I started to watch the new Netflix original series, “Daredevil,” with the intent of writing a review on it. That being said, I thought it would be better if I talked about something that is actually good.

And so in the spirit of positivity, here is my review of the Netflix exclusive series, originally playing on NRK1 in Norway, “Lilyhammer.”

“Lilyhammer,” is the story of mafia man Frank Tagliano who rats on his boss and goes into the witness protection program, where he decides to hide in Lillehammer, Norway because he watched the Olympics there in 1994. Once there he forms a small mafia in rural Norway.

The show is hilarious, parodying mafia movies, while taking a lot of inspiration from them as well.

The show feels like a Scorsese film in a lot of ways, from the pacing to the actions and style of the main character. But the show manages to distinguish itself through its use of humor.

The show’s writing is by far some of the best you will find on Netflix. The comedy flows naturally, and when there’s a joke, it fits into the story easily and doesn’t always revolve around wit or a pun.

A lot of the show’s humor revolves around the characters. Never did I feel that the characters were simply there to tell a joke or be the joke. The characters never act in a way that goes against the show’s reality.

The show also uses a lot of referential humor, including a scene in which a character tells Tagliano that this is, “Like an episode of ‘The Sopranos,’” and the following scene is a parody of “The Sopranos” theme. This just works. It’s funny and had the sheer courage to do it.

Steven Van Zandt plays Tagliano and is absolutely fantastic at it. He brings an energy that the show needs to allow for all of the other characters to work. Van Zandt has a fantastic presence and pulls off the mafia character in exactly the way the show needs him to. He brings the right mafia vibe from his time on “The Sopranos” and it works remarkably well.

The rest of the show’s cast is comprised of various Norwegian actors who I hadn’t heard of, but who all do a great job. The cast simply does a marvelous job in their roles. There’s not a single actor who does away with any of the good vibes the show throws out.

Chief among the supporting cast is Trond Fausa, who plays Tagliano’s right hand man, Torgier Lien. Torgier is absolutely hilarious, a simple man, but very heartfelt. He’s a character that carries emotional weight when he needs to but is also funny and somewhat relatable. Fausa does a fantastic job of acting without having to be the focus of the scene. He makes his character interesting without having to sacrifice the human elements of his character. He doesn’t allow the jokes to get in the way of making his character believable.

The show does have its problems, however. Characters and plot points seem to get written out of the story with little to no explanation. It’s a symptom of the show’s style; as soon as a problem has been overcome, it’s no longer useful, and it has to be written out. Often enough, this is done with pretty useless characters and plot points.

On the whole, I have to give “Lilyhammer” a five out of five stars. The writing in the show is spot on, and it’s one of the funniest shows I have ever seen.

Alex Bertsch is the opinion editor for The Dakota Student. He can be reached at [email protected].