Death, drugs, adultery, art theft, Thai jail: No this isn’t a combination of tales from hunter S. Thompson’s life, rather a summary of the last season of Denmark’s The Legacy (arvingerne). A somewhat welcome change to the ever popular Danish Crime Dramas, The Legacy dealt with the gronnegaard family and the gronnegaard estate left by their late bohemian artist mother. This quickly become a source of conflict between the half dozen children who all wanted the mansion and grounds for various reasons. These contrasting views and ideologies between the children is perhaps one of the most fundamental parts of the story and why it was so popular in Denmark and Britain. It’s refreshing to have a show that focuses on these characteristics and allow the actors to fully immerse in a role and give amazing performances, especially when most have been working in theatre for much of their career. So with the premiere of Season two coming this weekend I thought I would just take the time to write a brief analysis of the episode and give you my first impressions.
Season two picks up one year later to Signe holding a baby who we find out is Thomas’s and Isa’s baby Melody. Whilst they prepare the ritual they have for all of the baby’s of the family we find out that Gro has been making sculptures – under her mother’s name – to gain enough money to free Emil from the thai prison and bring him back home. Fredrik has also moved out of their old house (perhaps due to financial difficulties) putting a strain on his wife and children. Most importantly we see Isa struggling to cope with her new baby and the change in her bohemian lifestyle causing her to unitentionally drop Melody in the lake during the ritual.
This first episode seems to be about re-uniting the family for the ‘baptism’ and bringing normality to all the brother and sisters and all the nieces and nephews. But whilst it does bring them together, it feels different because of the problems and arguments in season 1 that have obviously not been resolved fully. Even conversation between Fredrik and Signe are bathed in awkwardness. Not to forget Emil’s incarceration in Thailand which is a constant struggle for him and Gro. So this season I think we can expect more hardships and issues that will push the family even more apart. it’s a shame but the series is an evolution of the family so you can’t expect everything to be the same as it once was. There might be some reviewers who think that it would be a shame to have another season, as it would not compare to this one. But don’t judge one episode dear viewer. The Legacy is a slow paced drama that is perhaps even slower than The Killing. Don’t expect to be wowed after one episode so just sit back, watch, and wait. Soon enough you will be hooked.
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