Borgen: Count to 90

“I'd been so looking forward to the Prime Minister giving me a blow job...”

I thought the first episode was good, but this is a real step change. We’ve introduced the show, the way it works, and the major characters, so it’s time for the programme to start doing the cool stuff. There’s just so much cleverness in this episode, and it’s now a lot clearer how the show is going to work.

The Machiavellian quote is this time clearly applicable to Birgitte, and the qualities she’s going to need if she’s going to negotiate a coalition with herself, and not the Labour leader, as Prime Minister. There’s one thing that puzzles me, though: if Labour has more MP’s, why is Birgitte asked to be Royal Investigator instead of Laugesen?

The scenes in the palace, waiting for the Queen to get her act together, are wonderful. I love the giggles between Birgitte and Bent (I love Bent, even if he does look disturbingly like Jim Royle) as they acknowledge the absurdities of monarchy and tradition. Like myself, they’re left of centre and therefore semi-republican in that they see the silliness and fundamentally reactionary nature of the institution (I’ve just Googled what happened in 1849), but don’t actually want to get rid of it because of the big, scary question of what happens next. Both of them are very irreverent (“Can’t the bitch count?”) but there’s not going to be a revolution. Queen Margrethe can’t appear, of course, but there’s a nice little dig at her trademark smoking habit.

The use of Svend Åge Saltum, leader of the far-right Freedom party, is interesting and provocative. I’m sure I personally would find all his views to be beyond the pale, but he’s clearly being used as the voice of common sense. He clearly understands the game of politics intimately- he knows he’s “evil incarnate” in Birgitte’s “intellectual little world” and therefore that she’s showing signs of weakness in even talking to him. This episode is about Birgitte’s overcoming these signs of weakness to become Prime Minister, and the moral sacrifices she has to make to do so. She may be outmanoeuvred by Laugesen’s ambush, but she gets rid of him by doing a dodgy deal to leak some damaging emails from a senior Labour politician who wants his job- as bent says, Caesar was murdered by his friends, too”.

But this is a direct parallel to last episode, where she refused to profit by such dirty tricks. Already she’s starting to compromise her principles for the sake of power. Such is politics.

Fortunately, there’s the balance provided by her family. Her husband continues to be wonderful, a rock, and gives her some great advice. And there’s a wonderful scene where she takes his advice, pins him down in bed and prepares to go on top, at the “head of the table”.

The funeral is fantastic too, and not only because the inside of a Danish Lutheran church and the clothing of the minister look like something out of a painting by Rembrandt. The mobiles bleeping in the congregation is a wonderful touch, and the line delivered by the bereaved wife about politics being her husband’s “mistress” is a nice touch, especially with Katrine in the congregation, struggling to hold it together. Interestingly, we get even more references to politics as a game.

Birgitte may need a bit of a pep talk from the wonderful Bent to make the final step, but her power bluffing is wonderful, especially her blatant theft of Hesselboe’s idea of a Department of International Development.

There are also subplots bubbling away in the background. Is Katrine going to hold it together? Is she pregnant? What’s going to happen between her and Hanne after their surprising rapprochement? And what’s going to happen with the increasingly self-centred and duplicitous Kaspar, without a role but clearly destined for something?

This is gripping, addictive stuff. I’m hooked.