Episode 6 marks a turning point in the season, shifting the series from building atmospheric dread to delivering answers and revelations that deepen both the central mystery and Harry Hole’s personal turmoil while maintaining the show Nordic noir sensibilities. It feels like the calm before a storm and gives renewed appreciation for the adaptation’s layered storytelling as all the various plot threads start to weave together.
Tobias Santelmann continues to deliver a masterful performance as Harry, whose insomnia and inner demons take centre stage. Unable to sleep amid the mounting pressure of the ritualistic murders, Harry reaches out to his best friend for pharmaceutical assistance, not just for rest but to help decipher the pentagram symbolism linking the victims, locations, and severed fingers. Santelmann conveys Harry’s fractured psyche with subtle precision: the exhaustion, the flickering intelligence, and the quiet desperation that makes his drug induced mtehod feel both brilliant and dangerously unhinged. Harry puts himself in the killer’s eyes, blurring the line between hunter and hunted in a way that echoes the character’s literary roots. Harry’s drug-assisted insights border on hallucinatory at moments, adding a trippy, almost experimental flair that differentiates the show from more straightforward procedurals.
Harry’s vision puts the pentagram in focus and when the team line it up with the three victims so far, the remaining to points on the star point out the locations of the next victims. With a pattern of the murders happening every five days, the clock is now ticking and they have one day to intervene. Harry and Beate go to the first location, an old woman living alone, while Waaler and the arm police stake out the second, a student housing building.
Another development comes with a closer look at the mailed finger belonging to the missing Lisbeth Barli. Forensic analysis uncovers crucial biological traces under the nail—fennel seeds that trace back to a specific meal that’s a favourite of Lisbeth’s husband, Willy, who was the one that reported her missing. As someone who has read the book, this is one of most out there pieces of the investigation that I wondered if it would be adapted or is Nesbø’s would take a different route. So far, it looks like he’s going to be true to his own work.
Parallel to the main case, tensions with Tom Waaler simmer effectively. Joel Kinnaman’s portrayal of the slick, corrupt officer gains new edges here, as he confronts forensic expert Beate over her sharing information with Harry. Their confrontation crackles with authority and resentment, underscoring the institutional rot Harry navigates. Waaler’s attempts to control the narrative around the investigation add a layer of paranoia, making every police interaction feel loaded. The dynamic between Santelmann and Kinnaman remains one of the series’ greatest strengths—two magnetic forces orbiting each other with mutual distrust, where professional rivalry masks deeper moral and personal betrayals.
Sticking with Waaler, the episode’s most shocking and unflinching sequences involves Tom Waaler in a seedy public toilet equipped with glory holes. Waaler, ever the calculating predator, engages a young sex worker named George, who has previously seen him dealing arms at the same location, in flirtatious conversation that quickly turns intimate. After a cigarette and a kiss, George recognizes Waaler from news coverage of the serial killer case, an admission that seals his fate. Lured into the cubicles under the pretense of oral sex, the encounter erupts into horrifying brutality. Waaler slices off George’s penis, then, as his victim collapses in agony, drives the blade through the opening to stab George in the neck. In a button to the scene, Waaler then feeds the man’s penis to his own dog. This is all raw, graphic, and deeply disturbing, executed with clinical precision that underscores Waaler’s psychopathic detachment. It not only highlights the depths of his corruption and capacity for casual violence but also serves as a chilling reminder of the greater darkness that Harry is up against. Joel Kinnaman’s performance here is ice-cold and magnetic, shifting seamlessly from seductive charm to lethal efficiency in a heartbeat, making Waaler one of the most compellingly monstrous antagonists in recent crime television.
Five leaves the investigation at a compelling crossroads: Beate appears to uncover the killer’s identity while the Waaler’s team fail to prevent the next killing. The episode masterfully builds the tension in it’s final scenes without resolving too much, ensuring the season’s momentum carries forward with greater urgency.
These middle episode’s of the season demonstrates confidence in its audience to go with the story, delivering thrills alongside raw character work. The ritualistic elements evolve from eerie set pieces into tools for psychological exploration, while the corruption subplot adds timely friction to the police procedural core. Santelmann’s Harry feels increasingly lived-in, flawed, relentless, and achingly human, making his pursuit not just a hunt for a killer but a battle against his own unravelling.
The episode stands as a highlight of the series so far as it delivers satisfying progress without sacrificing the brooding tension that defines the show. Now it all comes down to whether the show can stick the landing with it’s upcoming big reveals.
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