So after a barrage of marketing we finally get to see the beginning of the new Sky Atlantic drama in a feature length episode.
On paper, going in, this looked like it had all the ingredients to keep me entertained: a potentially stygian drama set in frozen Svalbard (Scandinavia being one of the only parts of the world I'd actually want to visit) in the vein of other slightly surreal dramas set in the extreme North; namely Christopher Nolan's Insomnia. It features Christopher Eccleston (who I still think could be the best Doctor), Michael Gambon and Luke Treadaway (who allegedly frequented Ashbee's wine bar in Earls Court as I did as a student in London). Disappointingly however, Eccleston and Gambon, two of the most recognisable names on the cast, who were focussed upon heavily in advertising, don't play major roles in the show.
To begin, if there was a theme tune (which I'm not sure there was), it was a mess and was completely indistinct. Otherwise there is no theme song and maybe every week they'll just offer landscape shots while showing the actor's names, which would be fine if vista shots weren't so frequently used to show passage of time. I was surprised with how prosaic I found the Nordic scenery by the end of show.
As for the storytelling, it was made very difficult by the dialogue, which was characterised by abrupt declaratives with minimal intonation and awkward silences (something I find irritatingly common in British drama); so very few conversations sounded spontaneous and fluent. To be honest it sounded as bad as a Tarantino movie, where everyone sounds like Quentin speaking himself, trying to sound cool and quotable, but coming off as surly and pretentious. This meant a good majority of the characters (and there are a lot) seemed standoffish and almost robotic, as if they were fed up with socialising, bereft of any joie de vivre. That might explain how they ended up in isolated Northern Norway: they couldn't put with the amount social interaction that comes with living in a city. Maybe the climate is an allegory for how frigid the characters feel on the inside and I just wasn't as satisfied by this fact as I should have been. On top of this, the sparse soundtrack did very little to supplement the long pauses and could've done a lot more to build an atmosphere of tension, something which is meant to be one of this show's main selling points.
The next problem is that because of this lack of character interaction and development, the lack of any remarkable events for the first fifty minutes means that it was a really turgid watch, and minute by minute you have to wonder when it's going to kick in with the real premise for the show. Filling that time with very simple plotlines such as a very sick child who I'm sure somebody out there felt sorry for and a tepid sexual affair, left what should be a hard-hitting drama working with material that seemed to have come out of a soap. Unfortunately the catalyst for the storyline is the death of Eccleston's Professor Stoddart character, who is one of the few compelling characters on the show (despite being a scientist); bizarrely the IMDB says he's signed up for 12 episodes, how he appears from here on out is anyone's guess. The other interesting character, who rescued the show in my opinion, is Sheriff Dan Anderssen played by Richard Dormer, who seems to be an unnecessary maverick for a lawman in a village with no crime. He takes no nonsense, kills a wild dog and appears to have a really troubled, dark edge as well. To me, this is someone who I want to watch go about his day, in a town where there is little going on, and as sheriff has potentially little to do, he makes things interesting just by being there. I'm also guessing Stanley Tucci's DCI Morton will be worth watching in the coming weeks but he only arrives in the last portion of the show, so I shall reserve my judgement.
Overall it's an inefficient first ninety minutes for Fortitude but it has bought itself some time to get me gripped. There is a lot of potential and it's a possible heir apparent to David Lynch's Twin Peaks, fitting the same template of an offbeat detective from far away coming to investigate an unusual death in an odd small town. Moreover the broad suspicion that hangs over most characters for involvement in the Professor's death, along with inexplicable moments such as a pig being found in a tube in a hospital serve to build the story's intrigue. We'll see if it lives up to the pastiche and the investment put behind it, but it ought to get its act together quickly after such a slow start.
