Temporada(3) / Episodios(24)
Sinopsis(1)
Following up on their environmental promises, the Norwegian government halts all oil production sending the country and the rest of the world into crisis. Unable to ignore the calls from the rest of the world to intervene, Russia, at the behest of the EU, stages a 'silk-glove' invasion - to secure the oil for the rest of the world. They have, they say, every intention of retreating once this has been accomplished. But events unfold that threaten to change all of this. What happens when life seems to continue as normal and when life on the surface seems unchanged. When everyone gets to keep their lifestyle, all material things and the sense of security - will they rebel? Will they fight? From the makers of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Wallander and acclaimed crime writer Jo Nesbo, Occupied is Norway's most successful and expensive television series ever made. (Madman Entertainment)
(más)Reseñas (4)
Occupied belongs to a group of works that revolves around what would happen if... I will review it properly after the final episode once I finish watching it, but today I can write a comment with a clear conscience because I have a clear view of the basics. The series loses one star because it fails at the starting points from which the story unfolds, for several absolutely crucial reasons. I don't know how long Jo Nesbo had the script in the drawer, but I'd guess he worked on it with a team of colleagues for quite a few years. The idea that we would soon run out of oil and what all the consequences of its shortage would be was widely popular even 10 years ago, but in recent years we have seen a steep decline in prices, the closing of drilling rigs due to low demand, and the collapse of economies solely based on hydrocarbon extraction for good reasons. Even in the worst-case scenario, such as war in the Arabian Peninsula, Europe has several options for dealing with it despite a number of minor inconveniences. Secondly, Norway itself is heavily dependent on extraction, and its impressive economic rise over the last 50 years has been financed by oil and gas extraction, and even today it accounts for about 55% of its exports. And finally, thirdly, if the hypothetical extraction of Norwegian hydrocarbons were to end, Russia would award the Norwegian Prime Minister the highest state decoration instead of occupying the country, because there would be nothing else it could wish for. Russia itself is much more dependent on the export of oil and gas than Norway, and its economy, apart from the production of energy equipment and weapons, cannot offer anything reasonable other than resource extraction. Otherwise, the starting situation of this otherwise very interesting and, in my opinion, quite a topical thriller could, for example, originate from Marine Le Pen's victory in the French presidential elections and the subsequent collapse of the European Union and NATO when the American president distances himself from Europe. The conflict could paradoxically arise precisely because of the discovery of new promising hydrocarbon deposits along the border between Russia and the Kingdom of Norway when Russia questions the current border and nobody wants to get their hands dirty for the Norwegians. If we overlook this nonsensical starting situation, we get a very well-executed political thriller with interesting characters and practically endless possibilities for branching the story, a high-quality cast, and a traditionally well-crafted Nordic production. In addition, wide co-production in this case also means a fine budget, so there is something worth watching. The series does not develop the idea of a hybrid war but rather explores the traditional problem of a small country exposed to the pressure of a powerful neighbor when no one else wants to take any action on its behalf. Czechs, for example, can easily recall the Munich Agreement and the subsequent embarrassing existence of the Second Republic. Even in such humiliating events, there are always enough people who can benefit from the situation or endlessly justify their concessions. Everyone has something to lose, and usually, we do not bear responsibility only for ourselves. Anyway, I consider Occupied to be a very promising project in European TV series production.
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It would be wrong to expect a Russian invasion in the Red Dawn sense. The Cold War is over and the methods of conflict are much more sophisticated. The Norwegians were not afraid of this and are serving up quite possibly the most important political commentary of the day. Overcoming the seemingly endless first four episodes, which slowly crank up the plot and introduce a plethora of characters, of which you can choose anyone you like to be the lead, is deservedly rewarded with a second half where the slow pace doesn't pick up, but the filmmakers begin to very carefully build a coherent picture of the workings of modern warfare. This doesn't necessarily mean the clanging of weapons, revealing the strengths and weaknesses of diplomacy, and that alliances on paper don't always necessarily mean reliability in a real conflict. Questions of collaboration and state (un)sanctified militia cells on the edge of terrorism included. 4 ½. (For now, the promised second season is shaping up to be quite the ride.)
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Definitely a high-quality Norwegian series, and I enjoyed it. The Norwegian Prime Minister was introduced to the concept of the Munich Treaty in the first episode, I was entertained by all that political dancing around and especially balancing the concepts of patriotism and collaboration, resistance and terrorism. I also came to the conclusion that if I wanted to kidnap a prime minister, I would choose to do so in Norway.
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Imagine that such a progressive nation as the Norwegians undoubtedly are realizes that they cannot keep feeding the whole of Europe with their oil, and so they stop mining for it and they switch to alternative fuels. What do you think might happen? Well, for instance in this ten-part miniseries, the Russians authorized by the EU rush in and start pressuring them into opening the taps again so that they could start sending tons and tons of crude oil to the whole of Europe. But a band of nationalist morons latch onto that who are against that and who kill a bunch of Russians. At this point, it’s quite hard to preserve peace in Europe, don’t you think? Well and this TV show portrays this process. Both from the perspective of an ordinary person and from the perspective of a politician. Both perspectives are really interesting and I have to say that the ten episodes are literally worth it. The Norwegians quickly realized that their greatest source of income is an unstoppable colossus for which they receive a royal payment, but that is only stopped at the moment when the entire world literally sucks them dry.
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