While I'll try to keep it to the minimum, I'll still mark it as a spoiler, because the title says it all already.
By now I don't think it bears mentioning what Riget is, if you haven't seen it - just do it. There's no better way to put it, it's a mandatory classic. I'm here just to talk about the third season.
Before I get critical, I'll say that it is done rather tastefully, of all the "puppeted corpses" - it's no wonder that Vor Trier could take good care of his own. The actors are all great, the scenes and the presentation - classic.
However... that's all I can say about it. It is a well-puppeted corpse. The new actors can't do better than the originals, because they aren't supposed to. Most of their characters and even scenes are designed to repeat the original. It's a nice modern, sort of "continued" take on the story, but it's the same story. And therein lies the problem. Because it more or less repeats Season 2, with some prologue parts of Season 1 - scene to scene. Everyone felt like the end of Season 2 was a cliffhanger, like "wait, really?!" And seems like... Von Trier has got tired of keeping it this way and made this season to be a definitive statement - "yes, really". Yes, Riget "really" ended on Season 2.
And I think I have a theory about that. You see, Riget itself was created by Lars von Trier and Tómas Gislason. Niels Vørsel assisted with the script, but the original, the first season was created by Gislason. And most viewers would agree that it was the first season that has cemented Riget's status as a classic.
However, for whatever reason(and this is merely a theory based on wiki data), Gislason was absent for Season 2. Whether it was a creative difference or lack of input, the "chaos" of second season was Von Tier's doing, along with Vørsel. Maybe, if the protagonists' actors haven't left us behind in this world, we could see the actual ending of the story, but now I wonder if there even was one.
Season 3 begins with a decent promise, it fools you with tributes and homages and welcomes you with the characters and personalities that you recognize and want to see. But throughout - you can see that it's just... a repeat of the old story. And while I can't say that I expected a different conclusion, if you think about the road and where it ended - you can see that it's almost literally just Season 2. Sure, some arcs have been "resolved", but the message, the underlying subject of the narrative remained the same. In other words, if you expected Season 3 to finally lay the mystery to rest, to finally answer the questions and conclude the story - you'll come out disappointed. Because sometimes, so to say, the top should just keep spinning. You may already know, or you may have made your mind about it falling down, but the very nature of it spinning is what gives the conclusion its meaning.
And, in my opinion, Riget falls into that category. Von Trier and\or Vørsel haven't told us anything that would truly warrant an entire season. While I can't say that a movie or a TV special would be enough, again, the third season IS well-filmed and a pleasure to watch, it doesn't justify its existence as a "belated conclusion". I'd say it's more like a reminder. And, as I said earlier - a sharp and final response to anyone who kept demanding a finale all these years. The box was always empty. And we should accept it as it is. Not only because the alternative would be rather boring, but because trying to fill the box would make the box itself pointless. And while Season 3, again, tried to wrap up some arcs and show some more details - it reminded us that everything happened as it was intended. No need to blame the actors.
By now I don't think it bears mentioning what Riget is, if you haven't seen it - just do it. There's no better way to put it, it's a mandatory classic. I'm here just to talk about the third season.
Before I get critical, I'll say that it is done rather tastefully, of all the "puppeted corpses" - it's no wonder that Vor Trier could take good care of his own. The actors are all great, the scenes and the presentation - classic.
However... that's all I can say about it. It is a well-puppeted corpse. The new actors can't do better than the originals, because they aren't supposed to. Most of their characters and even scenes are designed to repeat the original. It's a nice modern, sort of "continued" take on the story, but it's the same story. And therein lies the problem. Because it more or less repeats Season 2, with some prologue parts of Season 1 - scene to scene. Everyone felt like the end of Season 2 was a cliffhanger, like "wait, really?!" And seems like... Von Trier has got tired of keeping it this way and made this season to be a definitive statement - "yes, really". Yes, Riget "really" ended on Season 2.
And I think I have a theory about that. You see, Riget itself was created by Lars von Trier and Tómas Gislason. Niels Vørsel assisted with the script, but the original, the first season was created by Gislason. And most viewers would agree that it was the first season that has cemented Riget's status as a classic.
However, for whatever reason(and this is merely a theory based on wiki data), Gislason was absent for Season 2. Whether it was a creative difference or lack of input, the "chaos" of second season was Von Tier's doing, along with Vørsel. Maybe, if the protagonists' actors haven't left us behind in this world, we could see the actual ending of the story, but now I wonder if there even was one.
Season 3 begins with a decent promise, it fools you with tributes and homages and welcomes you with the characters and personalities that you recognize and want to see. But throughout - you can see that it's just... a repeat of the old story. And while I can't say that I expected a different conclusion, if you think about the road and where it ended - you can see that it's almost literally just Season 2. Sure, some arcs have been "resolved", but the message, the underlying subject of the narrative remained the same. In other words, if you expected Season 3 to finally lay the mystery to rest, to finally answer the questions and conclude the story - you'll come out disappointed. Because sometimes, so to say, the top should just keep spinning. You may already know, or you may have made your mind about it falling down, but the very nature of it spinning is what gives the conclusion its meaning.
And, in my opinion, Riget falls into that category. Von Trier and\or Vørsel haven't told us anything that would truly warrant an entire season. While I can't say that a movie or a TV special would be enough, again, the third season IS well-filmed and a pleasure to watch, it doesn't justify its existence as a "belated conclusion". I'd say it's more like a reminder. And, as I said earlier - a sharp and final response to anyone who kept demanding a finale all these years. The box was always empty. And we should accept it as it is. Not only because the alternative would be rather boring, but because trying to fill the box would make the box itself pointless. And while Season 3, again, tried to wrap up some arcs and show some more details - it reminded us that everything happened as it was intended. No need to blame the actors.