The Danish House of Cards: Borgen

The Danish series Borgen (I think it means The Castle?), from abut 2010 (at least that's when it's set) is the Scandinavian House of Cards - not a direct remake, as the American HofC is of the British original, but a story about electoral and back-room politics in Congress, under the scrutiny of a highly aggressive media and with a subplot weaving through the main narrative about a TV journalist and her complex relationships with two "spin doctors" (the Danes use the American term). This particular series is about member of the moderate party, Birgette, who struggles to put together a coalition of minor parties to become the first female prime minister in Denmark. It's very different from American politics, even more about horse-trading than our two-party system, and it's a little hard to follow at least for most American viewers - a lot of talk (which means a lot of subtitles) and a lot of subtle distinctions. It's very good and probably quite true to life, but from the first three episodes it's a little bloodless as well - we certainly like Birgette and her family, and maybe that's the problem: She needs to be a little more unscrupulous and cold. And maybe that's what she learns over the course of the series. It all seems a little quaint and I'll be very jingoistic here - but, truly, it's hard for an American viewer to get all that caught up in a drama about the Danish parliament - the pressure is so high but the stakes seem so low.