Blue Eyes (2014–2015) User Reviews

Blue eyes; "Nordic Noir" at its best

[glenn-judo · 8/10 · 15 January 2016]

The Swedish Show Blue Eyes is an outstanding detective in a long line of successful Scandanavian thrillers, and has the same supreme mix between crime and politics as success-story "the Killing".

Blue eyes, or Blå ögon follows Elin Hammer, the head of Staff at the ministry of Justice, who starts researching the disappearance of her predecessor Sarah. As a local politician is murdered, and Sarah remains no where to be found, the tension within the Swedish society increases after multiple attacks by terroristic group Veritas.

Right from the start the show is clouded in a big political cover-up by which puzzles about the nature of it are slowly revealed to the audience. With multiple people being killed for the identity of the main secret, Blue Eyes is extremely exciting to watch from beginning to end.

In addition, the amount of well-build characters within this over- arching story line is admirable. Even though the shows lacks some credibility here and there,the creators were able to create both sympathy and disgust for the people involved. The many inter- connected story-lines blend together to form a narrative which is both a very good "whodunnit", and a political drama which is scarily close to post-Paris reality.

The only shame here is that there were only 10 episodes, which made the ending seem rather rushed.

Overall, it must be said that with Blue Eyes, Scandanivia has found itself a new hit worthy of the same success as "the Killing".

You could've been a contender...

[Lhademmor · 6/10 · 16 January 2018]

Imagine this: A writer comes into his boss' office - he has been told to come up with pitch for a new Swedish series, since Lord knows they're booming at the moment. The two exchange pleasantries and the boss asks what he has come up with. "Well", the writer fumbles with his papers, "I have three different ideas. How do these sound?"

• The story of intrigue and betrayal at the highest levels of the Swedish government as a disgraced staffer returns to her job to help the Minister of Justice get to the bottom of a conspiracy involving big business.
• The story of the co-founder of a nationalist party accused of racism, and how during election season his humanity slowly starts to alienate him from the cold and calculating demeanor of his spindoctors and co-workers, as he feels the party is turning into something else and becoming a heartless machinery.
• The story of the two children of a controversial right-wing politician, who, after their mother is killed by (presumably) extreme leftists, become involved with a far-right neo-nazi terror group, and how it impacts their relationship to each other.

The boss beams - "they sound great! Let's do this!". "Uhh... which one?", the writer replies meekly. "Well, why not all of them?" "I... think maybe we should stick to..." "Nonsense! I have decided! Now go out there and make me a series with all of those elements!" The writer sighed and left the room, knowing full well the impossibility of the task before him.

Blå Ögon has **so many good ideas** and it comes **so close** to realising their potential, but in the end it seemingly cannot keep up with the multitude of things going on, and the subplots never intertwine in any way whatsoever, thus leaving you with a sense that these three plots either were meant to be in entirely separate series, or that the final, brilliant plot twist that tied it all together got accidentally deleted during post-production. And it's a damn shame, because the potential is right there in front of you - you'll keep watching through the entire series eagerly waiting for the big reveal that will answer the questions that keep piling up. Why did that person die? Why is she helping him? Who was behind the attack? Why did he do that? etc. etc. and just as the plot is ramping up to the explosive finale... it ends. You're left sitting confused for a bit and then deeply disappointed in the inability of the writers to tie these otherwise excellently directed and acted scenarios together into a coherent plot. Another part where the writing struggles is with the characters. The actors do a masterful job and make them feel like real persons, but since the writing can't figure out how to do proper pacing, everybody ends up being immensely unlikeable - essentially, everyone in the entire series end up looking like either a bigot, a coward, an asshole, a turncoat or an idiot.

I'm accustomed to disappointment when it comes to TV series, but this one hit extra hard as it had all the right ingredients - brilliant ideas, brilliant acting, brilliant directing - and still managed to accomplish absolutely nothing from them. I'd say don't watch this - not because it's bad, but because the sheer amount of wasted potential will sadden you to no end.

Nice Series

[lilyhayes · 7/10 · 1 September 2016]

Wow, was a complex story to follow. Good acting, nice performances. Storyline had a few holes in it, but artistic license is a good excuse, and there were only a couple or so. There was some glossy stylised terrorism scenes, they do add to the tension, but those can be ignored if it isn't your bag. Something that cant be ignored is the violence. Not that there is too much of it, but it i designed to pull you in emotionally and it certainly does do that. By the end of it I found myself both liking the main terrorist char, but also hating him. And the series does that all the way through with most of the characters,they are quite complicated chars.

