RVK’s Trapped
Episode 4
Directed by Baldvin Z
Written by Clive Bradley & Sigurjón Kjartansson

* For a recap & review of Episode 3, click here.
* For a recap & review of Episode 5, click here.
Chief of police Andri Ólafsson (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) is on the line with Trausti Einarssson (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson) from Reykjavik, letting him know about “the arm” and having to eat a bit of shit for losing the body. He and his cops – Hinrika (Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir) and Ásgeir (Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson) – now know people on the ferry can be counted out of the suspect pool. Their victim was not on board, nor was their killer. This also means Hjörtur (Baltasar Breki Samper) is being let go. He’s still not totally out of the woods, having spread photos of an “active investigation,” but there’s no criminal charges. The big mystery remains, and Andri is no further ahead.
With the road snowed in, there are plenty of troubles. Guðmundur (Sigurður Karlsson) alerts Mayor Hrafn Eysteinsson (Pálmi Gestsson) of an impending avalanche. Once the weather warms it’ll be bad. But cut off from the world, they have little choice.
At the hotel bar, Andri and Hinrika go looking for the owner of the receipt they found in the jacket along with the severed arm? The bartender tells them it was MP Friðrik Davíðsson (Magnús Ragnarsson). Turns out, he drank with someone celebrating a return home “from Spain.”
It isn’t a happy time for Andri when he has to go to Eiríkur (Þorsteinn Gunnarson) and let him know Hjörtur’s been released, that he’s currently cleared of any charges. The old man will never forgive. Even Agnes (Nína Dögg Filippusdóttir) isn’t as adamant as her father. Still, can’t be easy. Andri tries to nicely tell his ex-father-in-law to stop blaming Hjörtur.
Joy (Grace Achieng) finds a tiny bit of comfort knowing Jonas is dead. Then Hinrika discovers Nishadi (Marta Quental) has a phone that was in the camper van. She finds there were only “two Icelandic numbers” called from the cell. Maybe there’s a way to track down accomplices. There’s definitely cause for suspicion in regards to Cpt. Søren Carlsen (Bjarne Henriksen) and his right hand man. Sketchy dudes.
Sigurður (Þorsteinn Bachmann) has some issues other than his involvement in the new port. He and his wife Aldís (Steinunn Ólína Þorsteinsdóttir) are estranged to some degree. She’s a teacher, so she looks after things at the gym. She’s also fucking a younger man at night there, which her husband witnesses as he spies on her. He wishes she’d “come home.” I doubt that’ll happen.
At the store, Hinrika talks to Jóhanna (Jasmín Dúfa Pitt), who asks about Hjörtur. The young girl seems leery of him. She’s letting her guard down a bit because the cops let him go, so it means he can’t be a killer— right? Well, this peaks Hinrika’s curiosity. He may not be a killer, but it does’t mean he’s not fucked up.
While Ásgeir sketches the mystery man from the bar, we get a tiny bit of background info on Andri. We know he was previously in Reykjavík, which explains more of the touchy relationship with Trausti. There’s a reason why he isn’t in the city anymore, left a mystery for the time being.

“It would be easier if there were a reason”

While everything else is going on, Andri’s trying to help Eiríkur move on from the past. He’s digging into old reports about the fire at the fish factory that took Dagný’s life almost a decade ago. The old man just wants to be able to “forgive and forget” like everybody else, if that’s actually possible. So, Andri takes him to see Hjörtur at his mother’s home. On the walls of the young man’s bedroom are pictures of Dagný. Eiríkur sits next to him and talks of losing his “little baby.” He talks tenderly of her rebellious yet fragile spirit. Hjörtur says he didn’t kill Dagný, which her father now, finally, has accepted.
At the station, Hinrika and Ásgeir have found more info on the bar’s mystery man. He’s Geirmundur Jónsson. He was once in town, several years back. A “perv” who’d been arrested for drugs and a DUI. Is it possible his being in that Icelandic town coincided with the fire? Oh, my. This could be huge. Could he have started the fire? Could he have been killed for doing so? Whoa.
In Reykjavik, Þór Snædal (Jóel Sæmundsson) – a colleague of Trausti – is being pressured by TV journalist Ragna (Guðrun Gísladóttir) to give information to the public. Trausti isn’t giving anything over. But when word about Geirmundur gets to the offices, Þór’s looking like he may do something stupid. He meets with Ragna in a cafe that evening with a few leaks.
With new leads, Andri goes to speak with Mayor Eysteinsson. He’s told Geirmundur was “most dubious.” Hrafn acts a little odd when human trafficking comes up. Not to mention there are missing files at the station. Lots of strange stuff to make Andri very curious. He goes right to Ásgeir afterwards to ask what the mayor was like when he was chief, the latter not saying much. Hmm.
On the ferry, engineer Dvalin (Hans Tórgarð) wonders “where the cargo is,” confirming he – to a greater extent than his captain – has a part in the trafficking operation.
Under cover of night, Rögnvaldur (Sigurður Skúlason) witnesses the mayor unravel. He sees Hrafn go mad, throwing his wife around, as he watches in the distance with his telescope. He sees everything, everywhere in town. Simultaneously, someone’s making trouble down at the harbour, sending Sigurður to the cops. It’s his father, and by the looks of it he’s going to try triggering the avalanche himself to push the snow in a different direction. Initially it works, then the whole mountain begins coming down on top of him, Sigurður, and Andri.
Consistently good writing. A show with this many mysteries and characters with their intricate stories has to weave them together well, and Trapped‘s writing duo keeps the pace exciting while drawing out all the mystery in due time.
Episode 5 is next.