Denmark’s glorious (and highly bingeable) political drama 'Borgen' is the best show you've never seen. Watch now on Netflix:
—which is both triumphantly good and a little jarring in its shift in tone. Creator Adam Price has returned, as has almost all of the cast, but they have not brought the sunny disposition of’s first three seasons with them. The mood has dimmed in Denmark, and Nyborg—now 53 and the country’s foreign minister—is more ruthless and driven than ever. The plot turns on a discovery of massive oil reserves in Greenland, which is a territory under Danish control but has its own claims to sovereignty.
I previewed half of the new eight-episode season, and I am both gripped by the twists and made melancholy by the way all my favorite Danish ministers, civil servants, and journalists have aged—more wrinkles, more kilograms, and one beloved political ally to Nyborg has signs of dementia. But the writing is sharp and Knudsen’s performance is still dazzlingly subtle; she wrings empathy from the viewer while keeping Nyborg’s flaws—chiefly her obsession with winning at any cost—on full display.