The take on Season 2 of Fortitude: The good, bad, and ugly

By the end of Season 2 of Fortitude, it's clear this mini-series is a case of the good, the bad, and the ugly. First, the good: There are some terrific plot lines and some strong characters across the two seasons. Everything that focuses on a major unsolved murder in the small Norwegian island outpost of Fortitude, the investigation of the murder - particularly by Stanley Tucci, an outsider sent in to solve the case, and all the complications of life in a small Arctic outpost about about 700 people, including the politics of building a tourist hotel on the glacier, the uncovering of a herd of mammoths because of the ice melt, the strange disease contracted by those in contact with the mammoths, the scientific investigation into the disease which turns victims into flesh eating monsters, the web of relationships and broken relationships, all intensified by the remote setting -- all this is to the good. Plus Sheriff Dan Anderson (at least in season 1) and governor Hilder Odergard (sp?) are really great characters (and Tucci as well). But, the bad: By season 2 a new and unwelcome element is introduced as a "shaman" turns up with magical powers that he wants to use to purge the community of the disease, and there's all kinds of nonsense and hocum about the supernatural and mystical cults of the native Sami, potions involving reindeer urine and body parts - the plot just reels out of control and into the absurd. Also, though I give the creator (Simon Donald) credit for being willing to get rid of major characters when the plot so requires, by the end of Season 2 all the best characters are gone, in one way or another. Dennis Quaid does not carry the show for me at all, though they may have felt they needed a well-known actor in at least one role. Finally, the ugly: I consider myself reasonably tolerant of blood and gore but in practically every episode there's an eye-closing sequence, sometimes an entire scene, involving violent physical attacks, cannibalism, ghastly surgery, or self-mutilation. So, be warned. We may peak at Season 3 but honestly I can't imagine another 10 episodes - sometimes less is more, and for too often good initial programs themselves into the ground after Season 1 (see, The Killing, Damages, Huff, for some examples).