Fortitude
As ever I’ve arrived around a year late to this incredible TV show. Suspenseful, intriguing, thought provoking and not without an extra large helping of shocks and scares to boot.
It’s stunningly shot and expertly directed. What started out, seemingly another in a long line of wannabe Scandi-noir dramas, has ended up being a complex tale of morality, humanity and survival against horrors both seen and unseen.
The actual story itself plays second fiddle to the stark beauty of the setting. The town of Fortitude perched almost precariously on the edge of a vast icy wilderness, foreshadowing the true story of Fortitude. Humanity might think it has conquered all, that we are, in the shows own words, the apex predator, but from the out the setting confirms that’s not the case at all.
The show’s central arc, a murder mystery in a remote town filled with eccentrics bares more than a passing similarity to the likes of Twin Peaks, but quickly makes the world of Fortitude it’s own distinct setting. The show likes to juggle a lot of balls, with most episodes deftly weaving together at least half a dozen different stories. It’s become quite common with shows such as this to focus more on world building, character drama and scenery porn than actually answering the questions it starts out with. To be sure Fortitude likes to play with the audience’s expectations along the way, but it offers a satisfying conclusion. Yet one tinged with many more questions too, thankfully to be answered in a second season. Like all the best science fiction work it unfolds slowly and rewards careful, thoughtful viewing and of course rewatching just in case you missed a split second wink or nod which comes back 7 episodes later to blow your mind.
