The fourth season of Max’s critically acclaimed anthology series “True Detective” is out on Jan. 14, with a new Alaskan polar setting and a new star in Jodie Foster as a cop hunting a scientist-targeting serial killer. Alaska is a bleak, compelling setting, and one that has become a staple of crime television’s Nordic Noir subgenre.
The icy backdrop to these crime procedurals is usually combined with genre plot staples like a small-town cop fleeing his or her past in the closest Big City or local notables plotting to enrich themselves, or the Big City cops clashing with the unexpectedly brilliant (or hilariously incompetent) rural cops. This setting — and set-up — encourages plot-mechanics dream scenarios like isolating blizzards, malfunctioning cell phones and statistically improbable levels of violence and homicide. The trend began in 2007 with the Copenhagen-set whodunnit “The Killing,” which received one of the more successful American remakes before showrunners continued to migrate their sets further and further north.
Watching these shows is like combining your dream winter vacation with some light terror, perfect for the forbidding deepness of winter. So in honor of “True Detective,” we’ve broadened the scope a bit to include snowbound settings that aren’t necessarily in Scandinavia — think of it as Arctic Noir. If you can’t wait those agonizing seven days for the next episode of “True Detective,” here are five other magnificent pieces of Arctic Noir to keep you warm-ish.
‘The Head’
The first season of Max’s “The Head” was pure guilty-pleasure joy. At a South Pole research station (which makes this Antarctic Noir, technically) where rockstar biologist Arthur Wilde (John Lynch) is working on some kind of magic climate change elixir, someone starts picking off the staff of his facility. When leaders of the summer crew arrive in the spring, they find just one survivor, the station’s doctor, Maggie (Katharine O’Donnelly), who then narrates the events for her interrogators and the audience. “The Head” was an international collaboration, with cast members from all over Europe, and it keeps you guessing until the very end. The less said about the ill-conceived second season, the better. Start watching
‘Trapped’
Iceland’s stunning landscape is the backdrop for this gripping police procedural. A human torso is discovered by a fishing boat in an isolated town that gets snowed in for most of the action. The town itself is a classic of the genre, full of scheming locals, buried secrets and nefarious elites trying to make a quick buck. The protagonist, the burly chief of police Andri (Olafur Darri Olaffson), became an international fan favorite for his rumpled demeanor and glorious Nordic beard. The claustrophobia is palpable and perfectly executed as hot mess express Andri watches his investigation and his personal relationships unravel. Start watching
‘Fortitude’
Part crime thriller and part body-horror yuckfest, “Fortitude” is set on an isolated (and fictional) Norwegian island, based on the real settlement of Longyearbyen, where the preserved body of an ancient mammoth (!) is discovered by a pair of down-on-their-luck locals. They try to sell it to a local researcher (Christopher Eccleston) who says no and then ends up dead. But he’s only the first in a wave of murders and other, potentially supernatural, complications. Stanley Tucci plays a London detective sent to clean up the mess, and Sofie Grabol (“The Killing”) stars as the town’s governor. The Arctic panoramas are almost a character themselves, but the show takes a strange turn mid-season into sci-fi/horror that might disappoint potboiler aficionados and procedural purists. Start watching
‘The Lava Field’
A tight, four-episode limited series, “The Lava Field” stars Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson (who also has significant roles in both “Fortitude” and “Trapped”) as Helgi, a Reykjavik detective sent to his remote hometown to investigate the possible suicide of a local businessman with ties to the South American drug trade. Helgi is, of course, tormented by his past. As the body count rises, the investigation zeros in on the dead businessman’s connection to a hydroelectric infrastructure project. Iceland has rarely looked better, and you might find yourself googling flights to see the titular lava fields after the show concludes. Start watching
‘The Wall’ (‘La Faille’)
Set in the real-life Quebec mining town of Fermont in the Arctic Circle, this Canadian production revolves around a bog-standard dead-girl plot: a murdered prostitute is found in the town’s most distinctive structure, an enormous, self-contained mixed-use development that doubles as a shield against the Arctic winds. Celine (Isabel Richer) is a Quebec City detective sent to the remote outpost and is, you’ll be unsurprised to learn, a bit tormented by personal demons. Despite the derivative premise, the acting is a cut above, the gender dynamics are cleverly reversed and the look inside far-north provincial life in Canada is revealing and often gorgeously shot. Start watching
Why we love police procedurals set in the bleak and remote polar extremes
