The Bridge | Bron Broen is another top-class Nordic-Noir crime drama. Created and written by Hans Rosenfeldt, it’s a jointly financed production between Sweden’s Sveriges Television and Denmark’s DR.
The original title of this thriller show is Bron/Broen in the Danish/Swedish languages respectively. Therefore, one might find both the opening and closing credits appear in both Swedish and Danish, including the series title and descriptive character names in this highly engaging crime-drama series.
Table of Contents
Focus on Nordic/Scandi/Scandinavian Noir
Before we delve any further into the details of The Killing TV series, allow me to explain the Nordic Noir briefly.
Well according to the Nordics: “The Nordic Noir is most often considered to be a specific genre of TV series. However, it also includes literature, film productions, and video games. Besides, it has even been extended to style, design, and music. Its key elements include a murky atmosphere, dark narratives, and flawed protagonists. Its popularity may lie in the fact that it usually undercuts the dominant narrative of the Nordics as thriving states with happy people and successful economies, but there is a dark underbelly here, too.”
The Nordic Noir genre is also known as Scandinavian Noir or Scandi Noir, as it is set in the Nordic or Scandinavian countries of Europe.
This kind of crime fiction genre is usually written from a police point of view. Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Faroe Islands, Greenland, and Åland Islands are part of the Nordic Region.
The Bridge | Bron/Broen series:- details
| Genre | Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller |
| Original title | Swedish title: Bron. (means The Bridge) Danish title: Broen. (means The Bridge) |
| Episodes | Ten/10 – Season One (September – November 2011) Ten/10 – Season Two (September – November 2013) Ten/10 – Season Three (September – November 2015) Eight/8 – Season Four (January – February 2018) Thirty-Eight (38) Episodes = Total = Four (4) Seasons |
| Creators | Måns Mårlind, Hans Rosenfeldt, Björn Stein |
| Cast | Sofia Helin, Rafael Pettersson, Sarah Boberg, Kim Bodnia, Thure Lindhardt, etc. |
| Awards | Crime Thriller Awards, UK – 2012 Winner Dagger – Best International TV Drama Biarritz International Festival of Audovisual Programming – 2012 Winner – TV Series and Series Music – Johan Söderqvist (composer)Patrik Andrén (composer)Uno Helmersson (composer) Danish Film Awards (Robert) – 2014 Winner Robert – Best Actress – TV Series (Årets kvindelige hovedrolle – tv-serie) – Sofia Helin Danish Film Awards (Robert) – 2014 Winner Robert – Best Actor – TV Series (Årets mandlige hovedrolle – tv-serie) – Kim Bodnia Danish Film Awards (Robert) – 2014 Winner Robert – Best Supporting Actress – TV Series (Årets kvindelige birolle – tv-serie) – Camilla Bendix Monte-Carlo TV Festival – 2014 Winner Golden Nymph – Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series – Kim Bodnia Kristallen – 2014 Winner Kristallen – Best Television Drama Kristallen – 2014 Winner Kristallen – Best Actress – Sofia Helin Kristallen – 2016 Winner Kristallen – Best Television Drama |
The Bridge | Bron/Broen {Season1/2011} Series
Bron/Broen {Season1/2011}:- poster
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Bron/Broen {Season1/2011}:- synopsis
The body of a woman is found in the middle of the Øresund Bridge, which links Malmö (Sweden) with Copenhagen (Denmark), the two countries. As this body is found exactly on the border between the two countries, a police team from both countries is put together to investigate, which is led by the Danish inspector Martin Röhde from the Copenhagen police department and the Swedish detective Saga Norén from Malmo CID. They try to catch this mysterious criminal before it gets worse and more personal.
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Bron/Broen {Season1/2011}:- review in brief
Opening with horrifying murder victims, the corpse of a Swedish politician with the upper half of the body is paired with the lower half of the body of a Danish victim. Both the murdered fatalities’ bodies are cut in half at the waist, and then their corpse is precisely placed at the border on the Øresund Bridge to allow the police authorities of the two countries – Sweden and Denmark to discover them.
Then, Swedish detective Saga Norén and Danish inspector Martin Röhde are teamed up and asked to solve this homicide case. Meanwhile, the series of well-thought-out gruesome crimes continue to be carried out by the self-proclaimed killer, who named himself the ‘Truth Terrorist’. The social messages and political overtones supposedly behind these murders are hard to miss. Besides, one can not escape the grim and bleak mood of this crime series. This is a sublime piece of crime drama from both the Danes’ and Swedes’ production teams.
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Bron/Broen {Season1/2011}:- trailer
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Bron/Broen {Season1/2011}:- ratings
| FM’s rating | 4.25/5 |
| IMDb rating as of the date | 8.05/10 |
| Rotten Tomatoes rating as of the date | 96% Audience Score |
The Bridge | Bron/Broen {Season2/2013} Series
Bron/Broen {Season2/2013}:- poster
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Bron/Broen {Season2/2013}:- synopsis
A tanker is heading towards the bridge. When it is boarded by the coastguard the crew are discovered to be missing. The only people on board are five youths, drugged and chained. Saga and Martin are assigned to investigate the case.
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Bron/Broen {Season2/2013}:- review in brief
A group of environmental activists, or should we call them the eco-terrorists threaten to release the deadly airborne virus in both countries. These radical environmentalists want the world to start paying much greater attention to the growing threats to animals and the environment around the world by human acts. Once again, Swedish detective Saga Norén and Danish inspector Martin Röhde join hands to hunt for the smart eco-terrorists. They try to stop them before it is too late.
The environmental messages and political overtones supposedly motivating these eco-terrorist activities are difficult to miss in this season too. The bleak and ghastly criminal acts continue to haunt us.
