. If you’re a political junkie like me, dramas like House of Cards and BORGEN are like crack. I highly recommend BORGEN. GRADE: A
Such a great show – I was already a huge fan of WEST WING so I thought I’d liek it but it is brillantly done – and of course, not speaking Danish I really have to pay attention (though there is that great moment when Nyborg starts speaking in fantastic English which really threw me – I though it had been dubbed for a moment!).
Sergio, I love the way the producers of BORGEN blend the Prime Minister’s work and personal lives. Great drama! I can’t wait for Season Three!
We would love t see it but other than buying it, I don’t know how,
Patti, I think Todd Mason knows about some web sites where BORGEN is available for free. You could also request BORGEN from your local public library.
OK, I really need to stop procrastinating about it and get Series 1 already.
Jeff, you and Jackie will really like BORGEN. There are plenty of surprises, especially in Season Two!
The ever-popular BORGEN page for streaming video of the first season, at the moment, the second season shortly thereafter, and (hooray) the third season on its way:
Link TV steaming episodes available to US IP addresses (and those that mask themselves from elsewhere): http://www.linktv.org/borgen –Patti, with your new setup, you could easily watch these thus…or so I gather.
Yes, Sergio, most of the characters speak good colloquial English, though more often in the first season than in the second…but they’re usually talking to English or Scottish people at the time…
Among the “meta” jokes I enjoy about the series is how the parties are basically analogs of Denmark’s actual parties, and Nyborg’s party is the “Moderate Party,” which corresponds to the Radical Party in reality…the Radical parties being the closest to Libertarian parties most of the western Euro nations get, with reasonably libertarian social policies, generally a mild skepticism of social democracy than a desire to tear it down altogether, and the like…they were radical back in the day, more populist than the Whigs/classic liberals, and certainly less statist than the conservatives or emerging Marxists (including and originally mostly comprised of the social democrats).
Thanks for the info, Todd! Like you, I enjoy all the political shenanigans as well as Nyborg’s personal problems. BORGEN is “must-see TV” for me!
Until I learn to speak Danish, I’ll pass. Let’s see… “Danka.” Is that Danish?
Nope, that would be “Tak” in Danish. Your loss, Rick! Hope you like the Budrys books, though.