Johanne is a nurse in her 30s, working at a hospital in Norway. During Advent dinner, she feels pressured by her family to be in a relationship. She lies and tells them that she has a boyfriend, and that he will accompany her to Christmas dinner. , who plays Jonas, has already starred in another Netflix original series, Quicksand Johanne then tries to find a boyfriend through speed dating, internet dating, and other means. She goes on dates with several men, including 18 year old Jonas, and the much older Bengt Erik. She also has a brief sexual encounter with Eira, one of her female coworkers. None of this results in Johanne finding a boyfriend. In the last episode of season one, coworker Dr. Henrik tells her that he loves her. They are interrupted by a medical emergency before she can respond. She then goes to her parent's house for Christmas dinner. During dinner, the doorbell rings. The first season ends with a shot of Johanne's face as she opens the door, possibly for one of her suitors.
Production
The series takes place in Oslo, with winter scenes taking place in the copper mining town Røros. Unexpected warmth resulted in snow being transported from Røros Airport to create the winter scenes. It was produced by the Oslo Company, and financed and distributed by Netflix as an original series. The idea for the show was created by two advertisement students, Amir Shaheen and Kristian Andersen, who derived the concept from the popular Nordic TV Christmas calendars, televised advent calendars with an episode broadcast each day of December until Christmas Eve. They decided not to draw inspiration from Christmas films but rather other Norwegian series such as the teenage series Skam. They pitched the idea to the Oslo Company. The director of the series was.
Cast and characters
Ida Elise Broch as Johannne, 30 year old nurse and protagonist
The series received mostly good reviews. Verdens Gang gave it 3 out of 6 stars, likening it to a hybrid of Bridget Jones and Love Actually with a pointless narrative, but NRK called it a must-see for fans of Christmas romances and praised it for a well made atmosphere of Christmas hygge. Leah Thomas of Cosmopolitan said "This soap operadrama series will have your jaw dropping with all the twists turns imaginable. Besides the fact that it's perfectly messy, I love this show because I have no idea who I want Johanne to end up with. Actually, I don't know if I even want her to end up with anyone, and I think that’s the entire point."
