Some reasons to watch Nobel and how it can improve

The Norwegian series Nobel does some things exceptionally well, in particular the action scenes - the attack in the parking garage in Oslo, the military operations in Afghanistan, and, in the final episode, the tense, secret negotiations in Afghanistan among Norwegian, Afghan, and Taliban officials - negotiations that, no surprise here, come to a dreadful end (and leave a Season 2 as a strong possibility). What keeps this series from being great, however, is its extremely complex network of competing forces and interests that are hard, especially for English-language viewers working with subtitles, to keep straight not only from one episode to the next but even within episodes. The personal story, which involves marital strife in the Riiser family, with the husband, Erling, a special forces operative who gets duped into an unauthorized killing, and wife a top official in the Norwegian state dept (it's a small country), never really develops: We don't see or know enough about the personal lives of most of the characters - again, because the series is so plot-heavy that we are overwhelmed with characters and plot strands. Worse, a key element driving the plot, the forces competing for the Nobel Peace Prize, never really gels and feels just tacked on in the final episode. Those are my quibbles, yet there was enough going on here to hold our interest through the whole 8-episode series - a lot of action, smart writing, tense pacing, overall a highly professional show that I hope will continue and will improve, through great plot focus, in future seasons.

Promising Norwegian miniseries on a troop in Afghanistan and complications on the home front

Three episodes in and the Norwegian miniseries Nobel seems to be moving along very well; it's well-paced and complicated and engaging, with a focus on a political crisis, this one involving a Norwegian platoon on duty in Afghanistan that gets tangled up in a fight with a local strongman leading to repercussions back in the Norwegian central government. It's a tangled web and frnakly, and perhaps intentionally, it's a little difficult to follow in the first episodes, as the style of the series seems to be to present dramatic action - e.g., a fight and a stabbing in an Oslo parking garage - without a lot of clarity as to who's involved or why, and then jumping to a flashback to what took place in Afghanistan a few months back, which will fill in some but not all of the pieces. Three episodes in I'm still not sure why it's called Nobel, though there are suggestions that the fight between the state department and military will will involved a detente operation underway to smooth relationships w/ China -leading to major Chinese investments in Norway - all of which could be derailed if the Nobel committee tilts toward a visiting Chinese dissident. Wow, a lot of threads to tie together - but fortunately the writing is clear and straightforward (oh those taciturn Scandinavians) and the main characters - Erling, the acting platoon leader now home on leave, and his wife, who is like a Chief of Staff to the Foreign Minister - are strong, well-delineated characters - facing major issues as their two agencies come into direct conflict. Definitely worth following this Netflix offering, and you can't help but think that it may lead to an American rewrite, as with Homeland, as the same forces could well be in play in a U.S. drama. (Also reminded me of the excellent Danish film about a troop on the front lines in Afghanistan, with no clear mission in sight.)