What is it about Fortitude that’s got me hooked? Could it be the landscape, the plot line, the darkness or the characters? It’s a thing which has had me thinking for the past 8 weeks or so and truly, I am finding it hard to put my finger on. What makes this programme better than anything else that I have tried to watch?
Let’s put some context in place. I have a famously tenuous relationship with “good” television. Label a film as a classic or a masterpiece and I’m in there before anyone else but if you were to say the same thing about a TV series, I wouldn’t have the slightest of interest. Funny, then, that we’re in another year of televisual renaissance, that the majority of work on our screens has been made with the intention of being “the best show yet” and I could not care less. There’s something about programmes like House of Cards, Scandal and The Wire that instantly sends me to sleep; in spite of the accolades and awards and testimonials, they just don’t do it for me.
When I started to watch Fortitude, then, it was hard for to understand why exactly I chose to like it over everything else on show. Could it be the way in which it was introduced to me? In the midst of a pretty full-on cinema marathon in early January, Fortitude was advertised as a pre-feature, nestled nicely between the dark hues of upcoming films. Its advertising strategy placed it as akin to cinema, just on a smaller screen. It had all of the makings of a good film and better than that, could be dipped into every week. There’s something more to the show than just its cinematic visuals, however. Fortitude has the perfect balance of ingredients and because of it, is like no other programme.
The Landscape
Fortitude is set in a remote, Norwegian island, situated miles away from the mainland. The population is very small and tight-knit so when a research scientist is brutally murdered, things look like they might go somewhat awry. Go they do; soon, relationships are broken, new alliances are formed and the townsfolk all start to go a little bit loopy. One of the main reasons that the show works in the way that it does is due to the rugged, glassy landscape, which overwhelms the majority of the cinematography. If there’s a major character in the programme, then its the geography of the place; everything that can be done is affected by the landscape, feelings that would normally be manageable are brought out and magnified due to the agoraphobia generated by the huge, open spaces.
Stanley Tucci
Is it just me or does everything that Stanley Tucci touch turn into gold? There’s something about his wry smiling attitude that I can’t get enough of and were he not in Fortitude, I honestly can’t say whether I would like it in the same way. Tucci’s character is a Detective Inspector flown in all the way from London to inspect a violent murder that may or may not be being covered up. DCI Morton is a classic Tucci character and one which many believe boasts his finest performance yet. One thing’s for sure, the moment that he landed on the island, things became all the more exciting. Let’s just be thankful that he finally has a proper coat. City coats just won’t cut it in the arctic and that flat cap was doing nothing against the wind.
It’s a Horror Film In Disguise
Okay, so the genre of Fortitude is actually pretty hard to pin down. Each week it swings between science and the supernatural and, in all honesty, I don’t even think that the writers have any ideas as to what’s going on. One thing’s for certain, however, and that’s the amount of body horror and gore on show. From the opening potato peeler murder, through to the plasma-vomit scene right up until last week’s frost-bitten toenails, it’s clear that life in the far north is no picnic. Whilst the show deals in a lot of things from the horror genre, it rarely sensationalises the scenes. What we are shown seems merely to be life as usual on the island; the characters take it all in their stride.
Is it All Magic?
On the same note, it’s never entirely clear if what we are being shown actually happened or not. The presence of the Northern Lights over the town seems to be more than just an act of nature; there’s something in the water and it definitely isn’t friendly. Michael Gambon’s character in particular seems convinced that there are evil forces at play in the town and whilst a few people don’t take his ramblings seriously, there are enough who don’t even question them to validate their possibility. Unlike other programmes, which are defiantly one thing or the other, Fortitude does not seem to want to tell us what it is truly made of. It’s the show that keeps us guessing.
The Bears
On an island in which polar bears outnumber the population by a fairly hefty margin, you know that life will not go ahead as usual. Whilst both humans and bears are named as apex predators within the show’s narrative, it’s pretty clear which species holds the fort on the island. The bears, whilst rarely physically present in the show, are completely astounding to consider. Living in such close proximity to the island’s inhabitants, they remind us that we do not dominate the earth and although we have conquered some land, the large part remains untouched.
Truthfully, there are too many parts of the show to consider that make it utterly brilliant. Its muted tone and belief in a relatively neat narrative arc place it above any other show on screen, in my eyes. The one thing that remains to be seen, however, is its future. Whilst all is captivating now, if it continues for too many series, it could run the risk of losing its niche presence on the TV. And that would be the biggest shame of all.