The rise of Nordic­Noir TV dramas over the past decade has diversified quality TV viewing beyond the traditional English speaking UK and USA productions, and has forged a path for female protagonists to dominate the genre of crime dramas. The Bridge (2011-­18) is the dual Swedish­ Danish drama in which Saga Noren, played by Sofia Helin, as the main female protagonist who is paired up with a Danish Homicide counterpart to solve crimes on the border of Sweden and Denmark. Saga has revitalised and challenges the traditional representation of women on screen. She is presented as a complex, layered individual for whom gender is not a boundary or a label with which she identifies.Through the narrative it is implied Saga has condition which presents through social interaction and communication, and we see how this begins to manifest in the engagement with the interiors she occupies.

Using the representation of gender, identity and the interior I will explore the construct of public and private spaces in the set design and how this offers the viewer a deeper understanding of the complexities of Saga’s character. The visual language of The Bridge manifests in a subtle assertion of a muted colour palette that extends from her androgynous apparel, to the olive green vintage Porsche and in the decor of her studio apartment. The workplace becomes an insight to her obsessive attention to detail through the territory of the desk as a metaphor to moderate her working relationships which is juxtaposed with her unconventional habit of changing her top in the open office.

Whilst the domestic interior is a means by which her character relinquishes the constraints of the public face through the autonomous boundaries of home and self. I will examine how the curated elements of the interior represent how Saga tacitly navigates the portrayal of her professional and public self and negotiates the parameters of people and space through the boundaries of the constructed interior.