A Storm for Christmas – Season 1 Episode 2 Recap & Review

Episode 2

Episode 2 begins with Priest Ronja being told about a man who seems lost. He was found with no ID or passport on him. Kine directs her to an old man seated on the chairs nearby. Ronja tries speaking to him, even trying out multiple languages, but he doesn’t respond.

On a train, Stine talks to her boyfriend on the phone, telling him about her plan to take a boat to Copenhagen.

At the airport, a Swedish woman in a luxurious coat goes up to Kine. Her flight to London has been cancelled and she wants another one. Quite rudely, she pulls out all her credit cards and demands that Kine finds her another flight. Kine says that as long as her cards can’t change the weather, there are no flights.

As the Swedish woman walks away in a huff, another young woman comes up to Kine. Her name is Diana. She was to be on a flight to Paris. She empathises with the difficulties of Kine’s job and Kine gives her access to the VIP lounge in return for her kindness.

The young girl at the bar has a suitcase with a squeaky wheel. David strikes up a conversation with her. They talk about his holiday and how he likes to be prepared for things like the hot temperatures in advance. He talks about how there can always be unexpected surprises.

In the VIP lounge, the Swedish woman talks on the phone very loudly, arguing with someone because she won’t make it in time for a meeting. The lounge manager asks her to lower her volume or she will have to leave. She leaves the lounge anyway. Asle finds she has left her wallet behind and gives it to the manager.

Ingvild tells Ida that she will miss the sound check and the meet-and-greet but will make it for her concert. Since they have time, Ingvild suggests they do an interview with Ida’s preferred journalist.

David finds that the young girl is making a wish list of the things she can gift her father for Christmas. Trying to help out, he asks the girl questions about her father. She doesn’t know the answer to them and soon tears up and leaves for the bathroom.

Marius the bartender calls Ronja and asks her if she has a minute to talk. But she’s with the old man and is unable to.

The Swedish woman exits the airport to see a long line for the cabs. She hails a cab out of the line and offers him 100 times the cab fare (80,000 KR) to get her to another airport where she has booked a flight to London. He agrees.

Diana heads to the VIP lounge and takes a seat opposite the pilot, Olav. She tries talking to him about how exciting airports are and how much she loves Christmas. But he is quite the opposite. He claims Christmas is a money making scheme and then gets back to watching some sports on his phone.

Alex, the airport Santa Clause, gets tired of hearing 6 year olds ask for Chanel bags and iPhones. He blames this on the system and its wide gap between the rich and the poor. He heads to the bar for a beer.

Itching for a smoke, Arthur tries asking the security officer, Thea, if she will let him back in after a quick smoke. She says he will have to go through proper security once again. She recognises him and tells him how much she loved one of his concerts but he ridicules that concert as ‘commercial star wars music’. Thea looks disheartened.

Henrik realises the dog from earlier hasn’t been picked up. Meanwhile, the little girl seems exhausted from her parents’ constant bickering. She tries distracting them by saying she’s hungry.

The journalist for Ida’s interview arrives. Through the course of the interview Ida reveals that despite the mixed reviews of her album, she is trying to take it in stride and focus on the present. When asked about success, she says that you find your real friends when you are at your lowest. But she claims to have no real friends only work buddies or acquaintances.

As Ronja keeps trying to talk to the old man, he says one word which she takes to be his name — Abba. She leaves to get him more coffee but when she returns he’s gone.

Ida’s interview continues as a voice-over. She talks about constantly having to be different versions of herself in different situations and feeling disconnected from her real, true self. At the same time, it’s hard for her to get away from herself because of all the fame and attention. The interviewer thanks Ida for her time and takes her leave.

The little girl asks her father for his card so she can go buy herself a drink. He does so, reminding her that the code is her mom’s birthday. After she leaves, the mom asks him why the code is still her birthday. He replies that he doesn’t know. They soon realise they can’t see their daughter anywhere and begin to look for her, calling out her name — Kaja.

The Episode Review

Episode 2 shows how deep a person and their world can be and how vast and complex it can be to navigate too. How desire and needs come into stark contrast with realities. How relationships with others can be made or broken so easily.

This episode continues the first’s emotional themes with just the right speed and intensity, striking the perfect balance between dramatic and realistic. It’s impressive how these multiple stories form a collage of the airport itself as a place of ephemeral meetings. This is more than enough to keep viewers hooked on a story about relatively ordinary people.