“Borgen” returns after a decade to a pessimistic Europe

THE DANISH TV series “Borgen” introduced Europe’s madly intricate coalition politics to viewers in simpler lands such as America and Britain. The show’s first three seasons, which aired in 2010-13, followed Birgitte Nyborg (played by Sidse Babett Knudsen), leader of the fictional Moderates, as she became Denmark’s first female prime minister, then resigned and founded a new party. Striking compromises and pursuing liberal values, Nyborg was a heroine for her time. American Democrats wishing for Danish-style health care (or at least and cardamom buns) fell in love. Soon Denmark had a real female prime minister, Helle Thorning-Schmidt.Nine years later “Borgen” is back, and its fourth season shows how Denmark and Europe have changed. Nyborg is now foreign minister in a government in which the leaders of the main parties are women (as in most Nordic countries). This has not rendered politics less vicious. She is exasperated by the radicalism of today’s youth, notably her own son. In a side plot, the white head of news at the national broadcaster and a non-white anchor, both women, get into a feud over political correctness.