More Nordic noir: Finland’s series “Bordertown”

In our ongoing quest to explore the world of Nordic noir, my wife and I have worked our way through films and series set in Sweden (“The Bridge”), Denmark (“Forbrydelsen”), Norway (the film series featuring the detective “Varg Veum”) and Iceland (“The Valhalla Murders,” “Trapped” and "A White White Day").

Now we’ve traveled farther east and are halfway through the three seasons of “Bordertown,” a Finnish series that we’re watching on Netflix.

And this one may be the best of all – high praise considering how good “The Bridge” (or “Bron/Broen”) in particular is.

Said to be the most popular series in Finland, “Bordertown” stars Ville Virtanen as the police investigator Kari Sorjonen, a man whose abilities to solve crimes comes from his unique way of being in the world. (At the beginning of Season 2, he’s seen as a young boy and appears to rank somewhere on the autism scale – able to figure out complex problems but unable to easily connect socially.)

When we meet him at the beginning of Season 1, he is married to Paulina (Matleena Kuusniemi), a former model and cancer survivor. With their daughter, Janina (Olivia Ainali), they move from Helsinki to Lappeeranta, a town 126 miles away, set near the Russian border.

It is there, a place that Kari thinks will be less problematic than Helsinki, that he discovers a whole new realm of troubles – murder and sex-trafficking chiefly among them.

One thing that stands out so far is that the crimes, while disturbing, are more normal and not the work of master criminals.

But what works best about “Bordertown” is that Kari’s family is given as much, if not more, emphasis than anything else. And that the problems they face are, for the most part, reflective of what pretty much every family at times goes through.

Paulina is continually trying to find her way, both as a survivor and as a career woman, and everyone is worried whether her cancer will return. Janina, who as a teenager is having her own problems adjusting to a new town, is particularly concerned about her mom.

But no more so than Kari himself, who finds it hard – as do all TV police officials – to balance his work with his home life.

Add in the presence of Lena (Anu Sinisalo), a former Russian intelligence agent, Lena’s rebellious daughter Katia (Lenita Susi), the rest of Kari’s investigative team – plus a range of others, civilians and criminals – and you have a perfect complement of noir personalities.

Final note: Netflix gives you the option of watching dubbed or subtitled versions. I like to hear the sound of other languages, so I prefer the subtitles. But not everyone does.  

Anyway, long live Nordic noir. Can’t wait to see what else I can find.