On a windswept Norwegian island live two families bound by both business and blood feuds. The streaming show Milliardærøya, known in English as Billionaire Island, takes us into their world. Created by the team behind Lilyhammer, this drama comedy ventures beyond coastal cliffs to explore the people and passions driving two fishing empire dynasties.
The island setting is home to generations of the Lange and Meyer families. Industrialists who’ve shaped Norway’s lucrative salmon farming industry for decades, their rivalry now runs deeper than the fjords. Julie Lange leads Marlax, one business headed from sleek city offices. Gjert Meyer heads the other, Meyer Fjordbruk, from their older generation approach.
When a rival company shareholder dies abroad, Julie spies opportunity. Her plan to buy his shares and merge the businesses meets resistance from tradition-bound Gjert. But both clans hide cracks within, and growing discord may prove the wider threats. Beyond bottom lines and boardroom brawls, the drama delves into layered ties—of loyalty, resentment, and humanity—uniting these formidable families beneath turbulent surface currents.
Fateful Shares, Families at Odds
The sudden overseas death of a fishing company shareholder sets the stage for a power struggle between two industry dynasties. Ole Richard Lykke, a significant investor in Meyer Fjordbruk, passes away with his shares now inherited by a distant relative. Across the fjord, Julie Lange sees an opportunity.
As CEO of salmon farming giant Marlax, Julie hatches a plan. She travels to buy Richard’s shares from his bemused aunt, seeking the backing to merge Meyer into her business. If successful, Marlax would dominate global exports from their isolated Norwegian island. But one man stands in her way—Gjert Meyer.
Gjert built Meyer Fjordbruk into an industry force alongside raising a family. Now his daughter Trine assists, while Amy aids Julie and grandson “Mono-brow” faces insecurities. Learning of Julie’s intentions, old rivalries flare anew between the heads as their clans prepare to clash.
Buying the shares isn’t simple. Richard’s bitter aunt fuels old grudges against stolid family patriarch Gjert. Yet Julie’s smooth dealing wins the day, to Gjert’s shock. Her takeover bid interrupts his confirmation celebration, poisoning the waters between them.
Within both broods simmer tensions that will spill as the season’s central rivalry unfolds. Family members vary in loyalties to the feud, with ulterior plans afoot. And with fortunes at stake under public scrutiny, each clan member’s deepest faults may emerge.
So the stage is set as the family chart divides over a prize that could permanently reshape their isolated world and destinies. Across the island, preparations commence for the high-seas battle to control its thriving salmon empire.
Rival Clans, Stormy Kin
Beyond fortunes and fishing grounds, the hearts of these families tell deeper tales. Community and cracks within show in how each treats their own blood.
Gjert Meyer’s clan reflects tradition, though strains appear. His home exudes a working man’s practical pride rather than flashy wealth. Respect for elders and ancestors binds them. Yet Gjert’s daughter Trine finds herself cast aside, her potential dismissed as “unreliable,” while a peer like Amy gains patriarchal favor.
The Langes project success’ polished veneer. Stylish modern offices and a gorgeous fjordside cabin contain their world. But ambition smothers the people beneath fame’s façade. Julie’s focus crushes her offspring under career shadow—”a”Marlax executive toiling in her mother’s shadow.” Her Hollywood dreaming son falls prey to leeching “hangers on.”
Beneath facades fester wounds that events may force open. Gjert denies his daughter a voice in “his” business due to biases, not merit. JJ’s acting coach praises were purchased, not earned, stunting the boy’s development. Families should lift each other; here foundations fracture the individuals they were built to shelter.
Mutual distrust threatens to unravel what shared history bound. Gjert distrusts Trine’s leadership skills yet respects a peer, Amy, in her place. Trine reacts by framing her father in wounded fury at his favoring of “the rival family.” Julie’s children find themselves cast as supporting players in her drama rather than partners valued for who they are.
So ambitions personal and financial sow division within camps meant to stand as one. When the coming clash of industries enacts its toll, will family or fortune prove the true wellspring of strength—or the Achilles heel by which these giants fall?
Buried Currents
Beyond surface clashes over fish and funds, deeper themes course through these families’ fates. Their rivalry becomes a lens reflecting what really moves both clans through changing tides.
Success strains bonds of kin, swelling egos at each other’s and their own’s cost. Gjert judged daughter Trine “unreliable,” but under stress each proves fallible. Julie’s drive smothers her offspring, severing the lines and keeping her clan whole. Their industry gave wealth, yet buried devotion to what truly endures: loved ones, not ledgers.
