RVK’s Trapped
Season 2, Episode 5
Directed by Börkur Sigþórsson
Written by Clive Bradley

* For a recap & review of Episode 4, click here.
* For a recap & review of Episode 6, click here.
Cemetery workers, preparing to put Gisli’s body to rest, talk about the tortured family history. The father disappeared many years ago. He left and “never came back” when Gisli and Halla (Sólveig Arnarsdóttir) were teenagers. Elín (Unnur Ösp Stefánsdóttir) was only little. Nobody ever found the father’s body or heard tell of him again.
Father Gore’s theory: Gisli killed his father for abusing Halla. This is why he felt his sister “owed” him something. We’ll see how it shakes out.

Andri (Ólafur Darri Ólafsson) believes the nationalists aren’t part of Finnur’s murder. He believes it’s a local. At the station, Elín shows up with Aron (Stormur Jón Kormákur)— the kid talks with Ásgeir (Ingvar E. Sigurðsson) while his mother goes inside. (Might be worth noting the bit about Finnur’s cars.)
Andri and Hinrika (Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir) want to ask Elín more about Finnur. They’re curious about his relationships with locals / plant workers. They find out he took a “sick leave” because of a broken arm, supposedly from a fall six months prior. They check with a doctor, who was sure it was “not an accident.”

“So he bears the mark of his kin
& contaminates the soil”

Andri and Hinrika go see Hjörtur (Baltasar Breki Samper). The security guard confirms the broken arm wasn’t an accident. Finnur had been shouting down one of the foreign workers. Víkingur (Aron Már Ólafsson) already told the cops Finnur “was a racist,” which Hjörtur knows himself, as well as being a “homophobe.” When he got involved it set Finnur off talking about finding him with a guy in his father’s barn. It embarrassed Víkingur in front of a bunch of hypermasculine toxic dudes. Thus, the broken arm.
Ásgeir checks on the situation with the cars, tracking down info about Finnur paying with cash. He registered the car in Aron’s name, using cash probably from that bag.
What kind of sketchy shit was he into? Drugs? Trafficking, like we saw in Season 1?

The whole town, along with the press, are out for Gisli’s funeral. Elín and Halla pretend to be on good terms. There’s a troublesome history in this family. It’s not “a great personal tragedy” like the vicar says— it’s a long, tragic family line that hasn’t seemed to stop. Halla gets up to speak, standing next to the casket of the man who tried to burn her to death. She says no matter what Gisli did she still loves him, though she can’t forgive.

Ebo needs more money to send home. He and his brother-in-law talk to Pawel (Leo Sankovic). When Ebo’s alone with the guy, he starts to get extorted. Pawel knows about his relationship with Víkingur, suggesting he’s being paid to “suck good.” He wants a cut to keep quiet.
The brother-in-law’s suspicious, too. Not to mention his ugly use of the word “faggot.”
At the reception, Víkingur has had enough with his family “role playing” while he’s grieving. He calls them hypocrites, particularly Aunt Halla, who’s barely been around in 20 years. He doesn’t like everybody centring the tragedy on themselves. Neither does he like denying the truth. He calls everybody out individually, cutting to the bone— even mum. An awkward, vicious scene that’s probably at least partly warranted.
Like a scene from Festen, without disturbing revelations.

That night, Víkingur goes to see Ebo while drunk off his ass. He wants his lover to stay in town with him. The brother-in-law sees them, telling Víkingur Ebo’s “a dead man” because of him. Not a good situation. At the same time, Hinrika calls it quits with Bárður over their differences, feeling like his mother when she’s much younger than him. Andri tries to comfort her, knowing what it’s like to say goodbye to someone you love.

Elín and Halla are coming back together. Trying to, anyway. They’ve got to dive back into their family’s past. Elín wants to know about what happened when they were young. It clearly pains Halla to even think of, let alone talk about, and in spite of Elín being a little girl when it all happened she remembers. “I know what you did,” the younger sister says. She holds her older sister, telling her it’s all right.
Is Father Gore correct? Did Gisli— along with Halla, now that we have this scene between her and Elín— murder their father? This is getting very intense. There are many interesting red herrings, as well.

You can never be sure of the killer. Not until the end.