Is this worth watching what would you compare it to?

Totally worth watching! Reminds me of a more comedic Breaking Bad. It's touching, tense, creative writing (the situations in the series aren't like any other show I've seen), and the cultural overlaps are intriguing. One of my favorite shows.

I had my doubts when I read the blurb on it on Netflix but gave it a try. It started a little bit slowly but after a few minutes I got interested and then the first episode was over. I was hooked.

The premise is a mobster, Frankie the Fixer survives an attempted hit and decides to give up his boss in exchange for witness protection/relocation. He picks Lilyhammer Norway since no place in the US would work he thinks.

He studies Norwegian and gets good enough to understand it but always speaks English himself. Most Norwegians can speak it also it seems. He gets situated, makes some friends, finds a girl, and opens a nightclub.
Norway is pretty 'progressive' and Frankie, now Johnny, is old school. He always seems to come out on top though there are continual challenges.

These days it is a little odd to see a show which is not completely bound by political correctness. Johnny is not above using violence to solve a situation, though he is a reasonable guy and tries to resolve things by talking on the first try. Johnny scoffs at liberal methods and attitudes of conflict resolution and prevention. He knows that crooks and con-men will walk all over you if you fail to demonstrate strength, resolve, and muscle. He dislikes and rejects the airy, make believe notions of the liberal, politically correct, multicultural and socialist utopians. He often encounters liberal minded non-confrontationalists and wins them over to his side by solving problems for them which they could not solve using their own methods. And it is funny to watch all of this. [I wonder, did the show wind up offending some leftist/liberal, politically correct people of influence, and was there pressure brought to bear on Netflix to cancel the show?]
The people in the show are caricatures of types: Johnny the Mafia conciliator, Torgeir and his brother are awkward guys who mostly strike out with women and seem to screw up nearly everything they touch or do, the Norwegian police/justice system is the liberal "kill em with kindness" approach with their politeness and hospitality toward criminals, and their apartment like prison cells, and so on. In this way the show pokes fun at everyone in an amusing way.
The show also mimcs famous scenes from hit Mafia movies, like the scene in The Godfather where Marlon Brando sits at his desk and receives people who come to him with problems they want him to resolve for them and then says "I do this as a kindness between friends, but there may come a day when I will call on you to repay a favor...", and many others. These homages always get a grin from me.

The show ran 3 seasons. I have watched them twice, with some time in between. I wish they had made more.

It's definitely worth watching. It was in my Netflix queue for year.
I finally decided to give it a chance. I was very impressed with it. Wish I had watched it sooner.

Best show out there!! If anyone who loved Lilyhammer knows of another fun, off beat show, please do share.



A simple mind is a tidy mind.

It has an exciting premise but frankly after a few episodes, it becomes quite boring and repetitive. How much material can you produce for a show about a mafia guy who ends up in a small village in Norway? How much funny material about the differences between the mentalities of a sophisticated criminal and the parochial mentality of people living an unbelievably boring life? I am surprised the guy didn't commit suicide in the first season: I would if I ended up living there! One other thing is the cast of characters. I don't know about Norwegian cinema but the local actors are very amateurish. That’s why the series remains very limited. You need real secondary characters to make the show interesting. Van Zandt can’t carry the whole show alone.