The Chestnut Man returns for a second season after a five year gap, this time adapting Søren Sveistrup sequel novel Hide And Seek. This atmospheric opening is successful in reintroducing detectives Naia Thulin and Mark Hess to a fresh, unsettling mystery while still navigating their complex personal lives, including the fact that they dated and separated between the two stories. While the new season lacks the creepy chestnut motif, the new “hide and seek” killer has an unsettling counting rhyme.
Like the first season it all begins with a flashback with the episode opening with a chilling 1992 prologue in Hornsherred, where schoolchildren on a nature walk discover a body curled inside a disturbing nest-like structure during a game of hide and seek. This immediately sets an uncomfortable, haunting tone, blending childhood innocence with horror in classic Nordic Noir fashion.
In the present, Danica Ćurčić’s Naia Thulin, is now more settled but still balancing her demanding career with motherhood. She’s preparing for a school Dads only camping trip with her teenage daughter Le, adding relatable domestic tension as she is the only mother going. As mentioned, her dynamic with Mikkel Boe Følsgaard’s Mark Hess has evolved in greatly between seasons and they haven’t spoken for some time. Hess returns to Copenhagen under personal circumstances involving his estranged brother, creating immediate friction and unresolved romantic tension. Their chemistry of professional respect mixed with personal hurt adds another layer to the story.
This season’s mystery begins with the disappearance of Zara Solak, a single mother who receives increasingly terrifying texts featuring twisted versions of a Danish children’s counting rhyme. The stalker sends videos and photos proving they’re watching her every move, culminating in the ominous “Found you!” Thulin, now in her new role at cyber crimes, is called in to try and track the woman through her tech. After some digging, it discover the the stalker’s IP address is the same as an unidentified suspect in an unsolved murder from two years earlier involving Marie Holst’s (Sofie Gråbøl) daughter Emma. Sofie Gråbøl, one of the true faces of Nordic Noir thanks to her unforgettable, groundbreaking performance as Sarah Lund in The Killing, brings palpable grief and steely determination to the grieving mother role. Her presence instantly adds weight and prestige to the series, expanding the emotional scope with the quiet intensity and moral complexity she has long brought to the genre.
Hess is pulled in to assist when the two cases are connected. New case is quickly shut down we a text is received from the missing mother but not before Hess discovers that Emma Holst also was sent the haunting counting rhythm. Hess and Thulin, with their trademark determination, return to the scene of the crime and their attention is quick drawn to the house opposite. Entering, guns out, they find a bloody chair and the realisation that the victim had been watching them through the window the whole time. The episode closes with the discovery of Zara’s body, arranged in a nest-like structure echoing the prologue.
The stalking element is portrayed with and uncomfortable reality. The voyeuristic videos and texts create genuine unease, shifting the threat from psychological torment to physical violence. The killer’s method – watching on public transport, videoing in the street, taunting, and ultimately striking – feels disturbingly contemporary and the playground game motif ups the creep factor. Pacing is deliberate and building, typical of quality Nordic noir. It spends time letting dread accumulate rather than rushing into action, which pays off in the closing moments as the connections between the case become clear.
This opening episode launches a promising new chapter. The blend of cold case mystery, personal drama, and procedural detail draw you straight in. By the end, once again you are hooked, leaving you wanting to know who is playing this deadly game of “hide and seek” and why.
🌟🌟🌟🌟
We Have Issues 