— This article contains spoilers for season 1 of Black Sands. If you haven't watched the first season yet, we'd suggest heading to to do so before reading on —
Here are the non-negotiables of Nordic noir:
Ice cold vistas, mysterious murders, a troubled investigator, and an isolated township where secrets are more dangerous and slippery than the frost that layers over rooftops and driveways.
When it comes to ticking the boxes of what crime drama fanatics want, Black Sands aced every facet of the Nordic noir genre for season one, and it does so with equal panache in season two. While pleasing those of us who love a detective procedural, it never falls into predictable pitfalls, nor flaccid formulas. Black Sands season two is intelligent, drawing on the personal history of its characters to enliven the police investigation for a killer within their small community.
Season two lands viewers back in the Icelandic town of Glerársandar 14 months after the serial killings that were the focus of the first season. Just as the community is beginning to emerge from the fragile shell of tragedy and mistrust of one another, a devastating death is the precursor to a series of murders.
Season 2 takes us back to the black sands of Glerársandar. Credit: Glassriver / All3Media International
Tuning back into this second season of Black Sands is like putting down a book after a few chapters, then returning to the bookmark later than you intended. It's not a new book, but a continuation. Showrunner Baldvin Z has : “The second part of Black Sands picks up right where season one ended. The first episode feels more like episode nine than episode one of a new series. That’s why we prefer to call it ‘part two’ instead of ‘series two’.”
Fans of the first season will relish the return of Gústi (Ævar Þór Benediktsson), Fríða Melsteð (Lára Jóhanna Jónsdóttir), Davíð (Pálmi Gestson) and Tómas (Aron Már Ólafsson), while also celebrating the introduction of new cast members. The writers, Ragnar Jónsson, Aldís Amah Hamilton, Baldvin Z and Elías Kofead Hansen, deliver on a nuanced screenplay where cliches are ditched for relatable, realistic dialogue.
Anita (Aldís Amah Hamilton) with daughter Kría. Credit: Eva Rut Hjaltadóttir / Glassriver / All3Media International
The determined workaholic police detective Anita Elínardóttir (Aldís Amah Hamilton) is going stir-crazy at home with her baby daughter, Erla. The lure of hunting for clues and nabbing a murderer is irresistible, even if it becomes gradually clearer that Anita's history – growing up with an abusive, alcoholic mother – is somehow linked to the murders.
At first, police suspect the death of 60-year-old woman Helena is unsuspicious. She's found in her car on the black sands, seemingly the victim of an accident. This verdict is quickly scuppered when strangle marks indicate Helena was killed elsewhere and placed in the car post-mortem. In a town this small, it is perhaps unsurprising that Helena is the grandmother of Anita's friend, local policeman Tómas. Stressed and suffering, he lashes out at his colleagues when they fail to find any clues despite searching Helena's home.
Without Tómas to partner her, Anita convinces her romantic partner, Gústi, to join her in an investigation that is running parallel to the formal investigation by Anita's nemesis, Friða - insistently excluding Anita from any official procedures. Neither woman is prepared to reveal their discoveries, personal nor professional, leading to Friða's suspicion that Anita is keeping secrets owing to a nefarious involvement.
Gústi (Ævar Þór Benediktsson), front, with Tómas (Aron Már Ólafsson). Credit: Eva Rut Hjaltadóttir / Glassriver / All3Media International
The title of the series is drawn from Iceland's famed black sand beach, and filming duly takes place in Kirkjubæjarklaustur and around Reynisfjara. It is a place that is hauntingly beautiful, singular, and seemingly destined to attract dark fates. Drawn back to its shores for the first season, Anita inevitably had to remember what made her run away 14 years earlier and to live with her choices. In season two, she has accepted the grief of her largely loveless childhood and being robbed of a playful idyll of youth. Her own daughter is inevitably forcing Anita to question her preparedness to be a mother. Is she doomed to rehash the mistakes her own neglectful mother made? In returning to work while Erla is so young going to leave her daughter feeling abandoned and wanting to escape this town the moment she's old enough? Does history repeat for mothers and daughters, whatever lessons we hope we've learned from the past?
These fundamental existential questions are a key part of Black Sands season two, while the puzzle pieces of an intriguing murder mystery shift into place episode by episode.
Both seasons of Black Sands are streaming at SBS On Demand.
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Black Sands
