Occupied
Occupied is a Norwegian political thriller TV series that premiered on TV2 on 5 October 2015. Based on an original idea by Jo Nesbø, the series is co-created with Karianne Lund and Erik Skjoldbjærg. Season 2 premiered on 10 October 2017. The third and final season started airing in Scandinavia on 5 December 2019, and was released in many countries via Netflix on 31 December 2019.
With a budget of 90 million kr, the series is the most expensive Norwegian production to date and has been sold to Belgium, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Iceland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Sweden, Spain, and the United Kingdom. It is also streamed by Netflix in Australia, Belgium, Canada, Ireland, Israel, India, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
The series depicts a fictional near future in which, following a catastrophic hurricane attributed to global warming, Norway's newly elected green party Ny Kraft Prime Minister has stopped the country's oil and gas production. Russia, with support from the European Union, occupies Norway to restore its oil and gas production, in response to a Europe-wide energy crisis.
Plot
Season One
In the near future, Middle East turmoil and the US withdrawal from NATO triggers an energy crisis. A catastrophic hurricane fueled by climate change devastates Norway, killing 700–800 people and causing untold physical and economic damage. The Norwegian green party Ny Kraft is swept to power in response, and idealistic Prime Minister Jesper Berg plans to develop thorium-based nuclear power as a viable alternative to oil. To this end, Berg cuts off all fossil fuel production, intensifying the energy crisis in the continent. The European Union, in desperation, acquiesces to a Russian-led invasion of Norway.Berg attends the inauguration of the first thorium plant, proclaiming the end of fossil fuels. As he leaves the event, Russian special forces kidnap Berg and fly him by helicopter to a forest. There, via video chat, EU Commissioner Pierre Anselme demands that he restart Norwegian oil production or face a full-scale invasion. Berg refuses and attempts to escape upon seeing a civilian approach the helicopter. The soldiers shoot the man, forcing Berg to agree to the EU's demands. Berg is released and is picked up by his bodyguard, Martin Djupvik, who has been pursuing the helicopter. To conceal the nature of the occupation, Berg spins the presence of the Russians as a temporary "energy partnership". This cover story unravels as a series of events complicates Norwegian–Russian interactions over the ensuing months while Berg's political position disintegrates as he tries to avoid bloodshed and war.
At a ceremony on Constitution Day, a member of the Royal Guard named Stefan Christensen attempts to assassinate Russian ambassador Irina Sidorova, but is thwarted by Djupvik. He is thanked by the ambassador after the event, and becomes an important player in relations between the Norwegian government and Russian embassy. A Norwegian military unit abducts two Russian officials who had been urging the Commander of the Royal Guard, Harald Vold, to surrender himself to Russian custody on suspicion of hatching the assassination plot, instigating a hostage situation with the demands being Christensen's release. Djupvik assists in resolving the situation, and afterwards is assigned by Police Security Service chief Wenche Arnesen to work on protecting Russian officials.
Bente Norum, who owns a restaurant opposite the Russian embassy in Oslo, becomes increasingly involved with the Russians, who become her primary customers. This does not sit well with her husband Thomas Eriksen, a journalist who is outspoken against the Russian presence in Norway. Their marriage becomes strained and Bente develops a relationship with a Russian embassy official named Nikolai.
When a Russian agent is killed in a hit and run in front of the embassy, the Russian government demands that Norway extradite the driver, a suspected Chechen terrorist named Elbek Musajev. Djupvik discovers the death was an accident caused by the man's son Iljas rather than a deliberate attack. After being sentenced to two years prison, Elbek commits suicide to avoid being deported to Russia. Iljas, blaming Djupvik for his father's death, meets Christensen, and the two plot vengeance against the Russians and the Norwegian government who accommodate them. They proceed to recruit Vold and a nationalist academic, Eivind Birkeland, and form the rebel group Free Norway.
Free Norway's first action is to detonate a bomb at the PST headquarters, injuring Djupvik. Thomas Eriksen is contacted by Christensen, who meets him and threatens his family, accusing them of being Russian sympathisers. A gas production facility in Viksund is then attacked, killing many Russian workers and causing the Russians to cancel their planned withdrawal from Norway. Tensions increase further as Russian troops enter Finnmark and a Russian naval fleet conducts exercises off the coast of northern Norway; Eriksen is found dead after going to investigate. Prime Minister Berg asks the EU to protect Norway's sovereignty, but the EU fails to act decisively.