Overall a little lightweight compared to The Bridge (9/10 for me), but weightier than Borgen (7/10)

Strange ending considering there isn't a 2nd series and nothing is planned.

See for yourself, worth spending your time on though,

A bit uneven and far-fetched, but still meaty political thriller

[BeneCumb · 7/10 · 18 August 2016]

I can imagine it is difficult to create a political series approaching wide audience, but yet versatile and not simplistic narration. The Danish Borgen or the UK and US House of Cards are fine respective examples, but I can easily say that Blå ögon is on their heels... Well, the pace is sometimes uneven, some characters are static and the authors have taken sides (letting understood that rightism is worse than leftism), but some witty turns, intertwining events/characters and solid performances (particularly female ones) make the 10 episodes of an hour each pass with interest and understanding. Perhaps the events in the last episode came with a certain rush and let many things open (and a hint for a next season), but no news of it so far - I would be definitely interested to follow.

Being a fan of Scandinavian series, I try not to pay attention that there are same actors and actresses performing in most series (the more famous tend to spend more time on screen, so if the script lets you guess whether their characters vanish or die, so the chances are they do not:) ), but what the heck... Even mediocre Scandinavian series tend to me more interesting and realistic that good US ones.

Blue eyes black hearts

[Lejink · 7/10 · 28 May 2016]

With Britain on the verge of its EU referendum, I mmigration emerging as one of the major campaign issues and with memories of the Paris atrocities still fresh, this Swedish political thriller could hardly be more topical. Over ten intense episodes, it starts with the covered-up murder of the senior female chief-of-staff to the Swedish Attorney General after attending a secret meeting of like-minded right-wing sympathisers.

Her replacement, Jenna Coleman lookalike Louise Peterhoff, is the murdered chief-of-staff's predecessor, Elin Hammar, her position previously sacrificed on the grounds of political expediency but now recalled for her safe-hands trustworthiness by the swarthy, granite-hued Attorney General only for her curiosity and idealism to get her drawn into the mysterious disappearance which got her back her old job.

Also in the spider's web of intrigue are the young sister and brother children of a female right-wing spokesman of a minority anti-immigration party who gets knocked down and killed after making a speech at a small-town rally. Approached by senior members of their late mother's minority party who are keen to make political martyrdom of her death, and boost their party's profile, they instead fall in with an extreme right-wing faction called Veritas, ready to highlight their anti-immigration agenda with acts of terrorism. With a general election looming and immigration at the forefront of the political landscape, Veritas embark on an escalating campaign of kidnap, murder and public bombing to force the issue.

The combination of Elin's stealthy investigation which leads all the way up to the Prime Minister and governmental shady dealings with a powerful Swedish oligarch and the youthful duo's immersion in the ruthless doings of Veritas are entwined and play out right up to election night with a slew of more dead bodies along the way.

I'd be lying if I said I followed every plot strand perfectly and the enigmatic ending, where the seemingly incorruptible Elin appears to sacrifice her principles for a promotion offered by her now ascendant but questionable boss, doesn't say much for the screenwriter's opinion of politics in Sweden. I also had to question whether the young sister and brother would let themselves be so easily indoctrinated by the false glamour of terrorism to the extent that the sister fires the bullet that kills a female hostage live on television and them both later participating in a chillingly real terrorist attack at the Swedish Stock Exchange.

A slow-burner of a series in typical Scandanavian style, punctuated with shockingly real episodes like the two mentioned above, this was an excellently acted and tautly directed if possibly over-exaggerated drama which certainly kept me watching. Episode 8, featuring the Stock Exchange atrocity is particularly compelling.

