Main cast: Nader Khademi (William), Linn Björnvik-Gröder (Wliiam’s Wife), Marianne Jonger (Martha), Rebekka Jynge (Kristin), Karl-Vidar Lende (Paul), Silje Storstein (Helene), Cecilie Mosli (Ingelin), Ola Otnes (Sjefen), Morten Borgersen (Grigen), Kjersti Botn Sandal (Hilda), Nafisa Omar Osman (Gasa), Einar Schwenke (Eselet), Mona Grenne (Katten), and Bao André Nguyen (Pinnsvinet)
Director: Geir Henning Hopland
William’s company is holding a summer costume party, as part of its annual quarterly celebration. As his wife remarks, the whole thing seems rather odd given… uh, an incident just last May that sent a colleague into a coma.
That’s what The Elephant in the Room is about: the incident. As it progresses, details will slowly be revealed as to what really happened that night, and who did what to whom. Since a meatball is involved in the incident, let’s just say that I am most intrigued to find out what exactly happened. Early on, it is established that William and her colleague Helene were with Martha when Martha got into that incident. Hmm, so did they deliberately cause Martha to fall down a balcony and end up in a coma?
Those two claim it was a “bizarre accident”, but new receptionist Kristin suspects that something is not quite right about their story. She and fellow new employee Paul start asking around, hoping to piece together what happened, and their suspicion falls on William, who is currently trying to molest and harass as many female colleagues as possible.
There are no ghosts or spooks in this episode, as it is more of an amateur mystery hour, but with this show being what it is, of course there is a twist—a pretty predictable one, actually—that ties in nicely with the take home message that, perhaps, amateurs shouldn’t poke their noses into things that they have no clue about or business meddling in.
This is actually a lukewarm episode, and a disappointing one if I were to compare it with some of the more inventive ones, but it nonetheless manages to string me along to keep watching up to the twist. This is because the acting is good, and the episode moves at a brisk pace with plenty of dry and even dark humor to keep things interesting. However, I also find myself thinking, “Please, don’t let that be the twist, because that will be predictable!” and yes, the twist turns out to be exactly what I fear it would be.
The pay-off of this episode is disappointing, so it’s a pity that the final episode of this season of Bloodride is tinged with me feeling a little let down by the whole thing.
Nonetheless, the whole season is an entertaining ride, and I especially like how it just wants to tell scary and sometimes morbidly funny stories without doing what Hollywood does these days and just recycle tropes soullessly. I really want to see more of this show. Can I have a second season, please?
