X marks the spot. Comforting, isn’t it? The idea that following a trail, or a map of dubious provenance, will lead to a nice, neat and easily identifiable spot at which all questions are answered and wonderful treasure is to be found. Just listen to the giddy glee with which Max and Yuri greet their finding of Pettigrew’s spot. A real comfort. This is not the fault of the show’s scientific hocus pocus, which worked in the context of the narrative. Natalie’s smart and informed guesswork offered a plausible(ish) solution to the primary mystery, suggesting that the thawing of prehistoric wasps was the cause of the violent biological nastiness that has been infecting the town since the death of Billy Pettigrew. Consequently, the solution was couched in science, rather than the supernatural, but with a reasonable explanation for the gaps in the characters’ knowledge. Her discovery provided a reasonably clean response to the strange goings-on but, as guesswork, remains just short of the desired comfort. Nevertheless, the newly-crisp Vincent may be forgiven for taking all the succour that he can. Some cold comfort may be enjoyed by the town’s leadership, particularly now that they have incinerated the mammoth carcass, cutting the threat off at its source. It’s a fraudulent relief, as Yuri’s descent into the mammoth graveyard proved. The ability of the wasps to survive sudden exposure to temperatures that can kill warm blooded mammals may need to be handwaved, as has the likelihood of their lasting for thousands of years in cryo-sleep, but make no mistake, the threat has not been removed and there remains plenty of scope for horrors to come. Other points were raised but left without response. Morton’s death came without meaningful consequence, his regular Skype conversations with headquarters suggested that his presence was a big deal for his bosses, but, aside from Hildur’s assumption that more police would come, nothing emerged as we closed this story. What, indeed, were the consequences of his investigations? The troubles of the Sutter family were dismissed with a hasty scene in which Jules explained to Liam about their separation. Would a family break-up be a plausible outcome of infidelity and emotional estrangement? Sure, but there was so much more going on -Frank’s abandonment of Liam, his open torture of Markus, his arrest, Liam’s medical troubles. In the end the pay-off was inadequate to the set up and it’s difficult to shake the suspicion that there simply wasn’t the time to do it justice. For all these concerns, we can leave Fortitude with something to look forward to next season. The show’s best open questions, those that concern the parasites, leave plenty of room for further exploration while the compelling atmosphere will mean many more mysteries can emerge from its sheer frozen beauty. Read Michael’s review of Episode 10 here Follow our Twitter feed for faster news and bad jokes right here. And be our Facebook chum here.
