TV65: Fortitude, Season Two

My review  (December 22, 2015) of the first season of Fortitude mentions how dark, bloody, gruesome, bleak and depressing this show is. Impossible as it might seem, the second season is ‘worse’ in every respect (and is even more like a blend of X-Files and Twin Peaks) and I repeat my warning to STAY FAR AWAY!

But I found the first season oddly compelling, so I did not heed my own advice and somehow made it through the second season. This time, Dennis Quaid has been brought in to play the central character, a fisherman named Michael Lennox, whose wife (Freya, played by Michelle Fairley) is dying and whose daughter (Ingrid, played by Mia Jexen) is one of the police officers tasked with the hopeless and incredibly dangerous mission of finding out who is decapitating people in town. 

Fortitude is an ensemble show, with lots of major characters. I won’t try to list them all. I will note, however, that, as in the first season, the acting is very strong for TV and the show features one of the more diverse casts (in terms of language/nationality) in television. The cinematography remains a highlight as well (I just love all the snow and the bleak polar landscape). 

But the writing, which was somewhat problematic in the first season, has lost its way in season two. Individual scenes and much of the dialogue reveal that the writers are more than competent, but the overall story is a mess. That is, the overall story contains a lot of truth and potential but wastes these by throwing in gruesome, unnecessary and often illogical side stories that leave a nasty taste in your mouth. 

So while Fortitude, Season Two, was still compelling and fascinating television, it wasn’t worth sitting through and I must give it only **+. My mug is down for this season and I doubt if I would be willing to watch another season, if they decide to make one.