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Bron/Broen {Season2/2013}:- trailer
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Bron/Broen {Season2/2013}:- ratings
| FM’s rating | 4.15/5 |
| IMDb rating as of the date | 8.09/10 |
| Rotten Tomatoes rating as of the date | 94% Audience Score |
The Bridge | Bron/Broen {Season3/2015} Series
Bron/Broen {Season3/2015}:- poster
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Bron/Broen {Season3/2015}:- synopsis
When a prominent Danish gender campaigner is found murdered in Malmo, Swedish detective Saga Noren is assigned a new Danish partner Henrik Sabroe to help with the investigation of Helle Anker’s murder.
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Bron/Broen {Season3/2015}:- review in brief
When a well-known gender theorist, and owner of Copenhagen’s first gender-neutral preschool, is found murdered, with her dead body left as if she is in a painting about a family having food at a dining table. In this season, the Swedish detective Saga Norén gets a new partner from Denmark Police, Henrik Sabroe to investigate.
Meanwhile, the series of murders continues, and all the murder victims are similarly arranged as characters in paintings in an eerie manner. Thus, with the murders of those who support gender equality and gay (LGBTQIA+) marriages, the story in this season seems to follow the socio-political question of our era. This series continues to awe and shock, with its theme and cruel crimes.
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Bron/Broen {Season3/2015}:- trailer
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Bron/Broen {Season3/2015}:- ratings
| FM’s rating | 4.05/5 |
| IMDb rating as of the date | 8.14/10 |
| Rotten Tomatoes rating as of the date | 93% Audience Score. |
The Bridge | Bron/Broen {Season4/2018} Series
Bron/Broen {Season4/2018}:- poster
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Bron/Broen {Season4/2018}:- synopsis
Set two years after Season 3, this fourth and final season starts with the discovery of a woman who was brutally murdered at the base of the bridge. Henrik seeks Saga’s help, but being imprisoned, there’s nothing she can do.
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Bron/Broen {Season4/2018}:- review in brief
The fourth and final season is more personal in nature, as both the Swedish detective Saga Norén and her Denmark Police partner Henrik Sabroe confront their own pasts, insecurities, issues and demons. And then This season also explores the burning issue of immigration in Scandinavian nations, as the dead body of a woman victim (head of the Danish Immigration Board) is found close to the bridge between Denmark and Sweden.
These are tricky times, as the police investigate another ghastly crime. Meanwhile, both of them (Saga Norén and Henrik Sabroe) try to find peace within themselves, because it is time to say goodbye and move on with your life. On a sombre note, it is our farewell to the riveting and intriguing series.
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Bron/Broen {Season4/2018}:- trailer
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Bron/Broen {Season4/2018}:- ratings
| FM’s rating | 4.30/5 |
| IMDb rating as of the date | 8.19/10 |
| Rotten Tomatoes ratings as of the date | 62% Tomatometer 93% Audience Score |
| Critics Consensus / Rotten Tomatoes | The Bridge’s mysteries still smolder with morbid intrigue, but the series is feeling strained in a fourth season that is off-putting in its grisly imagery and directionless in its arc for the central characters. |
Please note that the overall IMDb rating of The Bridge (Bron/Broen) series as of the date is 8.60/10.
The Bridge | Bron/Broen Series:- bonus information
Like most of Nordic-Noir crime series, The Bridge (Bron/Broen) show is a dark tale about violent criminals and murderers. The cold and depressing cinematography only adds to the mood of the not-so-happy people living in the happy nations. I do not wish to give away significant spoilers of this captivating police crime drama, so I have deleted many of the lines in this article, as they could reveal the twists and turns in this engrossing show.
Anyway, I have shared only those bare-minimum details about The Bridge (Bron/Broen) show. So, go ahead, walk on the bridge and enjoy the view. Like the rest of the world, I also loved the Bron/Broen series, especially the iconic character of detective Saga Norén (Sofia Helin) and her vintage car. Swedish actress Sofia Margareta Helin played the unforgettable character of detective Saga Norén. Sadly, after the conclusion of the finale of this show, I may not see any more series/films of this great detective Saga. She is also known for her acts in the movies – Dalecarlians (2004), Arn: The Knight Templar (2007), The Snowman (2017), The Emigrants (2021), and the series – Mystery Road (2018), Atlantic Crossing, (2020), Exit (2021), etc.
I also loved the opening and closing theme of The Bridge (Bron/Broen) show. This theme music is from the song ‘Hollow Talk‘ by Copenhagen-based Danish chamber pop band Choir of Young Believers; this theme song is taken from the album ‘This Is for the White in Your Eyes’. The Bridge (Bron/Broen), this Sacndi-Noir series led to the sudden rise in the popularity of Scandinavian dramas around the world. No wonder, this show was sold to more than 200 countries.
You know, inspired by the Bron/Broen (The Bridge) Nordic-Noir, both England and France have their own version of “The Bridge” series, re-titled “The Tunnel” – released in 2013. Then, there is also a USA/Mexico version titled “The Bridge” show (I and my team have also seen this version), which was also released in 2013. Inspired by Bron/Broen (The Bridge), we have also seen another series named “Pagan Peak” (I and my team have also seen this version) – released in 2018, this show was produced by Austria and Germany.
Check out a few more Nordic Noir:
The Killing: A Must-Watch Nordic Noir From Danes
Trapped: Cold-Blooded Nordic-Noir From Iceland
Borgen: Refreshing Political Drama From Denmark
Featured & Other Images: The Bridge (Bron/Broen) Series | IMDb & Pinterest.