Quicksand (original title Störst av Alltnote ) is a Netflix original Mini Series based on the Swedish novel of the same name. Released in 2019, the series is a Courtroom Drama / Teen Drama that deals with the aftermath of a school shooting in Sweden, and the events leading up to it.
The series is available in Swedish or dubbed in English, with the original cast providing their voices for the dub.
Provides examples of:
- Asshole Victim: Claes, Sebastian's abusive father, is the one victim of his that nobody feels bad for.
- Ax-Crazy: Sebastian's increasing mental instability culminates in him raping Maja and shooting up his school.
- The Beautiful Elite: The principal characters are residents of Djursholm, the richest area of Sweden.
- Bungled Suicide: Sebastian attempts suicide after his father does not visit him when he's hospitalized but instead continues to go on vacation with Sebastian's brother.
- Chekhov's Gunman:
- Labbe, Sebastian's friend, is present throughout the entire series even though he doesn't have much to do. He is the first witness during the trial.
- Mimmi, Amanda's mother, makes an appearance in the fifth episode where it's established that she has known Maja since she and Amanda were children. She is the second witness.
- The police keep mentioning a witness from the shooting who claims to have seen Maja shooting Amanda on purpose. It's Samir.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: Sebastian starts displaying clingy and possessive behaviour towards Maja once he starts feeling threatened by Samir.
- Don't Answer That: Sander, Maja's attorney, often reminds Maja not to answer every question and says this at least once.
- Driving Question: How and why was Maja involved in the shooting? She shot Sebastian and Amanda; the former begged for it while the latter was an accident. She did not know about Sebastian's plans, and it was all A Tragedy of Impulsiveness.
- Establishing Character Moment: Double Subverted. Prosecutor Lena Pärsson is introduced smiling at Maja and kindly asking her if she should call her Maja or Maria (her real name), a sharp contrast to detective Nilsson who always calls her Maria (and even does so immediately afterwards to drive the point home). But as soon as Pärsson sees an opening in the interrogation she mercilessly tries to force a confession out of Maja by showing her some very graphic crime scene photos, which culminates in a mental breakdown on Maja's part. This ends up summing up her character quite nicely for the rest of the series.
- Exact Words: Maja sends some texts to Sebastian where she tells him that his father is a horrible person who deserves to die. She was only doing it to calm him down, but it was enough encouragement for Sebastian to actually murder him.
- Freak Out: Maja has a complete breakdown when she sees the photos of Claes's dead body. Not only did she not know about this, but she presumably realized that Sebastian took her text messages completely seriously.
- Get a Room!: Amanda says this to Maja and Sebastian when they meet each other in front of the school after the holidays and start kissing.
- Girl on Girl Is Hot: Invoked when Amanda asks for Maja's help in catching Labbe's interest. They accomplish this by making out in the pool in their underwear. It works perfectly; Amanda and Labbe get together only moments later.
- How We Got Here: The series starts with the aftermath of the school shooting, with flashbacks being provided as Maja is being interrogated by the police. The last few episodes focus more on the ongoing Courtroom Drama, but still provides flashbacks that fill in the last gaps.
- I Did What I Had to Do: Samir films a doped up Maja in the middle of a wild party and sends it to Sebastian's father. The prosecution questions his motives, but he claims he only did it to prevent Maja and Sebastian's situation to spiral even further under control.
- I Have No Son!: Claes has this view of Sebastian and is constantly punishing him for not living up to his standards. He almost says this word for word during Sebastian's final party as he is beating the crap out of him.
- Instant Mystery, Just Delete Scene: Justified. The series begins with the shooting happening offscreen, and the first episode ends with a flashback that slams the door on the camera before it happens. Both times the viewer get to hear screams and gunshots, but what actually occurred in left vague. It is justified due to Maja having Trauma-Induced Amnesia, and the viewer is only shown what she can remember.
- Lost in Translation:
- The teenage characters use a lot of Gratuitous English in the original, which is especially noticeable when comparing the way they speak to each other and when speaking to adults. This is Truth in Television, as the globalization of English has affected the younger generation of Sweden a lot. Natually, this is not present in the English dub.
- The original title is Störst av allt, which means Greatest of all. This is a reference to the unofficial slogan of the Church of Sweden (Greatest of all is love) which in itself is a paraphrase of Corinthians 13:13. The slogan is very famous in Sweden so to a Swedish audience it's allusion is quite clear.
- Murder by Mistake: Maja tried to stop Sebastian's rampage by shooting him, but ended up hitting Amanda as well.
- The Oner: Done in the most upsetting way possible. The scene where Sebastian rapes Maja happens in a single take — the camera never cuts away from the moment he enters the room to when she walks into the bathroom afterwards. The viewer gets to experience a rape from start to finish, with the only silver lining being that the camera focuses on Majas face and not the act itself.
- Self-Fulfilling Prophecy: Sebastian acts incredibly possessive towards Maja once he notices Samir's interest in her. He doesn't know that Maja has already rejected Samir, but as a direct result of his horrible behaviour he ends up alienating Maja and bringing the two closer together.
- Softer and Slower Cover: At the day of Amanda's funeral, Maja listens to Amanda's favorite song "Rosa Himmel" but this time the viewer hears a quiet and melancholy cover by Molly Sandén.
- The Sociopath: Claes, Sebastian's father. He views his son as a lost cause and manages to be both abusive and neglectful at the same time. When Sebastian ends up in the hospital, Claes goes ahead with his vacation anyway and does not visit him when he comes back. When Maja confronts him he excuses his bahaviour by claiming that if he had visited Sebastian he might have been tempted to finish him off. He apparently does not see anything wrong with this.
- Speed Sex: Played for Drama. Sebastian doesn't even last ten thrusts when he forces himself on Maja, but that doesn't make it any less upsetting for her. The fact that the camera keeps running throughout makes that clear to audience as they are forced to witness the act in its entirety. Worse, because it all happens so quickly, Maja barely has time to process what just happened and is left in a state of complete shock afterwards.
- Sympathetic Adulterer: Maja cheats on Sebastian with Samir. They remain sympathetic because Sabastian commits some massive Kick the Dog moments towards each of them beforehand.
- Trauma-Induced Amnesia: Maja can't remember what exactly happened in the classroom. She finally does at the end of the final episode — and it's exactly what she always thought happened.
- Wham Line: Episode three ends on a big one. Maja has just revealed that she shot Amanda by accident, when Pärsson brings in some new information:Pärsson: That witness says you took direct aim at Amanda before you fired two shots.
Maja: What?
Pärsson: That you killed her intentionally. So let's go through this one more time: what actually happened in the classroom when you shot Amanda?
