The third and last season of Fortitude was released in 2018 and it consisted of just four episodes. It ended the show on a very messy note.

What happened here? It is obvious to me that Sky wanted to cancel the show, but does that mean that the creators wanted to finish it off quicker than usual? It certainly seems like it as this is the definition of what surely is the systematic destruction of one property that seems intentional. It is as if the creators started hating their own creation, so they decided to give it a mercy killing.

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Nothing in this third season made any sense. The decision to have only four episodes backfired as the season felt not only rushed, but pointless. The first two episodes were at least passable and hugely entertaining, but the last two were ludicrous and just eyeroll-inducing in every single ridiculous plot development. The brutality and torture here were simply exploitation in their extreme nature, reminding me of seventies cinema way too often.

Yes, the plot made absolutely no sense, though it was fun watching it go haywire and insane as the tone, the characters and the story all seemed like they were coming from a fever dream. But the utter destruction of its characters was where I personally drew the line. Dan here was simply annihilated as a character. Richard Dormer is delightfully over-the-top and campy in this season, but the character going insane meant that we lost the heart and soul of the show, which spelled doom for everything else too.

The introduction of this Elsa character was problematic. She is a woman who has lived for a century and more, but how she achieved that was ridiculous and so was her entire operation. These villains were too much, even for this show. She led to the destruction of the Michael character played by Dennis Quaid. He was especially miserable and irredeemable in this season.

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Petra was even not as likable as before and the same should be said for Ingrid. The ghostly appearances of Hildur and others were laughable how stupid they were while Eric was just as dumb as always. Vincent basically torturing Natalie was even more out of character. Literally none of the characters were likable in this season, which was a major issue.

Unfortunately, Fortitude ended on a very bad note. Yes, this season is fun in its over-the-top campiness and it does fly by due to its short length and quick pace, but the utter destruction of every single character did not sit well with me. The plot also made no sense and it all seemed like it was an intentional annihilation of the show committed by its very own creators.

Worst Episode: Episode 4.

Best Episode: Episode 2.

My Rating – 2.6