Borgen Power and Glory, the latest addition and the fourth season of the famous Danish political TV series, was released on Netflix on 2 June 2022. Borgen was first aired in 2010 with the following seasons in the successive years till 2013. The fourth season however was released after almost 10 years and a new name was added to the original. Following the main lead Birgitte Nyborg as she regains power as Denmark’s foreign minister in the latest series.
The series is created by Adam Price along with Jeppe Gjervig Gram and Tobias Lindholm. Starring Sidse Babett Knudsen as Birgitte Nyborg, Johanne Louise Schmidt as Signe Kragh, Søren Malling as Torben Friis alongside Birgitte Hjort Sorensen as Katrine Fønsmark, Mikkel Boe Følsgaard as Asger Holm Kirkegaard and Magnus Millang as Rasmus Gren Lundbæk. The series has 8 episodes in total with a runtime of about 54- 59 minutes respectively.
-Borgen: Power and Glory Review Does Not Contain Any Spoilers-
Plot: Every Choice Comes With A Price
In the last three seasons, Birgitte Nyborg became Denmark’s first female leader, facing a lot of personal and professional hurdles while climbing up the political ladder. She gets demoted to a businesswoman and public speaker but soon she gets back to form a new political party, the New Democrats. In the fourth season of Borgen Power and Glory, Birgitte Nyborg holds the position of Denmark’s foreign minister (as seen at the end of season 3), under a new and young Prime Minister Signe Kragh played by Johanne Louise Schmidt.
Signe Kragh is a tech-savvy millennial with new ways to govern and keeps up her reputation through active social media. Whereas Birgitte is traditional in her ways and doesn’t get along with Signe well. However, when a mining company finds oil of exorbitant value in Greenland, it puts Greenland and Denmark in a difficult political position with Birgitte Nyborg at the front of it. They both have opposite stances on the matter but have to work together for their personal benefits.
Greenland sees the oil mine as the opportunity to become independent from Denmark, whereas Denmark’s coalition govt can’t let it happen when the stakes are so high. It becomes an international issue in the arctic where the big powers like the USA, China and Russia are on the lookout to step in however they can. The series is all about power play, dominance and choices which will decide the fate of the two nations and their bureaucrats.
Borgen Power and Glory – Humans Are The Greediest Species
The series started off with a quote from Henry George that said, ‘Man is the only animal whose desires increase as they are fed’. I think this quote summarises the series and human nature perfectly in every sense. As the title of the show suggests ‘power and glory, and so do all the characters in the series are after. Be it, Signe Kragh, with her trendy ways to keep up her public image or Birgitte Nyborg who goes to various lengths to keep her chair as foreign minister.
Everyone wants power either in form of successful government deals or holding a position of a minister in the government. In the last seasons, Brigitte’s political ambitions cost her marriage and family but now the same is going to cost her career and that leads her to make certain choices that conflict with her morality and ethics. That’s what power does to people, once they have a taste of it they always want more.
Parallelly, it also follows the story of Katrine Fønsmark, who was the head of the press for Birgitte and is now the head of the news department of a nationwide television station. She has been appointed to bring the channel back to its popular days and it puts a lot of pressure on Katrine. Both the leads, although in different positions, goes through the same trajectory in their career where they have to make a lot of hard choices with their careers at stake.
It often puts the two, who were very close once, in conflict with each other while performing their work duties. Mikkel Boe Følsgaard who plays the role of Asger Holm Kirkegaard is a new face among the returning cast and plays an important role as the foreign ambassador of Denmark in Greenland. Newly appointed to the post with an international conflict to tackle, shows contrasts as compared and sheds light on the life of civil servants.
Final Thoughts: Stream It Or Skip It?
Borgen: Power and Glory on Netflix is an absolute stream if you enjoy nuanced political dramas which are gripping and engaging till the end. The first season still remains the OG but the reprising series with a new plot and contemporary issues like climate change, debate on fossil fuels, current political powers and wars bring a fresh take on the political genre series. Even if you haven’t watched the previous seasons, the latest season will still make sense as it doesn’t delve much into history.
The concurrent theme running in the series is how power dynamics play out in politics and how it leads the political leaders to act in certain ways. Will they stand their moral ground or get swayed for their benefit? Borgen Power and Glory don’t need huge twists or turns to keep their audience entertained. The plot is well written and unravels at the right pace that keeps you on your toes till the end.
Borgen Power and Glory is streaming on Netflix.
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