The third season of the Nordic crime thriller Entrapped has been released on Netflix and left fans clamoring for more of the stylish, dark adventures of Andri Olafsson. While the end of the third season left Andri in a good place, but also in prison, viewers are expecting more adventures following his sentence.
As fans will now be forced to wait for another season though, many will begin to look across Netflix for shows that are similar to Entrapped. The Nordic crime, mystery, and thriller genres of television are often overlooked, despite producing some of the very best there is in modern television.
6 Bordertown
Bordertown is a Finnish crime-noir series that made it to three seasons and a spin-off movie before ending its run. Netflix has international distribution rights and the show is still available on the platform in most countries. The series stars Ville Virtanen as DI Kari Sorjonen, a detective described as every man Sherlock Holmes. The series has gained some huge recognition for the dark, thrilling stories it engages in and the performance of Virtanen in the leading role.
A man with similar crime-solving capabilities to the legendary Sherlock Holmes, but additionally working to keep his family together and dealing with the darker subject is exactly the right sort of Scandinavian thriller series to follow a viewing of Entrapped for any Netflix subscribers looking for something similar to satiate their appetite for a crime drama.
5 The Valhalla Murders
Police profiler Arnar returns from Norway to Iceland to tackle the first ever serial killer in the history of the country. Another Icelandic series, The Valhalla Murders only ran for one season but is an intriguing watch for any fans of the genre, particularly those who appreciate the style of the Icelandic series Entrapped.
Not only is the series similar in tone, but The Valhalla Murders was also the second Icelandic show to ever be featured on Netflix (the first being Trapped). It was loosely based on real-life events from the 1940s involving a series of abused boys in an institution. The murder aspect was added for the benefit of the series, but the well-reviewed show dealt with the subject with aplomb.
4 Young Wallander
The fictional detective Kurt Wallander has been portrayed on-screen several times, including by Kenneth Branagh in the British TV series Wallander. This new series handles Wallander’s graduation and first police cases and stars Swedish actor Adam Palsson in the leading role.
While the series received mixed reviews from critics, the style and flair have helped it gain a following among Netflix fans of the genre. The series is set in the modern-day despite being a prequel to the original adventures of Wallander, and while this decision has been criticized, it allows the series to make social commentaries akin to the original Wallander stories.
3 The Chestnut Man
Released last year, The Chestnut Man is a Danish crime series that has gained huge popularity among fans and critics, boasting a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing. The series opens with a young woman’s murder in a playground, with a small chestnut figure left at the scene of the crime. The detectives placed on the case soon find the fingerprint of a missing girl and the case only ramps up from there.
While a second season seems likely, The Chestnut Man already produced an incredible story over just six episodes and is hugely worth a viewing for anyone looking for a show like Entrapped. The Scandinavian crime show style is in full flow with this series and the story is truly fascinating.
2 Borgen
Dealing with a slightly different subject, Borgen is a Danish political drama that was hugely revered over the course of four seasons, ending with a final season in early 2022. The show deals with the rise of a minor politician who becomes Denmark’s first female prime minister and has been cited as a massive success in Denmark as well as internationally.
In the US, Newsweek dubbed Borgen “the best television show you’ve never seen” and subscribers all over the world have responded well to the series being added to Netflix. Whether crime drama fans of shows like Entrapped would find cross-appeal in Borgen is less certain than with other crime shows, but Borgen is worth the watch nevertheless.
1 Ragnarok
The furthest departure from the gritty style of Entrapped is Ragnarok, a Norwegian fantasy series that re-imagines Norse Mythology in a small town modern-day. Ragnarok has been a huge success over the first two seasons, with much of the subject matter being familiar to mainstream fans due to the success of characters like Thor and Loki in the MCU.
The series follows Magne, a teen boy who realizes that he is the reincarnation of Thor, the God of Thunder, and tries to prevent Ragnarok from occurring in his town as a result of climate change from local factories. While the series was criticized in Norway for feeling “more like a Danish series,” it has been praised by international critics for having fun with the premise.