Mammon (2014–2016) User Reviews

More a mystery than a crime series

[OJT · 7/10 · 11 February 2014]

Mammon (which is biblical for material wealth or money) is advanced mix of crime, corruption, religion, rituals, media criticism and bad childhoods. Sounds as a lot? Well it is, and this series is a deep woven mystery, which is almost impossible to read before you the last episode.

That is of course positive in a world of a TV-series and films which are all too like. This differs from most, due to it being a mystery involving media, politicians and old school time secret networks.

We follow a newspaper journalist, Peter Verås, which is reporting on a case which entangles him way more than is good for the job, the paper, his family and friends. And he can't grasp what it is about, but it goes right down the core of his own family.

Some will love this due to it's complexity, others will have a hard struggle with understanding the complicated plot. This series has been a great success even before the first episode was screened, and sold to the folds of countries eager to get more of Nordic noir. Therefore the plans for a second season is already on the way, which once more will follow the journalist, I guess. This series goes right into that category, though it's more a mystery than a crime story.

The series was immensely popular when it was aired, having a 40 percent of the total marked when being aired, but was criticized for having advanced surround sound, making it difficult to grasp all being said on a small TV-set, but great on a surround system. As dubbed, or with subtitles, this will not be a problem outside Norway. From the third episode they decided to subtitle the series even on Norwegian TV.

It was also criticized for being unrealistic due to how a Norwegian independent newspaper would react to be scrutinized by the investigative police, but this came more out of pride of journalistic integrity than reality. I'm afraid the integrity isn't that strong, even in an otherwise low corruption nation as Norway.

I both liked it, and didn't, but I just had to watch the series through, and didn't have a clue who was responsible.

Exciting, yes, but easy to understand, no! Interesting due to the ethic dilemmas, yes, but easy to make a second season, no!

A bleak Norwegian thriller

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 3 May 2014]

Newspaper reporter Peter Verås is investigating financial irregularities involving his own brother; who then kills himself. At first it looks as though he did it to avoid the inevitable scandal but as Peter's investigation continues another man kills himself; this time right in front of Peter… his last word 'Abraham is both enigmatic and meaningful. Things get unpleasant then positively dangerous for Peter and those helping him as he is first transferred to another part of the paper in an attempt to kill the story than when he keeps investigating the threats start to become real… there are powerful people involved and they will do whatever it takes to protect their dark secret.

There have been plenty of Scandinavian dramas on British TV recently and this is one of the darkest yet as even main characters can be killed off late in the series when one has frown to like them and think that anybody who has lasted this long will be okay! Things for Protagonist Peter just seem to get more and more desperate; Jon Øigarden does a fine job in the role… the rest of the cast are pretty good too. The story is gripping and kept me interested right to the end as the twists don't end until the final scene.

Nordic Noir is not dead!

[DimitrisPassas-TapTheLine · 7/10 · 24 October 2018]

Nordic Noir genre is alive and kicking as Norwegians prove with this excellent addition to a whole bunch of quality entertainment based on Scandinavian crime fiction. I enjoyed season 1 of ''Mammon'' but I thought that it was a rather poor production, kind of a tv series''b-movie''. Nevertheless it managed to keep the viewer glued to his seat due to its intricate plot and notable actor performances, mainly by Jon Øigarden and Nils Ole Oftebro as two journalists of VG newspaper, one of the most popular ones in Norway. Season 2 though was close to perfection. Great actors joined the cast like Trond Espen Seim, Ingar Helge Gimle, Anders Danielsen Lie and others, with the first two being marvelous in their roles as frenemies in the country's governing party, often adding a comic touch to the tightly-woven, elaborate plot. The story begins with the murder of one of VG's prime journalists and unfolds in a nice, steady pace, leaving no questions unanswered in the end. The plot consists of shady politicians, corrupt lawyers, femme fatales and has every ingredient of a superb television production. Nordic Noir fans are bound to love ''Mammon'' and the finale will leave them begging for more.

More than okay political thriller, but not among Scandinavian´s best

[BeneCumb · 7/10 · 15 May 2019]

As Norway is considered as one of the least corrupted countries in the world, crime rate is also low, so you see many scenes depicted in series like Mammon with certain limitations, they do not seem realistic in full... So some mystery is in place, but you have to concentrate on other elements still. The story goes with ups and downs, there are some catchy twists and turns, but when rounded up, you realise some loopholes or start to think: how come?

The performances are okay, with several famous Norwegian actors included, but, compared to other series, the main character performed by Jon Øigarden tended to be a bit arid... All in all, my apparent "mistake" was that I wachted it recently, not when it was first screened, as Norway has created several more interesting/versatile series after that.

