Beforeigners is the bonkers Viking show you need in your life right now
Imagine you’re a police detective in Norway, one of the safest and most industrialised countries in the world. You’re expecting your first daughter and just bought an apartment in the most expensive area of Oslo, the capital city.
Cut to almost 18 years later, and the neighbourhood has been overrun by immigrants who don’t quite speak the language and have a vastly different culture. There are old men living in the streets, doing cookouts where there used to be a quiet park, kids running around, and a goat standing in the middle of the lift.
But the immigrants don’t come from a far away land, but from Oslo itself, only from a different time.
Turns out, an unexplained worldwide phenomenon has brought thousands of time-immigrants, or "beforeigners" to the present. Bohemians from the 19th century, Vikings from the 11th century and prehistoric people from the Stone Age have flooded the streets of Oslo, completely transforming the city — and they're now facing hate and discrimination from contemporary citizens.
Beforeigners is many things, but subtle isn’t one of them. The series is obviously an allegory for the refugee crisis, and a big part of the story deals with how these different groups try to adapt to their new/old home while facing discrimination from locals who think that "Norway is for contemporary Norwegians."
Though presented with a new and clever twist – that the beforeigners were literally living in the city themselves hundreds of years ago – the themes explored here aren’t really different from other series like Alien Nation or Les Revenants. At times, the parallels are so lazy that they nearly become a parody of themselves, but when it does work, Beforeigners becomes a hilarious satire with great world-building.
The series is helmed by Anne Bjørnstad and Eilif Skodvin, best known for creating the crime/comedy series Lilyhammer. Once again, the duo use their ability to mix genres in order to make fun of the bonkers situation that the characters of Beforeigners find themselves in.
In the first episode alone, the series takes great delight in exploring this major culture clash. As 19th-century men ride horses on the streets of Oslo while wearing earpods, we're introduced to how beforeigners have been gradually integrated ever since they first started coming to the present.
A radio host says people can’t really use the term "Viking" anymore, and should refer to that group of beforeigners as "people of Norse background" instead. Prehistoric people live half-naked on the streets, hunting for food in the woods or in people’s trashcans, and hipster bohemian bars with "real" food start popping up everywhere, as do Norse pubs with rune signs on the doors.
There’s even humour to be had at the expense of influencer culture, as we meet a woman who's made a fortune by blogging about being married to a caveman and is preparing for the launch of her new couch pillow collection.
It's through this kind of satire that Beforeigners really shines. Oslo landmarks start to quickly change across every episode, with road signs being written in runes as well as Norwegian, more and more people filling the streets, making a strong contrast with the stylish, gentrified neighbourhoods of Oslo.
Fans of History’s Vikings will rejoice to see the focus on the Viking-era beforeigners. Not only do we see a historic figure or two make an appearance, the Norse language also becomes an increasingly bigger part of the show, which hints that the next season could introduce more sword-clashing action.
The problem with Beforeigners is that it can’t escape the "Nordic noir" curse that's befallen a number of Norwegian and Scandinavian productions over the past few years.
Related: Vikings: Valhalla – Release date, cast, plot and everything you need to know
The central story of the season deals with the murder of a Stone Age beforeigner and how this impacts the buddy-cop relationship shared between a contemporary cop who's leading the case, and his new Viking-era partner.
Though their banter is a delight in every episode (Krista Kosonen is a particular highlight as the fish-out-of-water cop), Nicolai Cleve Broch’s contemporary, hard boiled detective and his substance-abuse character arc seem to belong in a different show, making the parody elements of the story feel out of place whenever he’s on screen.
Beforeigners may suffer from being too similar to other shows, but what it offers is a tongue-in-cheek story with plenty of laughs and ridiculously entertaining twists, which sell you on a world that changes when immigrants from the past start to appear.
Hopefully, a potential second season will focus more on the world itself and less on the brooding detectives who work within it.
Beforeigners is currently streaming on HBO Now and HBO Go, with new episodes scheduled to be released every Tuesday in the US.
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