Top 35 Shows of 2014: No 32 The Bridge

One of the oddest US dramas ended this summer with a small audience and a smaller fanbase and that is hugely disappointing because The Bridge felt somewhat unique at times, bewildering at others but always a fascinating series to watch.

I’ve always been drawn towards the characters and the various friendships and working relationships on the show rather than the plot and season 2 provided many great moments between everyone. The long history between Detective Marco Ruiz (Demián Bichir) and cartel leader Fausto Galvan (Ramón Franco) led to some tense and riveting scenes between the pair. Marco spends much of season two caught up in the corruption of the Juárez police so it was a relief seeing him finally take charge and help Sonya (Diane Kruger) and her attempts to bring the terrifying Eleanor Nacht (Franka Potente) to justice.

Eleanor made for a much more compelling villain than David Tate did in season 1 helped by the mesmerizing presence of Franka Potente. I absoutely loved her scenes with Sonya. S2 also gave us more of journalists Adriana (Emily Rios) and Fyre (Matthew Lillard) whose friendship has always been the highlight of the show for me. And here is what I like about The Bridge even though others may dislike it, it allows us to spend time with characters even when the plot is moving slowly and things really should be happening, case in point the time spent with Linder (Thomas M. Wright) and Eva (Stephanie Sigman) probably wasn’t needed but seeing their relationship evolve and Eva begin to heal from her terrible ordeal was really a great pay off from S1.

We won’t get to see these characters again but it always felt like Sonya and Marco were fighting one battle in a larger war full of powerful people and agencies, they could never solve all the problems of the border but in the end they had each other’s backs at least.

Favourite episodes: Lamia/Beholder

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