Streaming series review - Reindeer Mafia

Reindeer Mafia (Poromafia) *** (out of 5) The title of this Finnish crime dramedy series is a bit misleading. It’s not a major crime syndicate on the tundra. It’s a small club of guys wearing vests with their Wolverine logo (not the Hugh Jackman kind) hanging out in their clubhouse, and dabbling in petty crimes. The eponymous nickname is a tongue-in-cheek choice. The setting is a rural area, in which the strictly protected reindeer provide a significant part of the economic base.

The eight-episode season begins as their leader, Sameli (Samuli Edelmann) is returning from prison for a manslaughter he may not have committed. His mother, Brita (Rea Mauranen) has just died after a long bout with cancer. She was the area’s biggest landowner, and the disposition of her estate becomes the central plot-driving element. Her assholish husband Rouku (Aake Kalliala) had big secret plans for the property that are frustrated when she leaves it all to her two sons and the daughter of the man who Sameli (presumably) killed, who also happened to be his fiancée Sara’s (Anna-Maija Tuokko) pappy. But the three lack the big chunk of dough needed to pay the inheritance tax within a short window of time, leading to a scramble of plots and countermeasures to keep Rouku from having his way.

As one may expect from Scandinavian productions, everything is covered with snow, and mostly dark in hue and tenor. The first three episodes unfold so slowly that I considered letting it drop. But I’m glad I was patient (or stubborn) enough to continue. Characters, backstories and plot threads start becoming clearer in the fourth, and the pace picks up for the rest of the way. It’s more of a suspenseful character drama than an action flick, but there are enough twists to keep one curious. Bad guys abound. Rouku is a stunningly loathsome figure, reeking of Machiavellian villainy. Plus, there’s a crooked cop and a sadistic drug dealer soiling the pristine landscape, along with several other questionable characters.

The comedy side of the dramedy is rather sparse until the latter half of the season. Between the plot, several quirky characters and the stark wintry environs, the production is somewhat reminiscent of our Fargo series, though either shorter on humor, or less amusing to a US viewer than it was to Finns. The proceedings are complex enough to make bingeing advisable, but not essential.

(Reindeer Mafia, mostly in Finnish with subtitles, streams on MHzChoice as of 11/5/24)