PST chief Arnesen secretly contacts and assists Free Norway after discovering she has a terminal brain tumor. The group begins a recruitment drive of retired military personnel and prisoners. Berg has in the meantime set up a caretaker government under the orders of the King of Norway after losing a no-confidence motion from his own party. After discovering that Russian sleeper agents are entering the country illegally, Berg begins interning and deporting them back to Russia. In response, Russian "terrorists" seemingly armed with suicide vests storm Berg's office and hold him hostage. Berg is rescued and evacuated to the US embassy, setting up a government in internal exile. It emerges that the oil refinery attack was actually a false flag attack staged by the Russian government as a justification to extend their presence in Norway. When Bente Norum's daughter, Maja Norum, discovers evidence that the Russian military killed Eriksen, Bente expels Russian staff members from her restaurant in retaliation. After her stepson Petter becomes involved in Free Norway's activities, she agrees to provide the group information if he is kept out of it.
Berg, taking sanctuary in the US ambassador's residence, takes every opportunity to attempt to try and involve the United States in dislodging the Russians, but the Americans refuse involvement. Berg attempts to fly Russian internees to Svalbard, but the plane is intercepted by Russian fighter jets and forced to turn back. Events spiral further when, after Berg calls on the public to resist the Russian occupation in a public broadcast, Free Norway kidnaps Sidorova and one of her bodyguards. They execute the latter live over the internet and claim that they will do the same to Sidorova if Russia does not withdraw from Norway within 24 hours. In response, Russian special forces seize Oslo Airport and fly several military officials into Norway. Berg conducts a CNN interview denouncing Free Norway and again calling on the US to assist Norway; this prompts the US ambassador to mildly poison Berg's food, requiring him to be transported to hospital, off the embassy grounds. Djupvik and Bø track down and rescue Sidorova, and Iljas Musajev is killed by Djupvik in the process. Assisted by Bente Norum, Free Norway assassinate a high-ranking Russian general and kill several Russian soldiers in front of the Russian embassy. Bente sells her restaurant and leaves after being warned by Nikolai that he can no longer protect her.
The assassination is taken as an act of war, and Russian troops begin crossing the border into Norway. After her health deteriorates and she is told she can no longer work, Arnesen records and releases a video revealing her defection and claiming she is going into hiding as the leader of Free Norway. She then commits suicide at a church, and her body is cremated by the priest. Unaware of her death, Djupvik and Russian authorities seek to locate her. Meanwhile, Berg is kidnapped and taken via helicopter to a Free Norway resistance camp, where he is informed of Arnesen's defection and the escalation of the conflict. Upon landing, he is welcomed by Vold and asked if he is ready to fight for his country.
Season Two
After being kidnapped, Berg is proclaimed as the new leader of Free Norway, and the group carries out a guerrilla campaign against the occupation, attacking both Russian and Norwegian forces and staging terror attacks throughout the country, nearly plummeting the country into a civil war. Six months later, however, the insurgents have lost much of their strength due to heavy Russian military and Norwegian police action. Berg is thus forced into exile in neighboring Sweden, which had supported the initial Russian invasion as a member of the EU. Berg's replacement as prime minister, fellow party member Anders Knudsen, proves unable to handle the pressure and resigns. Following his exile to Sweden, Berg attempts to form a parallel government-in-exile. While acting as a go-between for Berg and the leaders of Norway's parliament, the Storting, his political adviser and lover Anita Rygh sees her political role marginalized. Rygh instead recommends to the majority party that they form a new government. The President of the Storting refuses, but offers her the prime ministerial position instead. She accepts, severing her ties with Berg.A Coast Guard officer approaches Berg with news that the Russians are installing cruise missile launchers on the oil installation of Melkøya in northern Norway. From his position in Sweden, Berg contacts the insurgents and orders them to get photographic evidence. Under the guise of an inspection, a platoon of guardsmen independently confronts members of a Russian private military company stationed there. One of the guardsmen, a naturalized Somali immigrant named Faisal Abdi, transmits a video of the missiles, but a gunfight breaks out and the guardsmen are captured and brought to a Russian prison. The leader of the platoon dies after being hit by gunfire. The return of the soldiers becomes a source of tension between both nations and Rygh's first true test as prime minister.
Since Russians were killed in the incident, the Russian authorities are unwilling to return the soldiers to Norway. Djupvik's wife Hilde drafts a plan to have them tried in Norway with a Russian lay judge presiding; the Russians agree, and all of the soldiers are found guilty and given the maximum sentence. Faisal's girlfriend Frida Engø and her hacker friend Leon Tangen launch Free Our Soldiers, a peaceful protest group demanding the release of the soldiers.
Bente Norum has opened a hotel with a Russian business partner named Zoya. As with the restaurant, this venue is popular among Russians and becomes a profitable venture. When a powerful Russian oligarch, Konstantin Minnikov, stays at the hotel, Norum is approached by a resistance agent who asks she copy the contents of Minnikov's phone and send it to them. She initially declines, but after discovering that Minnikov has secretly bought out Zoya's share of the hotel, she does so. Minnikov's daughter Nadja replaces Zoya as Norum's business partner, and befriends Norum's daughter Maja. Meanwhile, Nikolai has moved in with Norum and Maja.
