Making Millions Of Mistakes

When Danish Prime Minister Birgitte Nyborg (Sidse Babett Knudsen) came to the end of her first year in office, her marriage had collapsed, her government was teetering, and she'd had to make a strategic move by firing her mentor and dearest friend. As she winds up her second, however, she does so with a new sense of purpose, strength, and confidence -- and all it took for her to get there was for her daughter to have a nervous breakdown.

The main consequence of Birgitte's divorce from Philip (Mikael Birkkjær) was, of course, Birgitte's denial -- "forgetting" the divorce papers at the office so that she couldn't sign them; acting as though their separation were just a blip and insisting, even after Philip had a new girlfriend, that she and Philip are destined to grow old together. Then, there was the impulsive, self-destructive move of sleeping with her driver, Kim (Adam Brix) and consequently getting him reassigned to another ministry and out of her day-to-day life. Her own turmoil made it harder for Birgitte to see the toil the divorce was taking on Laura (Freja Riemann), the pressure Laura was putting on herself not to add to her mother's problems by being less than perfect, and eventually buckling under the weight of her own anxiety.

Unfolding over most of the season, the story of Laura's mental illness built slowly and, in its progress, gave Knudsen the opportunity to play Birgitte at her worst, which Knudsen did well -- bravely, even. Even as she's trying to solve Laura's problems as quickly and efficiently as possible, Birgitte bristles at the idea of letting Laura take antidepressants -- or, as Birgitte insists on dismissively calling them, "happy pills." Most inconventiently, Laura's breakdown happens amid a series of victories for Birgitte and her government; instead of the gamesmanship of Season 1, Season 2 finds Birgitte accomplishing major legislation, and shepherding successful peace talks in "Kharun," the show's fictionalized take on Darfur. Which is why, once the press learns which hospital is treating Laura and what for, and descends with so much force that the facility's director is forced to ask Laura to leave for the sake of the other patients, it's all the more radical for Birgitte to take a leave of absence from her post to give all her attention to Laura and her care. Gone is the short-sighted, power-grabbing Birgitte of the show's first season; this one boldly risks her position and career for the sake of achieving something more important: restoring Laura's health.

Obviously, this is not the move of a woman who feels like she's really been killing it, life-wise, so Birgitte is the recipient of two pretty great "buck up, little camper" speeches. First, after discussing Laura's discharge from the private psychiatric hospital where Laura's been treated as an in-patient, Birgitte asks for a couple of minutes with Lisbet (Stina Ekblad) to ask what part Birgitte's career had in Laura's illness. Smoking by the window, Lisbet shrugs, "Children always have a reason to blame their parents. That's the main theme of any Greek tragedy." Birgitte's like, thanks? But as she turns to leave, Lisbet adds, "I'm a mother too. I have a career. I've made millions of mistakes. They've made me all the wiser. You can't work twenty-four hours and be a good mother at the same time. But you can't stop working, either. What kind of role model is that?" Birgitte admits that she doesn't feel like a role model, and that sometimes she welcomes work so that it can keep her from "having to deal with [her] family." Lisbet: "Join the club." She walks closer to Birgitte to "make one thing clear": "Laura did not get ill because you made Prime Minister."

It's an important point for the show to make -- particularly since the press, having backed off Laura herself, has now turned to filling its coverage during Birgitte's hiatus with the question of whether her unusual leave of absence proves that women aren't capable of being both mothers and politicians. So when Birgitte does decide to return to office, Bent (Lars Knutzon) presents her with an old page of notes listing their goals for her administration, and pointing out that she's achieved them all: "Nobody ever praises the Prime Minister, so I'm going to praise you. You've done a hell of a job, Birgitte!" The reassurance of not one but two authority figures give Birgitte the nerve to face down her main opponent, Hesselboe (Søren Spanning) and end the season by calling an election. It's as though Birgitte, having already handled the worst things that could befall her personally (the end of her marriage; the illness of her child), she's realized that there's no point being calculating or timid in her professional life.

The season ends with some loose threads still untied: Philip, having broken up with his girlfriend, Cecilie (Mille Dinesen), seems to have taken seriously Birgitte's accusation that he gave up too easily on their marriage -- just in time for her to have too much else on her mind to notice him trying to talk to her about it. And while Kasper (Pilou Asbæk) and Katrine (Birgitte Hjort Sørensen) have agreed in principle that they'll start trying to get her pregnant, the news of the election reminds us that Birgitte is not the only workaholic for whom balancing career and family is not a natural fit. But that just means there's lots of meaty topics left to cover in Season 3...which starts on Friday. Until then...