Grima
Episode 6 of Katla begins with Rakel regretting her choice and heading back to pick up her son. Only, Mikael is picked up by a couple, including a woman called Stefania. They phone the hotel and try to get through to Darri. Eventually they agree to meet down by the riverbank, prompting Rakel and Darri to team up and hurry there. While they’re en-route, Mikael talks about being trapped in the shed and his ordeal. Stefania changes her mind before they arrive, eventually deciding to let child services decide the boy’s fate. This ultimately leads to Darri and Rakel coming to blows and going their separate ways. Meanwhile, Grima takes her doppelganger back home and lets her bath, washing off all the ash. Grima doesn’t trust her other half though, phoning Kjartan and finding out he’s out at the farm. It’s not all bad news on the doppelganger front. At least to begin with anyway. Magnea’a double suddenly comes bounding in, taking Gisli’s wife’s spot effortlessly and cooking food. Given she’s medically incapacitated, Gisli hands over a pen to her, as the woman writes something hurriedly in her notepad. Those scribbles, as we later cone to find out, read “she is the devil, get her out”, which other Magnea reads while Gisli is having a shower. Gisli notices her snooping about and immediately starts to cast doubts over her. Eventually this culminates in him throwing the woman down into the basement, locking her in until he can work out what to do next. Realizing there’s something going on with her Mother, Bjorn packs up his things and decides to head over to Iceland. However, Tor and other Gunhild run into trouble when the latter begins bleeding between her legs. She’s brought in for monitoring but it certainly doesn’t look good. Mikael meanwhile, uses his Stanley knife and slashes at Stefania’s neck. It all happens so suddenly. The car swerves, spins and rolls. Mikael survives and just watches with a blood-spattered face as the light fades from the couple’s eyes. As the episode closes out, Grima catches wind of the crash and hurries to help. She leaves a message for Kjatan confirming the woman inside isn’t her… but it doesn’t stop other Grima from embracing the man warmly when he heads home.
The Episode Review
Katla returns with another slow chapter as these doppelgangers/changelings continue to get involved in the lives of these residents. So far though the series has lacked that wow factor to help it stand out next to so many others in this field. That’a shame because the mood and atmosphere of this piece is great but so far we’ve received very little explanation for what’s happening. With two episodes to go, hopefully we’ll get those in the coming episodes rather than the dreaded Netflix cliffhanger. With the exception of Mikael’s murder and another doppelganger in the form of Magnea (how did she sneak into town without being seen?) there’s not a lot else to get excited about here. For now, Katla bows out with another slow-paced chapter.
