RKV’s Trapped
Season 2, Episode 3
Directed by Börkur Sigþórsson
Written by Margrét Örnólfsdóttir, Sigurjón Kjartansson & Clive Bradley

* For a recap & review of Episode 2, click here.
* For a recap & review of Episode 4, click here.
Skúli (Sigurbjartur Atlason) hides in the mountains with his horse, stopping for a drink of water. The search team scours the hillside looking for any sign of the young fugitive. They find horse droppings that keep them on the trail. They see him ride past on the animal, unable to stop him. Their dog chases after him and winds up horribly injured.

Andri (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) tries to keep his relationship with Þórhildur (Elva María Birgisdóttir) from deteriorating completely. She has no real interest in it. She feels like her father’s critical of every last little thing she does, from her relationship with Aron (Stormur Jón Kormákur) to her “drinking coffee now.”

Kolbrún (Sigrún Edda Björnsdóttir) stops by to see Mayor Hafdís (Jóhanna Vigdís Arnardóttir). She sees the graffiti left most certainly by “Hammer of Thor.” She asks why her friend isn’t going to the police. Hafdís says it’s what the racist group wants. She’s going to have it painted over and forget about it. Kolbrún snaps herself a pic of the spray paint before leaving.
You know that’s going to come back later somehow.
Over the phone, Andri talks with Hinrika (Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir). She lets him know SWAT are being deployed after it was reported the dog was injured. Andri goes to see Víkingur (Aron Már Ólafsson), asking about his father’s relationship with Finnur, and if he knows the brothers— he knew them when they were young. He takes the time to speak with Ebo (Kingsford Siayor) and hears about Finnur being “a bully” at the plant and how foreign workers are treated “like prisoners.”
After the cop is gone, we see the two gay lovers in bed. Víkingur talks about when he first knew he was gay. It was somewhat easier for him in Iceland, as opposed to Ghana, where it’s illegal to engage in any kind of homosexual relationship. When Ebo was 19, his first lover was outed and nearly killed. He had to lie to everyone, never speaking to his lover again. Devastating.

Hafdís heads to a meeting, where she’s questioned, again, by Kolbrún about bringing the incident with her garage to the police. The mayor doesn’t want to be questioned. The two women have more than that going on. They’re more rivals than friends or colleagues, and the American Aluminium deal is causing even further stress than usual.

Again, Andri tries talking to Torfi (Vignir Rafn Valþórsson). During the conversation, a bit of info seems to slip out of the brother, suggesting there could be something about to happen. But what? The cop’s not able to get any more info. Afterwards, he and Hinrika get word Finnur’s blood and fingerprints belonging to the brothers were found on the bolt gun, the “murder weapon.” Torfi can explain the prints, not the blood. Hard to weasel out of that one. Andri’s more worried now that Hammer of Thor could be doing something that’s “possibly terrorism“-related.
We see tension between Hinrika and her partner Bárður (Guðjón Pedersen). He’s active in the realm of social justice. He was part of the recent protest. It makes Hinrika— now Chief of Police— pretty uncomfortable, particularly when some of the protest involved a white nationalist group. She also has to deal with Ketill (Steinn Ármann Magnússon) yapping his mouth to the press about how their township will “lie down for a foreign heavy industry like a common whore” and other xenophobic / casually misogynistic ramblings. She tries to find out more about the brothers, talking to people they know. She discovers there’s a woman involved with Hammer of Thor.

Andri and Ásgeir (Ingvar E. Sigurðsson) go see Hjörtur (Baltasar Breki Samper) again up at the plant. They see more photos of the graffiti, courtesy of Hammer of Thor. Hjörtur suggests “no one gives a shit” about the foreign workers. He mentions a man called Pawel (Leo Sankovic)— unofficial leader of the foreigners. Andri isn’t getting much from Pawel, who’d rather his workers fend for themselves without help from authorities.

Kolbrún goes to TV journalist Lovísa (Lára Jóhanna Jónsdóttir) with the photos from the mayor’s home. This puts the reporter right outside the garage, doing a piece about Hammer of Thor’s vandalism, questioning why Mayor Hafdís would choose not to involve the police. The reporter confronts Hafdís eventually, putting the Mayor in a position where she has to talk, or else it’ll look real fucking bad.

Andri and Hinrika suspect whatever Torfi was talking about involves a signing of a “Letter of Intent” between the township and the aluminium company, attended by the Prime Minister. Could Hammer of Thor be plotting something equally as horrific as what happened to Halla (Sólveig Arnarsdóttir)? Also, a note: Andri wonders what the “88” stands for in the white nationalist poster— it signifies the 8th letter of the alphabet, H, corresponding to the continuing neo-Nazi use of Heil Hitler, coded in number so as to be ‘sneaky.’ This is soon explained by trusty Ásgeir.
Andri and Hinrika, through Aron, find out Skúli spent time at a local hangout, where he used the public computer frequently. Ásgeir helps take a look. They find an e-mail— thesonofodin88@gmail.com. They get into his inbox and see all the drafts, which is where there’s a diary of all kinds of activities. Simultaneously, Skúli gets sick in the mountains and the search team find him passed out.

On the news, the Mayor’s interview is aired. She sticks to the idea “it doesn‘t affect me.” Not an especially smart, or sensitive, thing to say when you’ve got foreign workers in your township, putting them at a huge degree of risk by not addressing the white nationalist issue.
Worse, that night when the Mayor is on her way home she stops at the scene of what appears to be an accident. A man is lying outside his truck. Andri tries to rush and find her as they’re on the phone together. She’s grabbed by men in masks before he and Ásgeir make it, finding only her abandoned vehicle on the street. Oh, shit.
A great, intense episode. Love how this season is tackling white nationalism, particularly in regards to industry(etc). Wonderful writing that’s emotional, interesting, and socially/politically relevant. Notice how in this Icelandic show they’re not afraid of calling these neo-Nazi idiots what they are? Terrorists. Shame that neither American fiction, nor real America, can do the same.

Excited for the next episode, to see where the latest madness goes from here.