RVK’s Trapped
Episode 5
Directed by Óskar Thór Axelsson
Written by Clive Bradley & Sigurjón Kjartansson

* For a recap & review of Episode 4, click here.
* For a recap & review of Episode 6, click here.
The avalanche has covered Andri Ólafsson (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson), Sigurður Gudmundsson (Þorsteinn Bachmann), and his father Guðmundur (Sigurður Karlsson). On top of that, it put out the power in their tiny Icelandic town, cutting them off ever further from Reykjavík and the outside world. As if they needed more to be afraid of, like there’s not a murderer on the loose. Cellphones are down, the roads are more blocked than they were previously, and the town’s plunged into darkness.
On her own, investigating a burner phone number from a cell purchased at the local store, Hinrika (Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir) discovers the wheelchair-bound voyeur Rögnvaldur (Sigurður Skúlason) may know things, particularly about Mayor Hrafn Eysteinsson (Pálmi Gestsson) and the dead man, Geirmundur. He saw them “the day before” the corpse was found. They’d been arguing. Rögnvaldur recognised Geirmundur from years before. Meanwhile, Hrafn’s trying to figure out what’s gone on in his town, not long after beating and sexually assaulting his wife, Kolbrún (Sigrún Edda Björnsdóttir), the night before.
Nobody can get hold of Andri. He’s freeing himself from getting caught in the avalanche under a thick blanket of snow. He tries to locate both Guðmundur and Sigurður, only finding the latter. They search for the old man and find him  buried. They don’t want to move him too much, could be injured. They’ve got to get him a doctor, and, for the time being, keep him warm. Andri goes for help, leaving father and son together a while.
After Eiríkur (Þorsteinn Gunnarson) has accepted Hjörtur (Baltasar Breki Samper) didn’t kill his daughter in the fire, he’s become obsessed. He sits “alone in the dark,” playing his guitar and reading old reports about the incident. He seems to be taking on a guilt he shouldn’t be trying to own.
My suspicions about Ayanike (Georg Leite de Oliveira Santos) were wrong. During a card game on the ferry, the chef mentions he saw “two African girls … making a snowman” while he was in town. Dvalin Knudsson (Hans Tórgarð) is also in the room— engineer cum human trafficker. Uh oh. Ayanike follows the engineer after, catching him talking in hushed tones with Cpt. Søren Carlsen (Bjarne Henriksen) alone. He better be careful. That night, he goes to Bárður’s place, stomps the snowman out, and warns the man to keep the girls safe.
Mayor Hrafn tries to keep people at the gym comfortable. They’re worried about the electricity, the heat, and – like anybody would be – the murderer. He gives them mostly bullshit answers to placate them. He’s only concerned with image. Ironic, considering he’s a terrible man behind closed doors.
Andri pushes through the stormy weather trying to find help. He runs into Ásgeir (Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson) on the road after some time. They head to seek a doctor. Andri calls out by radio to find the storm’s too bad for a helicopter. There’s at least a man from the ferry who’s a doctor and a small emergency rescue team.
Out for a smoke, Hjörtur gets invited by Soffia (Salka Sól Eyfeld) and Jóhanna (Jasmín Dúfa Pitt) to a “pool party” at the local pool. Everybody’s partying during the blackout. He goes along with the girls, albeit a bit reluctantly. Although he’s cleared of the murder, even his own mother once believed him guilty, so it can’t be easy for him to try integrating into the town again. He also can’t stop watching Jóhanna, who reminds him of Dagný. He does get closer to Soffia— she finds his scars “sexy” and urges him not to hide himself.
Stuck together in the storm, Hinrika and Rögnvaldur get to know one another better. She isn’t thrilled to know he spies on her house and her relationship. She also knows he’s a lonely, wounded old man.
At the pool, Jóhanna’s boyfriend gets a bit too kinky. He ties her up, then doesn’t want to untie her. But he does, thankfully. This leaves her upset when she heads back out to the party. Hjörtur notices something’s not quite right, though he joins Soffia in the pool rather than cause any trouble.
No help from outside is coming. The helicopters can’t fly along the coast. No boats can get through the fjord due to pack ice. The town’s entirely “closed off.” This means, with a spinal injury, possible internal bleeding, Guðmundur might not last the night. Everybody on the mountain’s concerned. Andri, with no other choices, orders the team to carry Guðmundur down. Otherwise he’ll perish from hypothermia out there. When they get so far down, the old fisherman loses consciousness. The rescue team tries reviving him, to no avail. His son, Andri, they all must watch him die. Of course now Sigurður blames the mayor for pushing his father so far, creating new, worse tensions.
Andri keeps wondering about Hrafn and his time as the chief of police like himself. He wonders exactly what’s gone on between the mayor and Sigurður, as well. There’s a rift between them outside of this latest event. It’s made worse by the fact Sigurður owns his father’s land after the old man’s death. I seriously doubt he’s going to “play ball” with the mayor now.
Speaking of the mayor, he gets a visit in his shed late in the night. But, from whom? We don’t yet see who it is, and they’re angry with Hrafn. The mayor gets beaten on the head, before his shed is lit aflame and he’s left inside to burn. A fitting punishment if he has a connection to the fire from 7 years prior, which I’ve suspected he does. Andri has a new murder on his hands. Again, the horror piles up for this small town police chief— more bodies than answers.

“You’re not native to this town. You can’t see into the abyss.”

Really loved this episode in particular. The character development’s been outstanding, and this chapter just digs deeper into more of the town’s relationships. We’re getting closer to finding out more. As always, Father Gore’s drooling with anticipation! Trapped is high quality entertainment, all around.