Blue Eyes

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 27 May 2016]

Like many other Swedish dramas of recent years the rise of nationalism plays an important role in this multi-stranded drama series. In the opening episode a leading member of a prominent nationalist party is murdered and it isn't long before her daughter Sofia, believing her mother was killed by immigrants, is getting involved with the violent side of nationalism, dragging her unwilling brother, Simon, with her. Meanwhile Elin Hammer works at the ministry of Justice as Head of Staff; she is curious about what happened to her predecessor Sarah; she appears to have disappeared so Elin starts to investigate the matter. As the story progresses things get more dangerous; the group that Sofia has joined go from being merely very unpleasant to murderous and she is in the middle of it. Similarly people don't want Elin uncovering what happened to Sarah. At first the authorities have no idea who is behind a series of attacks but after their latest attack some are killed and the police are soon on the trail of the rest.

This is a gripping thriller that fans of Scandi-Noir are sure to enjoy. The various plot threads are interesting and come together nicely towards the end. As one might expect it is fairly violent at times and some of the characters are distinctly unpleasant; most notably Mattias; the psychotic young thug that Sofia gets involved with. The cast does an impressive job; most notably Louise Peterhoff as Elin, Karin Franz Körlof as Sofia and Adam Lundgren who played Mattias. As the series comes to an end the scale of political corruption becomes apparent but several plot lines remain open; this is probably in anticipation of a hoped for second season but even if there aren't further episodes it was a satisfying ending that shows that not all bad people are brought to justice and some corruption will always be there. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to other fans of political thrillers and crime dramas.

These comments are based on watching the series in Swedish with English subtitles.

Not the best Nordic Noir, but it keeps you watching

[BaronVonKolisch · 7/10 · 12 August 2020]

Tragi-drama that sees an abused young mother and her doting younger brother pushed into a world of terrorism, working for neo-nazis and terminating the lives of hostages.

Their feeble life choices arise from the dreadful killing of their politician mother and the fake sympathy of a handsome, charismatic young fascist who exerts a powerful influence.

Never lacking in suspense, the story even conjures an occasional surprise as matters unfold. The character flaws and motives of some of the cast do however stretch the bounds of credibility. 7.3/10

10/10

[joelkullberg · 14 April 2017]

The actors: Madelene Jacobsson, Marie Richardson, Louise Peterhoff, Cecilia Frode, Niklas Hjulström, Karin Franz Körloff & the stunt performer: Madelene Barwén Trollvik really gets visible according to my view of things.

The scriptwriters and the directing is great from my Point of view. One of few productions in modern-history of Swedish TV that succeeds as in making things interesting, money and so on!

/Joel Kullberg

Nordic Drama

[paul2471 · 10/10 · 25 November 2017]

Excellent series.

Am long term addict to the SBS presentations of video shows from around the world.

Viewed by self on Australia's "sbs.com.au" with SBS English transcripts.

Be interesting to see how many IMDb users now classify themselves as addict transcript readers for other language origin programs like this Nordic drama.

.

For strong stomachs only!

[catnapbc · 6/10 · 16 August 2023]

I can usually handle some brutality and violence (in context), but I was squirming for far too much in this series. The Millennium trilogy and The Killing had some graphic violence but this tops them both. Despite some really solid acting and a few interesting political storylines, there was just such an overwhelming sense of foreboding, nastiness and just plain negativity that it was hard to focus on what was happening. Scandinavian dramas and shows are mostly far superior to most comparable series and movies out there, but this one has gone too far for me. There were some interesting relationships and social commentary and the 'noir' aspect of this genre certainly played out, but you will have a hard time finding it 'enjoyable'. Unless you like horror films. A pretty bleak representation of the racism, political back-stabbing and general malaise of Swedish society. At least Wallander had a bit of levity now and then. It's got a good pace and is definitely a 'thriller' but not for late night viewing I'd say.

Big disappointment - 10 wasted hours

[per-181 · 3/10 · 16 September 2018]

I missed this series when it was new, but found it on Netflix recently. But I sort of wish I hadn't found it. The first nine episodes weren't exactly impressive.

• Several hammy actors from "Trollywood", sounding like they were reading the script form a teleprompter, especially Karin Franz Körlof and David Lindström, who were supposed to be born and raised in Uddevalla, but sound more like ghetto trash from the dangerous suburbs of Gothenburg...

• A strange lack of tempo. The editing with lingering shots and unnecessary scenes that added NOTHING destroyed a lot of the potential suspense. Each episode could have been at least five minutes shorter.