A Bit of Everything

[crumpytv · 9/10 · 25 August 2020]

Norwegian political, conspiracy, action thriller. Lost of twists, nothing becoming relatively clear until the end. Some familiar Nordic faces makes this a good drama.

Mammon - Season 2

[Warin_West-El · 10/10 · 12 January 2023]

This review is strictly for Season 2.

First of all, it's MUCH better than season 1. As for Season 2 . . .

I had to go back and watch it twice. The first time I viewed it, the plot was too complex for me to fully penetrate. Primarily because there were so many people doing villainous things, it was hard to keep track of the characters. Usually, you can differentiate between the "good guys" and the "bad guys." And that helps to make a distinction between characters. But during Season 2, the characters all mix together in your head because seemingly none of them can be trusted.

IMHO,Season 2 is truly phenomenal. And the proof of that is, the plot entirely held up under a second viewing. I DID fast forward through a couple of action scenes because I already knew what was about to happen. But I took my time with the dialogue scenes and they all held up well.

Lately, I've been disappointed with the Camilla Lackberg crime series. Viewing Mammon for the second time reveals why. Mammon Season 2 is textured and although there are many "relationship" scenes, they do not devolve into soap opera style dialogues.

The plot of the second season IS quite intricate but pretty much every scene is credible. My only criticism would be the writer included a couple of scenes relying upon the "sneak up from behind the female" shtick. Which is mystifying because the writer was Margrete Soug Kåset, a female. Any woman knows females can sense when someone is staring at them from behind, let alone trying to sneak up on them. Scenes where the bad guy sneaks up on the female from behind are just NOT credible. So one has to wonder what Margrete Soug Kåset was thinking when she wrote such nonsense, demeaning the perceptive capabilities of women.

Having watched it twice, I can attest that the production values of Mammon 2 are exceptional and finely detailed. All of the scenes are expertly lit and well choreographed. Furthermore, there are no "clunker" actors. Every character is believable.

I've written several reviews and this is the first 10 I've given. Some will say the plot is too complex. But anyone who views it for a second time will realize the story would not have held together if the filmmakers had simplified the plot. Furthermore, this is a mystery that is satisfying to watch more than once.

Mammon - Season 2 is every bit as good as Bron/Broen and much better than Engrenages.

Stake in the heart of the Scandinavian thriller? Or, "The Bridge" to Nowhere...

[steven-222 · 2/10 · 8 August 2014]

The decade-long international craze for Scandinavian crime thrillers seems to reach a tipping point with this overstuffed and flatulent boondoggle of a mini-series from Norway. "Mammon" would like to be "The Bridge," leading us down one false path after another to spectacular cliff-hangers and shocking revelations, but the writers are too lazy to come up with plausible reasons for all this frantic action. I hate it when I invest 6 hours in a mini-series, expecting that "all will be revealed" at the end, and the end comes, and I can only shake my head at all the nonsense I've watched and all the gaping holes in the plot. It's almost as if no single person actually read the whole script!

Scene for scene, the show is just engaging enough to watch, but even at this level some of the red herrings are too obvious and the repeated attempts at suspense too repetitious. (OMG! Is that car following us? No, just a false alarm. No, wait, it WAS following us!)

Spoiler: One example of the ludicrous lengths to which the writers will go simply to obtain that spooky "The Bridge" feeling: the package received by the dead man's brother and his wife seven years after his death, containing directions to a time and place and a wet suit, because the dead man knew that at exactly that place, and exactly that day, another death would occur in exactly that way. Amazing! But in the end, this elaborate plot twist turns out to make NO SENSE WHATSOEVER (like much of the plot); it's assumed that we viewers are so stupid we will have forgotten this pivotal scene by the end and won't care that there is no explanation.

They tried to make "The Bridge," but this bridge went nowhere.

Not great but not terrible

[qui_j · 5/10 · 26 September 2016]

I'm a big fan of "Scandi-Noir" genre but to be honest, this one is just overly complicated with very little return. To keep track of the plot with its biblical references, moral discussions, tedious dialog which at times seems out of place, and the number of characters that keep appearing out of the woodwork, one of the boards that police use to solve a crime would be helpful. You need to try an remember who's who, who's connected to whom, and what their role is in the overall plot. The story could have been told in half the number of episodes, and without some of the very pointless scenes that seemed unrelated to the plot. The editing is not great as things jump around too much. The characters are not very likable, and the lead is very flat and two-dimensional. I'm not sure I'd watch a second season if it were produced. UPDATE: I thought I'd give the second season a chance to see if there was any improvement in the writing or extreme and unnecessarily complicated plot. There was absolutely no change at all. In fact, the second season proved to be even more ridiculous than the first, sequencing a series of confusing events that just seemed to happen and appeared unrelated to the story. It was as if the writers did not use a story board but came to work each day with a new idea. Whether that idea was relevant or not to the story, appeared immaterial. New characters would spring from nowhere and as the series progressed, each episode became just a celebration of chaos. You could watch the first and last episode only and not miss anything because the episodes in between were just fairly pointless. One can only hope we'll be spared a third season of this very silly series.

