Pernille: Norwegian angst comedy with a gay dad, a bi nephew (probably), a gay wedding (almost), lots of funerals, and nude Vikings

I did my undergrad at a Swedish Lutheran college, where everyone had to read Ibsen and Strindberg (ugh!), and listen to Peer Gynt (shudder), so I don't trust Scandinavian fiction.  Even the comedies tend to the dark and dreary.  So, when Pernille (2021-24), renamed from the Norwegian Pørni for obvious reasons, appeared on Netflix as a "triumph of Norwegian television," I decided to do a little research before jumping in:

1. Any gay characters?  

2. How many deathbed scenes?

The premise: Pørni, a single mother (until she starts dating Bjørnar  in Episode 1.2), works for child protective services. After her sister's tragic death, she becomes responsible for her teenage nephew Leo (Jon Ranes)

Left: Gunnar Eiriksen plays Bjørnar, but I think this is a different one.

 Episode 1.3, "Don't Get a Boyfriend, Please":  "When Leo has an angry outburst during a match, Pørni urges him to deal with the elephant in the room." 

The elephant must have something to do with the request to not get a boyfriend.  Leo must be gay, and Auntie Pørni disapproves.

Nope, the elephant is: His dad killed his mother, and wll probably go to prison, but Leo hates him, and thinks that he should have died. 

Pørni advises that, regardless of the anger he feels, Leo owes the kid he attacked an apology, and he shouldn't have called him "mongo."  Not a gay slur -- it refers to a mental disability.

Episode 1.6: Leo has a "Big Day," but when I checked, it turned out to be his confirmation (joining the Lutheran Church).  And the guy sitting next to him is a family member, not a boyfriend.

Leo next appears in the plot synopses in Episode 2.3, when a girl named Rains comes into the kitchen, and everyone is shocked: "I thought they broke up."  "No, they're just open to seeing other people."  Heterosexualized in the second season!

But in Episode 5.6, which I skimmed through for another reason, Auntie Pørni asks Leo, "Have you seen Lukas lately?" with that eager gleam that you doubtless recognize from your childhood, when your parents were playing matchmaker.  He responds, "Not since I picked up the t-shirts for the bachelor party.  Why?"  "Oh, no reason."  Gleam, gleam, knowing smile. 

They use he/him pronouns: Lukas is a guy.  And it sounds very much as if Pørni is trying to push them together.  Maybe Leo has come out as bi.    

Actor Jon Ranes plays a youth gang member in the concurrent Flus (2022-24), and sings under the name Loverboy.  I don't know if he's gay in real life or not, but I have my suspicions.

I was so invested in skipping over the darkness, depression, and unyielding agony of life in Scandinavian comedies that I missed the elephant in the room:

Episode 1.1: While dealing with the grief over her sister's murder, Pørni learns that her elderly father (Nils Ole Oftenbro) is dying of an incurable brain tumor.  As he will be dead soon, he reveals a secret that he has been keeping for 70-plus years.

Yep he's gay.  And the brain tumor was a misdiagnosis.  He's fine; well, terribly depressed, but in a Scandinavian comedy, who isn't?  

Left: Nils Ole Oftenbro, early photo.  He's been acting since the 1960s.

 

More after the break. Caution: Explicit.

Austin Lindsay: The casually naked roommate on "Overcompensating" has a BFA and a lot of depressing shorts. With bonus nude fratboys

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Kelton in his birthday suit, plus birthday waffles, a costume party, nude at the pool, and Dad's dick

This is a collection of photos from some of Kelton Dumont's birthdays, in backwards chronological order.  The nude dudes are all over 18.

1. Nearing his 21st, with screen brother Gavin Munn

2. His 20th, with Dad James Dumont at  a WWE expo.

3. In case you haven't seen Kelton's butt lately.

4. 19th.  Kelton's birthday is close enough to Halloween to make costume parties feasible.

5. Not Kelton, a bud nude at the pool.

6. The big 18

More after the break

"Blue Ridge" Episode 1.3: A wrestling promoter is murdered at a high school in the Hills. With lots of beefy suspects and Michael O'Hearn's dick

I haven't done many tv reviews lately because I've been very busy with Season 4 of The Righteous Gemstones, plus I have about two weeks' worth of profiles ready to post.  But I was interested in Episode 1.3 of Blue Ridge: The Series (2024), because it is set in the world of professional wrestling, with Michael O'Hearn in the cast.  

The show originally aired on the Cowboy Way Channel, so I have no hope of any gay characters -- reviewers are upset that there are no racial minorities, so obviously there will be no gays -- but there's bound to be ample beefcake.

The premise: Justin Wise (Jonathan Schaech), an ex-Green Beret featured in the 2020 movie Blue Ridge, has returned to his small town to be close to his ex wife and daughter. Their hobby is...murder!

Scene 1: Outside the high school, a sign: Championship Wrestling, Dirty Boots McCrae vs. The Contractor.  Several bouts, while a nuclear family with a girl who looks like a boy cheer. Maybe they'll be important later?   

One of the heels (villains) goes backstage, where Promoter Earl (Max Martini) grabs him by the neck: "If you can't stick to the script, I'm not going to stick to the deal."

He rushes out and yells at a male wrestler, "I own you!",  fires a female wrestler, and tells another heel, "I would rather die than make a washed-up quitter like you a champion!" 

The next day, Janitor Dwayne (Grayson Russell) buffing the floors, and finds...Promoter Earl's body under the ring!  Call Miss Marple!  

Scene 2: Nuclear family scene with Focus Character Justin Wise.  He's angry with his daughter, the girl who looks like a boy, because she is dating the son of his arch-enemy Jeremiah Wade (Tom Proctor)  The son is named Blade Wade (really?), played by Lev Cameron, left  She explains that his dad may be evil, but Blade Wade is nice.

Phone call, and the game is afoot.

Scene 3: At the school, School Administrator gives Justin Wise some heavy-handed plot exposition.  Takeaway: all of the wrestlers had keys to the gym and locker room, but nowhere else in the school.

By the way, her son Barry (Christian Finlayson) wants to become a wrestler, but when he tried out, the Promoter yelled at him, called him worthless, and destroyed his confidence.

Justin Wise examins the body (no sense in waiting for the forensics team).  Detective RP (Greg Perrow) says that he died of a blow to the head between 10 pm and midnight. 

Unfortunately Dwayne the Janitor buffed the entire gym before finding the body, so all of that evidence has vanished.  But he remembers the Promoter and a heel character named The Contractor (Michael O'Hearn) arguing: "I got a binding legal contract!" "I don't care, I'm not paying it!"

And the  murder weapon is a wrench that  The Contractor uses as part of his act.  He didn't do it.

Scene 4: Justin Wise interviews The Contractor.  He points out that he plays a bad guy, but he's not bad in real life.  He left the wrench in his gym bag in the locker room; anybody could have swiped it.  And their argument was  just "a work," part of the story: "I loved Earl, but everybody else hated him."

Left: The Contractor n*de.

He suggests interviewing Dirty Boots McRae, who got into a real argument with Earl yesterday.

Phone call: More clues.  The wrench wasn't the murder weapon after all.

More after the break