Fortitude : Fri Feb 13, 2015 10:12 am  

Two episodes in on Sky Atlantic and I'm enjoying it; I'm not entirely sure what's going on yet, but it's a strange mix of low-key, Nordic cool, with characters who say little and do things without any explanation, and more conventional police procedural type stuff; all set in a community built around an Arctic research centre, where there are tensions between a politician who wants to create a tourist attraction in the glacier, and a scientist who wants to stop her. Nastiness ensues, and everyone wears big coats.

The production is unsurprisingly excellent and the writing and performances are outstanding - Michael Gambon and Stanley Tucci bring serious actorly gravitas, and the whole thing appears to be building quite nicely; if you haven't yet, it's worth a go.

Re: Fortitude : Fri Feb 13, 2015 6:01 pm  

Really enjoying Fortitude B2K. Good soundtrack and the scenery is cool - I think its supposed to be based on the island of Svalbard arctic Norway. Glaciers, polar bears, coal mining and even a Nordic heavy metal band! It reminded me a bit of Twin Peaks. What more can you ask for.

Re: Fortitude : Sun Feb 15, 2015 11:09 pm  

was enjoying it at first but seemed to lose interest during the last episode

[TimperleySaint]

Re: Fortitude : Mon Feb 16, 2015 8:48 am  

Watched episode 3 this weekend, and same as BBB, starting to lose interest now. It needs to start showing the back history of some characters sooner rather than later though, as the way the story is going some of them just seem very random - like why Dan is so infatuated with the Spanish girl? Why is she even there in the first place, just to be a waitress in a little café??

Re: Fortitude : Mon Feb 16, 2015 10:22 am  

Patience is a virtue - there are threads of this story that are slowly being picked up and woven into something that will, I'm sure, be worth the wait; personally, I like the bravery of shows like this that don't feel the need to follow convention and lay everything out there in the early episodes - this is, after all, a series and not a collection of movies that each require a beginning a middle and an end.

I'm enjoying it and I'll definitely stick with it; if, after the final episode, there remains more questions than answers, I'll come back and agree with you.

[TimperleySaint]

Re: Fortitude : Mon Feb 16, 2015 11:03 am  

I get where you are coming from, and agree to a certain extent when it comes to not giving it all away too soon - but for me it's not given the viewer anything yet, and we are a quarter of the way into the series now! Look at The Walking Dead - we are 4 and a half seasons into that now, and still no idea of why the world is full of zombies, but everyone that has watched it has been hooked from the very beginning. But in that, there is something in every episode to keep people coming back for more.

No doubt it will pick up, surely it has to given the hype around it, but for me, if there isn't anything major happening in the next couple of episodes, I don't think I will be sticking with it for the 2nd half I'm afraid.

Re: Fortitude : Mon Feb 16, 2015 3:21 pm  

I guess the Walking Dead's origin as comic book lends itself to the episodic format that, I agree, makes it very easy to watch - every episode is a small story within the greater whole and as such, they're very satisfying; and it's got zombies - which helps. Game of Thrones is similar - the books are very short chapters that jump from distinct storyline to distinct storyline, which again helps to make each episode have a satisfying beginning, middle and end; and it's got swords. And boobs. And dragons - which all help.

Fortitude is probably, dare I say it, a slightly higher brow effort that requires a bit more from the audience - it reminds me a bit of The Returned, which was brilliant, or the contrary concept of The Departed, which I hated; this could go either way!

Re: Fortitude : Tue Feb 17, 2015 12:19 pm  

It's building slowly, but there's plenty of hints and clues to keep you interested, lots of which may be red herrings. I don't think DCI Morton is there to investigate the murder(s) at all. The whole thing seems more like a conspiracy thriller rather than a murder mystery to me.

Re: Fortitude : Tue Feb 17, 2015 1:12 pm  

DCI Morton set of for Svalbard from London before the murder took place. I recon he is there to check out the weird experiments going on with the huge pig!

Re: Fortitude : Tue Feb 17, 2015 3:22 pm  

Tigerade wrote:

DCI Morton set of for Svalbard from London before the murder took place. I recon he is there to check out the weird experiments going on with the huge pig!

Well at first I thought he was there about the guy who Gambon's character thought he shot, but I don't think that's anything to do with it either.