Seriously disappointing << spoilers >>

[susan-wilde1 · 3/10 · 12 January 2015]

Really -- there are too many things wrong with this to make a list, I watched it all cos it was atmospheric and spooky, and I liked the general tenor of it .. but my wife packed in after two episodes and I kept thinking it could only get better .. in fact it got worse! The plot was full of holes and none of the links between the people and the money were ever really explained. The thing about the suicide on a certain date years after the Daniel committed suicide was probably the most ludicrous, in a long list of craziness ... never explained. Presumably that was not really sent by him. The 5 year time gap? What was that for? Daniel screaming at the painting? Really, what was that about? Who WAS tipping off the press to be there taking photos of Peter every time he witnesses a suicide? Never satisfactorily explained. The swinging loyalties of the pregnant journalist was that just cos of her hormones? To say nothing of the other mysteries of how the media were presented in this drama. The moody vicar /dad and the church angle? Was that serving any point at ALL? The real baddie behind it all was a lowly criminal finance investigator? How did she get into a position to do that? Never satisfactorily explained. Did she employ Vibeker just to drive her crazy with stalking and mis-direction?

Sitting on her paradise island at the end you'd have thought she'd have a happy face on her, having apparently got away with all the loot, but her face was as miserable as mine! We both felt robbed, somehow, eh!

Let there be Light!

[beauxlox · 5/10 · 1 June 2014]

A convoluted screenplay, ridiculously complex plot with no real clarification till the end, but well acted and exciting, despite the fact that excitement of this order is completely un-Norwegian. In the last scene shot in Norway (outdoors) we see the characters' faces and everything is clearly lit. Then the final scene, in the Caribbean, with clear light, despite the cloudy skies. Whatever prompted the director of this series to imagine that shooting practically everything else in darkness was a good idea? Did he imagine that it added to the darkness of the story? It is totally unauthentic – Norwegians crave light. Homes and offices are well lit and the idiotic feeble wall lights and desk lights we saw, without a main room light switched on, were simply NOT what you see in Norway. My wife is Norwegian and I have spent a lot of time in all the Nordic countries and have never experienced this sort of gloom. Close to the end, Peter is in the hospital and even there the corridors and rooms were not properly lit – impossible. If natural light was entering a room, the director made sure the actors were shot against it, so we couldn't see their faces. Why? The scene where Peter Verås returns to his apartment, the tiny lights are already on but he walks through the rooms and rolls into bed without turning on a light, was just laughable. I hope no one thinks that Norway is a country robbed of light. It's true their days are shorter in winter, but not much different (in the south of the country) from Scotland. And then there was the background music – also to add to the dramatic tension? What a nuisance; and where there was no music, there was noise. If there is a sequel to this, I shall not be watching it unless I learn that the director has grown up.

Plot ?

[anbergan · 1/10 · 28 September 2021]

One big pompous belly flop of an attempt at nordic noir.

No Longer Nordic Noir, But Rather Nordic Action

[bramadimas · 4/10 · 17 August 2016]

The first season of this series is good although by no mean easy to digest at one go nor is it one of my favourite Nordic series. Still, I would give it a 7 out of 10. The second season, however, tries too hard to replicate the success of the first season. And fails. Terribly.

Things change. Peter turns out to be a womaniser perhaps due to circumstances in his life. Inger Marie is divorced yet again and is in an affair with her colleague. In the first season, I feel that the writer(s) successfully combined mystery and conspiracy into the story line. The second season, on the other hand, consists of pure conspiracy that just doesn't build up my curiosity simply due to the lack of 'mysteriousness' - if that's a word. It feels like they are trying to compress so much into so little that the outcome is all over the place.

A colleague (and an office bully) is killed in his car while leaving the office. The Prime Minister badmouths his minister in a planned video leaking to push the minister further. Then the PM is murdered and his daughter poisoned while meeting Peter. Then waffles happened.

I'm not saying the plot of the second season is ludicrous but it is getting there. They might as well add a natural disaster scene to the story line and it still won't help save the show. The acting is also noticeably more wooden than the first with no strong characters in the lineup.

I have to admit though that this series is very brave in killing its protagonists - Peter's ex-girlfriend in the first season and Mathiesen in the second.

Overall: sorry, it's a flop