• A script full of totally unlikely actions, reactions and especially lack of reactions. The total lack of any kind of sense of security around government buildings and staff is just laughable. And a young mom doesn't become a cold blooded terrorist in a matter of a few weeks.

• The story is said to begin two months before the parliamentary elections, which are always held in early September. Yet the campaigning is at full speed - but it's the middle of July, when EVERYONE in Sweden is on vacation. No campaigning ever starts until mid August... Plus lots of other plot holes and loose ends all through the story.

• The very obvious "all rich people are evil" political agenda is quite annoying.

But all this pales in comparison to the terrible last episode, which made no sense at all.

So, no surprise there was no second season.

Dissapointing ending

[johanstjern · 3/10 · 6 July 2020]

Its very clear the director ran out of time and somewhere forgot several of the plot lines. The last episode failed to shed light on some gigantic plot holes and left a bad aftertaste. The hinted connections between the plots was abandoned and a big 'scew you' explanasion was shoehorned in to end the season that did not know if it would get financing for a second round.

Plot holes galore

[edlaxton · 5/10 · 9 May 2017]

By the end of episode 3

• a civil servant has apparently gone missing but her colleagues have chosen not to report this to the police, seemingly oblivious to the moral and legal consequences of not doing so

• a killer returns to the scene of his crime and covers a letterbox with his fingerprints

• the same killer walks into a hospital and finishes off his victim with a plastic bag. He doesn't bother to disguise his face as no Swedish hospitals have CCTV.

I think I'll give this one a miss.

Recycled actors and a plot with huge holes

[qui_j · 4/10 · 29 March 2019]

This is your typical low budget Swedish Noir series that is now being churned out by SVT to met the growing need for this genre. Unfortunately, it uses the same recycled actors and actresses from what must be a very small pool. The cast is heavily stereotyped as they must have a database to draw from to cast the same actors in the same types of roles over and over. Sooner or later, viewers can see through this charade and it distracts from the series. It's almost like amateur theater productions at community level by the same actors.

Common to the genre now is the opportunity that the very strange form of government in Sweden gives film makers. Many parties seem to make up the government and the dynamics between them all is fertile ground for story telling. Add to that the unchecked migration that has occurred to that region and the challenge to adapt to multiculturalism, and one has a never ending supply of the same type of stories.

The holes in the plot are huge, events occurring without logic. This makes the viewer wonder if the writers use a story board for continuity or just make up something new every day at work, without regard for what's happened before. The stunts are poorly done and they could also use some advanced techniques in the make up department where foundation is slathered on to the point where the actors look almost ghost like.

Again, common to many of the low budget Swedish series, everything is rushed into place during the last episode. I guess they never know if they'll receive funding for a second series so they try to wrap up things but leave the ending a bit ambiguous in case the funding does come through. Guess it did not in this case! More productions like this and the genre will go into decline. Watch it without analyzing it, just go with the flow and pretend not to see the holes in the plot!

It had potential..

[MusicMate · 5/10 · 20 September 2019]

...but lost momentum and ideas somewhere along the line. If they really thought it through, it could have been a very solid show. Certain characters were unpersuasive, why would a single mother join the neo-nazi terrorists, execute a hostage on camera and even drag her brother and her son into it? Come on. Not to mention the ending is completely anticlimactic. It leaves you disappointed and regretful of watching 10 episodes only to find out nothing happened.

Muddled

[info-781-633437 · 5/10 · 10 May 2020]

This could have been really classy but you need to tie up numerous plot lines. Hoping for a second series but not really going to happen after four years. At least then Olin could get a change of trousers and we could rid of the red bra that never seemed to make the washing machine!

Very unsatisfying ending...

[resukcs · 5/10 · 15 April 2021]

...because they obviously were going to do a second season which never came to fruition. But Sofia not being caught and the PM getting away with it were disappointing. But the biggest issue is there were 4 murders in the first few episodes but you hear nothing more about them until the last episode or two. Then you intro the terrorist plot and spend way too much time on that as opposed to the authorities investigating it (ugh, episode 5 was a total waste). It was like we needed to spend hours figuring out the motivation of these people when you knew all you needed to know within a half hour or so; they were killers. And the depiction of the police makes them look foolish. The scene where they block the bridge and they know the car that they are looking for but let the car thru because it only had one female drive was laughable. A series that had not continuity and should have been split into two separate series.