Borgen – Power & Glory (2022) Series: Women Take Centrestage

Episode 1. The Future Is Female

After the oil is found in Greenland, Denmark’s foreign minister Birgitte Nyborg (Sidse Babett Knudsen) leaks incriminating information when she and Prime Minister Signe Kragh (Anne Sophie Lindenkrone) clash over who should have oversight. It is worth noting that Greenland is an autonomous country within Denmark.

So, in this show, people from Greenland claim that their country is still a colony of Denmark, as its foreign affairs (including its oil exploration businesses) are to be decided by Denmark’s politicians.

Meanwhile, Katrine Fønsmark (Birgitte Hjort Sørensen) returns to journalism, landing a managing post at her former TV workplace, wherein she becomes the boss of some of her former colleagues.

Episode 2. The Lesser of Two Evils

{Pest eller Kolera ~ Plague or Cholera}

Birgitte Nyborg receives crucial information about the Russian owners of the company which drills for oil in Greenland. Asger Holm Kirkegaard (Danish Ambassador in Greenland – Mikkel Boe Følsgaard), who is now on Greenlandic soil, tries to help his minister at the same time as he tries to keep Hans Eliassen (Greeland Minister in charge of Oil – Svend Hardenberg) in check.

Birgitte Nyborg is called in front of the Foreign Policy Committee, and to help a close ally, Nyborg decides to use a daring tactic, which, however, turns out to have more significant consequences than she had imagined. Asger flies to Greenland to gather info for Birgitte, who hopes to convince Parliament not to extract the oil. Malik (Ujarneq Fleischer) considers spying on his employer.

Episode 3. Inuit Nunaat: Land of the People

{Inuit Nunaat Menneskenes Land}

After her statements in the Foreign Policy Committee, Birgitte Nyborg is threatened by a vote of no confidence, and when one of the Greenlandic members of parliament goes against her, the government’s majority begins to crumble. Nyborg now has two options: first, resigning and standing by her ideals and second, she and the government must change policies and suddenly advocate for oil exploitation.

Birgitte is suspected of lying to fellow Cabinet members. She gets troubling news that her son Magnus (Lucas Lynggaard Tønnesen) has suddenly become an additional political burden for her.

Meanwhile, Katrine Fønsmark thinks Birgitte’s political career may be over.

Episode 4. The Minister Does not Wish to Comment

{Ministeren ønsker ikke at udtale sig}

In the negotiations with Greenland regarding the distribution of oil revenues turns contentious, Asger Holm Kirkegaard must play Birgitte Nyborg on the field, but the meeting is far from going as planned.

Meanwhile, Katrine Fønsmark has found decisive evidence that Nyborg lied to the Foreign Policy Committee, and is trying with all her might to hold Birgitte Nyborg responsible for her breach of the Ministerial Accountability Act and take Birgitte down. In her eagerness to achieve her journalistic goal, Katrine Fønsmark creates conflicts internally on TV1.

Episode 5. A Near-Arctic State

News of China’s involvement in Greenland gives Birgitte a reprieve but upsets the US. The Chinese delegation is making plans for oil extraction directly with the Greenlanders. Birgitte Nyborg’s change of attitude has left her without many political friends, and she is now also called to a meeting with the US Secretary of State, who demands that Nyborg intervene against China’s actions in Greenland.

Meanwhile, the rumours about Katrine Fønsmark’s leadership style are starting to swirl in the media, and she made a drastic decision to stop it. The situation between Katrine and Narciza (Özlem Saglanmak) threatens to erupt and create further problems at TV1.

Episode 6. Power in Denmark

{Magtens Danmark ~ Power’s Denmark}

Birgitte deals with the US and China but begins to lose support from her New Democrats party. The government is celebrating its first 100 days in power, but at the same time, the unrest in the New Democrats party is rising. An unknown object crashes in Greenland. So, the Sirius Patrol is sent off to investigate a crashed drone, and suddenly they face unknown soldiers…

Asger and Emmy Rasmussen (Nivi Pedersen) follow the events closely from the Arctic Command’s headquarters. And the fateful hours bring them together once again. But this time they are discovered.

Meanwhile, Katrine asserts her leadership at TV1.

Episode 7. Just Make It Go Away

Birgitte Nyborg uses hard-handed tactics in order to balance Danish, Chinese and American interests in the Greenlandic oil as a result tensions rise in the New Democrats party. Her hard-handed switch on ecological issues shocked her old friends. In addition, she consults with an unlikely adviser about dealing with unhappy party members. Asger and Hans negotiate oil revenue.

Meanwhile, Katrine reverses course at TV1.

Episode 8. Mother of the Sea

{Havets Moder}

Birgitte appears with Magnus on live television while facing a threat to her party leadership in the New Democrat party. The New Democrat party leadership elections and the complications with Chinese oil extraction in Greenland forced Birgitte Nyborg to make ethical choices. She follows her heart to find the best solutions. Will she be able to survive and thrive as a politician?

Meanwhile, Katrine Fønsmark’s world was falling apart. As she began to buckle under the pressure of her high-profile media job at TV1.

The growth and change of Birgitte Nyborg in the show

Most politicians around the world swear to act in the name of the greater good and the national interest. So, Birgitte Nyborg is no different. Therefore, she blindly pursued power and glory (including the petrodollars and support of the superpowers), as a Foreign Minister of Denmark. So, she is willing to compromise not only her personal beliefs but also those of her New Democrats party. Birgitte Nyborg was a more idealistic politician in the early episodes of Borgen. However, in this latest fourth (2022) season, she became a battle-hardened politician, but a flawed person.

Does she redeem herself in the end?

Her green vision and environmental concerns (whales’ habitat, iceberg melting, global warming, clean energy, other ecological damages, etc.) took a backseat. She pushed ahead with the oil mining in Greenland, a nation still under the colonial rule of Denmark. But then, the big boys – the superpowers the USA and China began flexing their muscles. She is a typical savvy politician, so she realises the high stakes and takes a U-turn on the oil deal.

In the last decade, Birgitte has certainly matured as a politician.

The fate of Birgitte Nyborg in the show

In the closing scenes of the last episode of this show, we watch, Birgitte being a seasoned and pragmatic leader. Belatedly she realizes that it is time to own up to her mistakes publicly. So she resigned from the leadership position of her party. And hand over the reins of her party. However, privately, she seeks greener political pastures like a leadership stint at the European Commission – European Union.

To summarise, this story tells us that the women folks are no different than the men folks. Especially when it comes to grabbing political power and clinging on to it. Because the power and glory are addictive.

The fate of Katrine Fønsmark in the show

In complete contrast, bullied by the social media warriors, Katrine decided to step back. Then she resigned from her high-profile job at TV1. Maybe, she could not handle the intense pressure and extreme toxicity of the new social media platforms. Perhaps, her decade-long break from the active journalistic job did not help her. It could be one of the key reasons behind her inability to handle the dangerous new world.

Who is better off in the end?

Both Birgitte and Katrine in the first three seasons of Borgen wish to reach the top. They have their respective careers in politics and journalism. And then both get to the summit and realize their ambitions. In the end, there are a lot of failures and emptiness; as both pay a big price. Still, Birgitte is relatively in a better mental space than Katrine. Birgitte might head for the EU while Katrine heads home.

We think, in the end, with their respective acts and steps – both of them kept their honour intact.