It was back in 2022 that I reviewed Season 1 of this frozen Finnish thriller. The first series itself dates back to 2018. And here we are in 2025 on Season 3 – and things are pretty much the same in Ivolo, the small village just 20km from the Arctic Circle, not far from the Russian border.
If you want to avoid all spoilers, stop reading this article now.
Nina Kautsalo (Iina Kuustonen) returns and is about to step up into a new role as the town’s police chief, following the retirement of her predecessor. But before she goes, she’s brought in investigate the shooting of the town’s pharmacist in his chemist shop. Robbery appears to be the motive, as the till is empty of its contents and a number of drugs have gone missing. But is there more to this than a robbery gone wrong?
The pharmacist was a keen wildlife photographer; but when Nina unlocks a secret room at the chemist shop, she discovers that he’s been taking photographs of something other than wildlife.
Elsewhere in the wilderness, US motoring firm Pharada – a company specialising in manufacturing driverless cars – are working on their latest prototype, when a crack team of armed gunmen ambush a test drive, shoot their operatives and steal the vehicle. But rather than risk the negative publicity that will affect stock values so close to launching the vehicle, they decide to hush up the theft and claim the deaths were a simple road accident.
But alongside the crime element, there’s a lot that revolves around human interest stories. Nina herself is raising Venla, her Down’s syndrome daughter, on her own; and her relationship with her boyfriend Toni has broken down (or has it?) because of a disagreement over having more kids – something that is further complicated when Nina discovers she’s pregnant. And Nina’s former work colleague, Niilo, is doing his best to help raise three step kids with his new wife. But the eldest is being bullied at school and is having a hard time accepting his “new dad”.
There’s a lot to enjoy here. Nina’s character is endearing, and the frozen monochrome of rural Finland looks beautiful on-screen. Like Season 1 and Season 2, there’s a lot of English spoken – the car manufacturer is from Seattle, so they’re all English or American. And sometimes the script seems a little forced when it’s not Finnish. But I’m picking holes.
I would strongly suggest watching the other two seasons before jumping in with Season 3 – you really need the backstory to make sense of it all. But it’s a very pleasant and enthralling thriller.
Walter Presents: ‘Arctic Circle' Season 3 is available as a full boxset now on C4 Streaming.
