Hundrede dage

I always screw up the question on Jeopardy about which country owns Greenland. Now it will be fully engrained that it is Denmark. This episode centers around Afghan prisoners who have been brought into Greenland by the US. A man comes forward to point out that this has been going on over and over, but Katrine meets with the guy. In a realistic mode, forces come in and squelch the reporting. The man who is the whistleblower is at great risk. He reveals damning things, but much too late. Katrine finds herself in the crosshairs of an effort to shut down the story. One of the highlights is a trip by Brigette to Greenland where she gets a taste of life there that none of the other PM's have bothered to check into--poor education, poverty, suicide, and a host of others. Well done, realistic political story.

When a Central Intelligence Agency rendition flight is caught landing with Afghan terrorist suspects at the American Thule Air Base in Greenland, it threatens to trigger both a domestic and an international incident during Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg's (Sidse Babett Knudsen) first "100 Days" in office as the Danish political drama "Borgen" delivers a bravura example of its informed, intelligent, incisive premise wedded to razor-sharp execution and committed, convincing performances. Jeppe Gjervig Gram's crackling script and Janne Bjerg Sørensen's pinpoint editing help Rumie Hammerich's precise direction drive "100 Days" to edge-of-the-seat excitement while imbuing second-billed Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, as television journalist Katrine Fønsmark, with genuine professional credibility.

After mysterious military intelligence officer Carsten Ockles (Jesper Lohmann) provides Katrine with evidence of the CIA's activity at Thule, her TV1 news editor Torben Friis (Søren Malling) tells her to break the story on-air, forcing Birgitte to launch an internal investigation while implementing damage control as counterintelligence agents begin surveilling Katrine. Birgitte must also mollify Greenland's premier, Jens Enok Berthelsen (Angunnguag Larsen), who seizes the chance to berate her for Denmark's indifference to Greenland's home rule, prompting her impromptu state visit. But increasing pressure on TV1 and on Ockles threatens to derail the scandal as Birgitte must re-evaluate her governing strategy.

Sørensen takes a star turn as her Katrine, previously used as an emotional sop, nails her press credentials to the wall (alongside the "All the President's Men" movie poster in her apartment) while Knudsen's Birgitte juggles her serio-comic home life with her official duties. "100 Days" sags slightly near the end, with Ockles's situation and Birgitte's revelations in Greenland predictable television resolutions (note the travelogue montage as Birgitte visits various sites in Greenland), minor (if inevitable) concessions in an otherwise assured installment demonstrating "Borgen"'s assimilation of previous political dramas while avoiding simple imitation, increasing its potential to become a landmark television series.