Faith of My Fathers

Ibsen, Dinesen, Bergman. But there is one crucial difference between these writers’ works and Seaside Hotel, one character who is omnipresent in the former, but notably absent here: God. There is no prayer, no church attendance. Adultery and extra-marital sex are minor matters. The torments and guilt of their God-haunted, theatrical predecessors are nowhere in evidence. This would be unsurprising in a contemporary show, but for a series set between 1922 and 1945, in what was once a deeply religious country, it’s almost shocking. The show’s creators have clearly calculated that no one will miss him, so God lies on the cutting room floor.