Across generations, seas change as the young try stepping from waves their forebears rode so long. Trine and JJ seek roles beyond what ancestors envisioned, to varying welcome. How proud fathers and ambitions shaped, or crushed, the individuals underneath forever reverberates.
More subtly, their industry comes under study as the natural environment sustaining it. Hennie and Amy question impacts to landscapes and lives down generations. Their concern hints that industrialization detached society from reliance on ecosystems at its peril. If natural balances shift too far, might cultures follow?
So beneath surface clashes, deeper undercurrents flow of what connects and divides: of familial bonds strained yet sustaining, of identities struggling to break free, of environments anchoring communities yet stressed by “progress” unmoored. In weathering turmoil of rivalry and relation, might some anchors yet hold fast what truly matters through the storms?
Quiet Depth Below Calm Waters
This show runs a clever current. Underplayed drama flows with dry humored warmth. Performances capture people, warts and all, with care, not cruelty.
Realism reigns in settings devoid of flash. Offices lack luster but ring lived-in; homes project character over cash. Costumes cleave to lives, not labels. Scenes unfold off sensational beats, finding humor in nuance—downtrodden bunting refusing to stand, stray seafood chat.
Tight-lipped delivery perfectly pairs the laconic locale. Dialog drips dry, turning tears to grins as discomfort surfaces bond beneath. Characters feel fleshed by sparse grace notes that round their cut-outs. Laughs relieve tension where exuberance may drown, preserving portrayals’ poignancy.
Subtle scenes steer us deeply into this island’s still calmer waters, past surface ripples to richness below. No grandstanding characters or crashes hook easy eyes. Satisfying drama dwells where grounded grace notes let layered lives and feelings quietly emerge. When tensions mount, small moments release pressure just enough, maintaining balance to the last.
Complex Currents Below the Surface
This drama boasts a crew of captivating players that grows richer with every scene. A few stand out for their evolving journeys.
Trine Meyer begins as stubborn if stifled stirred sympathy. Denied respect by her father, her passion to prove worth spirals into resentment. But strains unseen soften edges, hints of peace emerging when purpose finds fruition on her own terms. Hanne Skille Reitan imbues frays within with nuance.
Amy Lange too shows depth increases when breaking bonds to blaze her own star. From dutiful daughter to captain charting fresh waters, she navigates new independence with empathy forming her flaws. Ragne Grande breathes life into a transformation hard-won.
Regretfully hurried, supporting sailors require more time to fully unfurl their intricacies. Gjert stays stern, motivations veiled, though flashes of feeling peek through when family cracks facades of strength. With further exploration, weightier duties could emerge for those now beyond horizons’ edges, birthing discoveries to match waves’ lasting pull.
For all the turbulence their tides bring, Billionaire Island triumphs most where it captures hearts evolving and performances elevating relatable journeys from ripples to poetic force. Subtleties amid upheaval ring clearest, testifying to depths transcending surface turmoil’s ebb and flow.
Conquest and Community on the Coast
Overall, Billionaire Island shows promise in offering moving portraits that resonate beyond its insular setting. Grounded acting and writing delve into what connects communities and pulls them apart with care.
This young drama smoothly establishes its world and central players, laying solid foundations for emotional arcs to evolve from here. Intimate moments peppered through gradually peel layers from complex souls, keeping depth accessible.
Comedic touches add welcome levity too, ensuring an engaged viewing. While context around their industry could flesh the backdrop, character depth props the narrative neatly so far.
Just starting its journey, the first season leaves waters still shifting beneath calm surfaces shown. But this promising debut earns patience to see where undercurrents may guide its people and fortunes in seasons to come.
For those who find themselves in families and flawed humans grappling with change themes to reflect our own conquest and community, Billionaire Island offers calm waters well worth exploring further to appreciate the hidden depths below.
The Review
Billionaire Island
Billionaire Island presents a compelling character-driven drama with subtle humor and insight into family dynamics. While the pacing is slow to start, the writing and performances engage the mind and heart alike in exploring universal themes through the lens of an insular Norwegian fishing community. Despite a lack of industry context, this promising first season establishes an immersive world and complex characters worth following in future episodes.
PROS
- Complex, subtly developed characters
- Intimate examination of family dynamics and human nature
- Smoothly paced narrative that engages intellect and emotions
- Grounded yet immersive atmosphere
CONS
- Slow start as story establishes pieces
- Lack of context for the featured industry
- Plots remain predominantly focused on character over action.
