After the advent of OTT platforms and the uptick in the accessibility of theatrically released films, we are probably at the peak of “content” consumption. Intentionally or unintentionally, we’ve become trained to recognize patterns and tropes in storytelling. And I feel that every subgenre that comes under the umbrellas of crime and suspense has borne the brunt of this trend. Since a lot of crime thrillers depend on plot twists, it has become harder and harder to surprise audiences, which is why you’ll see a lot of them being labeled as “predictable.” However, in this race to outsmart storytellers, I think we are refusing to see the difference between narratives that purposefully want us to think we are one step ahead of the protagonist and shows or films that mess it up too early but keep insisting that they can subvert viewers’ expectations. So, if you have Alfred Hitchcock movies on the “good” end of the spectrum, you have Harlan Coben adaptations on the “bad” end. Now, where does The Glass Dome fall on this scale? Let’s find out.
Camilla Lackberg’s The Glass Dome, written by Amanda Hogberg and Axel Stjarne and directed by Lisa Farzaneh and Henrik Bjorn, tells the story of Lejla, a girl who was kidnapped from Stockholm as a child and kept in captivity in a village called Granas for 9 months by a man known only as Ecki. During that period, her mother, Milena, allegedly died by suicide. Hence, Lejla was adopted by Valter, the police officer who rescued her, and his wife, Ann-Marie. Lejla grew up in Granas and eventually shifted to the United States of America to pursue a career in criminal psychology, specifically child kidnappers. After learning about the death of Ann-Marie, Lejla returned to Granas with the intention of attending the funeral and then heading back to the US as soon as possible. But the death of her friend, Louise, and the kidnapping of Louise and Said’s daughter, Alicia, prevent her from doing so. She starts to see similarities between Alicia’s disappearance and her own. However, since the police department, led by Valter’s brother Tomas, refuses to entertain the theory that a serial kidnapper is back in action after 20 years, the investigation suffers a lot of setbacks, thereby not only jeopardizing Alicia’s life but also worsening the already strained political environment of Granas.
I don’t want to sound arrogant, but I figured out who the kidnapper was in the second episode of The Glass Dome. And by the time Lejla had a pretty descriptive discussion about why Ecki had started kidnapping again with Valter, I had no doubts. So, when the final reveal happened, that too after the show dangled a lukewarm red herring, I wasn’t surprised. Instead, I was frustrated as to why the show had taken such an ungodly amount of time to unveil something that was staring the audience in the face for such a long time. But then I began to wonder whether this was just a case of bad writing or if this was intentional, and the identity of the kidnapper wasn’t the point of the show. Now, based on the note the miniseries chose to end on, I’d say it’s the former, thereby putting it in the category of “predictable and unsatisfying” narratives. But, if I try to view the miniseries through the lens of the latter, it does veer towards the “predictable and satisfying” category. Because then I can see what the writers and the directors are trying to say about Sweden while merely using the tropes and trappings of the crime thriller subgenre.
For starters, when an obnoxious character named Jim did the Nazi salute and spewed a bunch of Islamophobic rhetoric, I was kind of taken aback. The Glass Dome is definitely not the first show to underscore Sweden’s racism; The Breakthrough did it as well. But while The Breakthrough became too boring because of its focus on genealogy and whatnot, the specificity of The Glass Dome actually compelled me to read into the country’s association with the Nazis, and, yeah, it was certainly eye-opening for me (largely because my history is really weak). Then mining and environmentalism, which I thought would only serve as a backdrop for the show, ended up being the fuel to increase the fire of bigotry amongst the community. And on top of that there was the casual misogyny faced by the women of Granas, best portrayed in a scene where 2 women (one pregnant and one not even an employee at the police department) cleaned the desk of a male officer, while other male officers walked by them. Yes, this is the same country that always occupies one of the top 4 slots in the (flawed but highly quoted) World Happiness Report.
So, yes, all that stuff and more gave me the feeling that maybe, just maybe, the search for the kidnapper of The Glass Dome was only a gateway for the writers and the directors to address certain issues that would otherwise go unnoticed. I mean, if I give you a documentary about mining in Sweden or about the political history of Sweden, are you going to hit play? No; don’t lie, you won’t. But since crime thrillers are in vogue, it’s easier to slip all these topics in. And when you are taking in this commentary on controversial issues while looking at some of the most jaw-dropping outdoor and indoor cinematography, you don’t really mind it. The performances by the cast also help push this Trojan horse. Leonie Vincent is genuinely phenomenal. The range she showcases over the course of 6 episodes is mind-blowing. Johan Hedenberg, Johan Rheborg, Ia Langhammer, Cecilia Nilsson, Oscar Toringe, Farzad Farzaneh, Emil Almen, Emma Broome, Victor Stahl Segerhagen, and the rest of the supporting cast are truly amazing. Everyone gets their moment to shine, and all of them make the most of it. Sure, the pacing and the editing could’ve been better. However, if you feel transported to that icy village almost immediately, you won’t notice those flaws.
In my opinion, The Glass Dome is predictable, and yet it’s engaging. If you are looking to understand the psychology of kidnappers and serial killers and why they do the things they do, you are not going to find anything new here. But if you look beyond that, I think there is a lot to be admired. Given how I think that it’s pointless right now to wonder how a criminal views the world when there are criminals in high posts carelessly destroying the very fabric of society, while the general populace laps up one piece of propaganda or another, I guess I am being lenient towards the miniseries. Others who just want a straightforward crime thriller with an unexpected ending might not be as tolerant, especially if their political stance aligns with that of some of the antagonists in the narrative. There’s no doubt about the fact that in an attempt to have their cake and eat it too, Läckberg and her team sort of fumble the bag. However, if The Glass Dome ends up being successful and starts a trend of crime thrillers with a heightened focus on socio-cultural commentary, I’ll be a happy customer.