Djupvik, now head of the PST, continues to walk a fine line between allegiances. After spending months trying to track down Arnesen, he interviews the priest at the church, who admits she has been dead the entire time. Having located the Free Norway camp, the Norwegian police capture Vold and other insurgents. The Security Service discovers that Berg is using the video game DayZ to communicate with the Free Norway insurgents. When they discover proof that he ordered the illegal mission in Melkøya, a warrant is issued for his arrest. He flees in the night, narrowly escaping capture, and makes his way to Poland, where he is sheltered by Ukrainian separatists. He meets a reporter from Germany's Stern magazine and leaks information damaging to Rygh. Norwegian and Polish authorities track him down and arrange his delivery in exchange for payment, but the separatists fake Berg's execution and he again escapes. He seeks refuge in Paris with his estranged wife Astrid and her new partner, a human rights lawyer named Jérôme. French police arrest Berg, but Jérôme takes his case to the European Court of Human Rights, claiming that his life would be at risk if he was extradited to Russia. The court rules in Berg's favour and orders his release.
After her mother voices her despair at the continuing violence, Rygh offers the remaining insurgents amnesty in exchange for their turning in their weapons. Vold agrees and announces the end of violent resistance, launching the Liberation Party as the peaceful political successor of Free Norway. Christensen refuses to lay down his arms, and becomes a lone wolf. He kidnaps Djupvik's daughter Andrea and demands freedom for the soldiers in exchange for her return, prompting condemnation from FOS. Andrea is rescued by Norwegian police, while Russian forces capture Christensen. They invite Djupvik to the facility where he is held. Djupvik interrogates him to find out if he was working alone, and determines that he was. Christensen taunts him, saying he regrets not killing Andrea. Djupvik then shoots and kills him.
Berg uncovers corruption in the finances of French EU commissioner Anselme, and uses his wife's influence to pressure him to help the Norwegian cause. He resigns from the commission and is replaced by a Polish politician who puts forward a motion demanding Russian withdrawal from Norway.
Minnikov discovers that Norum has been spying on him. When he confronts her, she accidentally kills him by pushing him out a window. Panicked, she calls Nikolai, who disposes of the body. The resistance find out about this and blackmail Norum, demanding she reschedule a hotel event which Sidorova and other powerful Russians will attend. After learning that Zoya has been blamed for the murder, Norum tries to turn herself in to the police, only to realise that the resistance agent works there and will not allow her to confess. She meets Djupvik and gives him information on the activities of the rebels. He informs Sidorova of the resistance's plans, which they assume to be an assassination plot against her. Nikolai overhears, and leaves Norum after realising she has been helping the resistance. She sells her share of the hotel to Nadja and seeks to emigrate to Russia with Maja. Hilde leaves Djupvik with Andrea after learning he killed Christensen.
After being released, Berg arranges a voyage by sea to return to Norway, with a group of supportive Eastern European politicians aboard to denounce the Russian intervention. However, his allies leave when Rygh's government threatens to cut off energy supplies to Europe. In response, Berg recruits FOS developer Leon to hack the Russian anti-aircraft defence system, and stages a false flag attack, using a Russian missile to shoot down a Finnish Air Force fighter jet. This causes the EU to demand an immediate Russian withdrawal from Norway; Sidorova and the Russian government agree to withdraw from Norway if Rygh remains as prime minister to guarantee cordial relations between the two countries.
Rygh pardons Faisal and the other soldiers in an attempt to rob Berg of political capital. After their release, Leon realises his actions led to the missile attack. At Frida's house, he raises his doubts about the resistance with Faisal, who states he believes they need to act against the Russian occupation. The house is then attacked by resistance soldiers, who kill Leon to ensure he cannot expose the truth about the missile strike. However, he manages to tell Frida shortly before his death. Separated from Faisal, she escapes and informs Rygh. When Berg's ship enters Norwegian waters, she orders the Navy to detain him, but they refuse. Djupvik realises the plot with Norum's hotel was a diversion, and that a coup d'état led by Vold is imminent.
With Djupvik's help, Rygh evades the Norwegian military as they begin occupying Oslo. She boards Berg's ship, where she threatens him with proof that he staged the missile attack. He agrees to implement her peace deal with Russia if he is placed in charge of the Norwegian armed forces. They spin Vold's coup as a temporary measure to maintain order during the crisis, and return to Norwegian shores together. Under orders from Berg, the military escorts Vold out of the prime minister's office, and he meets with Faisal, to whom he gives a gun. Stepping ashore at Oslo, Berg is greeted by an adoring crowd. Holding a joint speech with Rygh, he proclaims her as his official successor, and she announces the imminent end of the Russian occupation. As she is concluding her speech, she is shot by Faisal. Later that night, a distraught Berg returns to the prime minister's office, facing an uncertain future.