By Will Barber Taylor

Darri Ólafsson reprises his role as chief police inspector Andri, who investigates a more complex and challenging murder case, alongside his investigating partners played by Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir and Ingvar Eggert Sigurðsson.

Former local police chief, Andri Ólafsson has started a new life in Iceland’s capital of Reykjavik. As he tries to rebuild a shattered family at home, an attempt to assassinate a politician through self-immolation throws his work back into the deadly cat and mouse games he had been trying to escape.

Quickly learning that the attacker was the politician’s twin brother, his investigation leads him back to the same small town he had run from, and to his old partner. As he and Hinrika, now the town’s Sheriff, start putting the pieces together, they realise that the seeds of crime may have struck root higher up than they ever thought possible and as such the risk to both them, and their loved ones, has never been greater.

Trapped, like its previous series, is the type of drama that ensures that its audience is kept on the edge of their seats. Like all good Nordic dramas, it elegantly mixes evocative scenery with thrilling narrative to create a dynamic cocktail of storytelling. Building on its first series, Trapped allows viewers to once again be sucked into the mystery and the characters presented in the drama as if they had only been away from them for a day.

After the ending of the first series, Police Chief Andri Ólafsson (Darri Ólafsson) has moved to Iceland’s capital Reykjavik. With him discovering a terrible secret at the end of the last series and his ex-wife and family leaving him, Andri isn’t in the best frame of mind when the second series begins. So, when he is forced to return to his home town, he isn’t looking forward to it – the feelings of regret and desperation for normality are artfully expressed by Ólafsson in the first episode. We feel his pain at being forced back into a world that he was so apart of and then, through his own skill had to leave to preserve himself. As Andri returns he discovers how things have moved on. Hinrika (Ilmur Kristjánsdóttir) has now succeeded Andri as Chief of Police and is attempting to move on with her life. Ásgeir still assists Hinrika and the trio’s reunion is perfectly played to  be both affectionate and bittersweet. This really helps to anchor the series and help to re-establish the relationship that our central characters had prior to the end of Series 1.

Whilst the previous series of Trapped had its international elements, it generally felt like a story that was defined by its geography. Andri was trapped by the ice that surrounded him and the remoteness of the location. In this series, more focus is placed on Andri being trapped by his emotions – he’s Trapped in a dangerous situation because of his emotional attachment to his home town means he feels he has to solve its latest mystery.

The second series of Trapped is as engaging and enjoyable as its predecessor. Its utilisation of a thrilling plot, gorgeous scenery and stellar acting allows it to be a truly binge able series. It is, in short, perfect and I cannot recommend it enough.