Episode 4
Episode 4 of A Storm for Christmas begins after the Swedish woman knocks Frank down with the cab. She helps him up and apologises. Frank refuses to take her any further and demands she pay up. She then realises she doesn’t have her wallet or her phone. Frustrated, Frank drives away. The woman finds her phone in the snow with a message saying that her flight to London has been cancelled. Arthur and Marius talk at the bar. Arthur laments the end of his career. Marius asks if he has a family. Arthur reveals he is divorced three times and never had any kids. Nevertheless, Marius encourages him. He says that even if only 32 people have bought tickets to his concert, he must be really special to those 32 people. Frank comes back to pick up the Swedish woman. She tells her to take him into town since her flight is cancelled. The young girl wakes up from a nap. Marius asks her if she was visiting someone and she replies that she was visiting her father. She described the way she spends Christmas with her father and how they end it by falling asleep while watching TV. Marius smiles. He gets a phone call and speaks to a doctor, asking for an update. He is told that the cancer is spreading and more radiation is required. Ronja arrives in the luggage area and asks Henrik if he’s seen the old man. She then meets Lasso the dog. Henrik tells her the dog is stuck in transit from Spain. As Lasso sniffs the old man’s cap that Ronja found, she asks if Lasso will be able to sniff out the man. Lukas tells his mother how his hearing has gotten better since his eyesight got worse. He can tell that a pair of men standing quite a distance away are talking about football. He hears Lasso’s footsteps before the dog appears, leading Ronja and Henrik. The stranger who offered Stine a ride stops to pick up his friend. Having gotten a weird smell from inside the car, Stine looks at the bag next to the driver’s seat and sees blood. When the stranger and his friend get back in the car she pepper-sprays both of them and escapes. Diana apologises for calling Olav a party pooper. Olav admits to focusing on what he doesn’t like while Diana admits to being a little naïve. As they talk about doing things for other people, Diana ends up calling Olav self-centered. He gets offended and leaves but leaves his phone behind. Stine walks back down the road she came. The two boys drive up to her and ask her why she did that. Angrily, they explain that the bag in the car had fresh sea trout and a sheep’s head for Norwegian Christmas dinner. They drive off and leave her there. A woman in a truck stops by Stine and tells her to get in. When Olav comes back for his phone, Diana apologises and convinces him to sit down again. She describes her personal Parisian fantasy and then goes on to highlight how important Olav’s job actually is. She says people like her need people like Olev to fly them to different places. Kaja and Abba draw each other’s faces on sheets of paper as the announcements to find Kaja keep going on in the background. When she sees security officers nearby, Kaja runs off. At the bar, David and Marius talk. David asks if Marius has done everything he wants to in life. Marius says he has nothing to be sorry about. He seems unwell but tells his colleague to go home anyway. Alex gets irritated when a small boy pisses on him. He leaves for a smoke and is followed by Arthur who is itching for one. Arthur and he talk. Alex says this is his second job. He blames the system for kids turning out this way. He says the real Christmas spirit is opening one’s heart. Henrik asks Ronja if he can confess something to her in confidence. He says he is never able to commit to someone because of his fear of compromise. She says he doesn’t have to compromise, particularly if he finds that special someone. He just has to keep trying. Kaja comes across Alex and Arthur. She tells Alex that she wishes for her parents to stop arguing. Alex sits her down and they chat, while Arthur leaves. Kaja explains that her parents seem disappointed with the way things are and get angry when they can’t express that disappointment. She says they don’t talk to each other about their needs, they just expect the latter to know it. Alex tells her she can come over and talk to him a little more if she wants to. The woman who gave Stine a ride invites her inside her house. Meanwhile, Lasso the dog leads Ronja and Henrik to the prayer room where they find Abba.
The Episode Review
The pace of Episode 4 does feel a little dragged compared to the others. The stories don’t feel quite as gripping and even the conversations seem to go around in circles without offering much new information or insight. But seeing as this is just past the middle mark, these faults are easy to forgive. Of all of the varied and intriguing stories, the one with Olav and Diana doesn’t strike the same emotional chord as the rest. It’s less quotidian and more cliché. While some of the other stories have an element of mystery, this one is predictable. As real as the argument between naiveté and cynicism is, these characters come across more like caricatures of those traits rather than real people. Nevertheless, there is enough heart in the story to keep one watching.
