Joseph’s Blessing is the slickest episode of the season so far. It tightens the screws on the ongoing investigation while giving Harry Hole’s personal struggles more room to breathe. The episode strikes a solid balance delivering several key revelations without feeling rushed or overly convenient while still keeping the main characters in focus.
The story picks up directly from the previous episode with the reveal that the killer is Martin Aminov, a Norwegian diamond dealer who lives in Prague. He has been returning to visit his mother in Oslo every five days, the timing lining up with each killing. Harry and his team are blocked from taking the killer down as Tom Waaler insists he does it himself. Joel Kinnaman’s portrayal of the ambitious and deeply corrupt officer adds a layer of tension. He is clearly planning on killing Aminov but when Beate interrupts him he has to make an arrest.
Intercut with this is Harry’s realisation that the killer has been at the student accommodation when he sees a pentagram carved into a door frame. The police storm the room, a location we saw a killing take place in the pervious episode, but it’s clean. He Harry is alone in the apartment he discovers a rotting hand missing a thumb, which in turn leads to the discovery of a weeks dead student. This reshapes the whole investigation with the new victim now being the first changing the pattern the police were following.
Things come to a head when Waaler pulls Harry aside and calmly instructs him to kill Aminov using a rare poison known as Joseph’s Blessing. This murder is to be Harry’s initiation into Tom’s corrupt schemes. The scene crackles with quiet menace as Waaler lays out the cold logic: the poison would make the death look like a suicide, tying up loose ends while protecting larger interests within the force. Kinnaman delivers the order with chilling detachment, making Waaler’s corruption feel both calculated and deeply personal. Harry’s restrained response deepens the moral conflict at the heart of the series, forcing him to weigh justice against survival in a system that is already be compromised.
Everything has been arranged so Harry can complete his mission. Animov is unguarded in a low security cell and the prison officer on duty has been paid to look the other way. Hole asks the killer why he appears so calm and he says it’s because he’s innocent. It quickly be becomes apparent that Harry is not there to commit a murder but has played Waaler to get the information he needs.
Finally Harry has what he needs to connect Waaler to everything, he just has to keep Aminov alive long enough to get an official statement. The breakout is smooth as Waaler misses a phone call because he has gone full America Psycho, dancing half-naked, flirting with himself in front of a mirror but now the Danger has increased for Harry. Not only is he transporting a potential serial killer, he now has a hit order out on him from whoever the mastermind is behind the police corrupt.
At the start of the episode it looked like the story was wrapping up and now it has been blown wide open again. Is Aminov innocent of the killings like he says? How deep does Waaler’s darkness go? He is displaying psychotic tendences but is he the killer or just trying to cover up his drug smuggling? How is Harry surviving this with his soul intact? There is also a final revelation that there is someone else missing. How wrong has the investigation gone because they missed the first victim?
Joseph’s Blessing delivers meaningful progress as the story takes massive leaps forward but still leaves unanswered questions . It deepens the sense of moral ambiguity surrounding the police force and pushes Harry further into dangerous territory, both professionally and personally. The final scenes build anticipation effectively for the remaining episodes for what should be an intense conclusion.
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