Ep 1. Cellar

Arctic Circle season 1 episode 1, titled "Cellar," is a thrilling start to the Finnish-German crime drama series. The episode begins with a routine border control check in the icy outskirts of Lapland, Finland. However, things quickly take a dramatic turn when an unconscious woman is found hidden in the trunk of a smuggler's car. The woman is quickly rushed to a nearby hospital, where she is diagnosed with a mysterious and deadly virus.

The hospital staff are skeptical of the woman's story, as her papers and personal belongings indicate she is a prostitute from Russia. However, when the initial tests on the virus come back inconclusive, Dr. Nina Kautsalo, a local police officer and medical researcher, is called in to assist with the investigation.

Dr. Kautsalo's expertise is invaluable in helping to uncover the origins of the virus, as she realizes that it is a highly contagious and lethal strain of the H5N1 avian influenza. The virus is believed to have originated in China and has rapidly spread throughout the region. The stakes are high as the authorities race against time to prevent a pandemic from decimating the population.

As the investigation progresses, Dr. Kautsalo discovers a terrifying truth - the woman was not a prostitute as initially thought, but instead a victim of an underground organ trafficking ring. Her organs had been harvested and sold on the black market, and she was infected with the virus as punishment for attempting to escape.

Dr. Kautsalo and her colleague, German virologist Thomas Lorenz, dig deeper into the case and find evidence that the illegal organ trade may have links to a larger criminal organization operating in the area. The detective work is complicated by the fact that the Finnish police force has no resources to deal with such dire cases, and the German intelligence team seems to have other interests at play.

The episode ends with several cliffhangers - the underground crime ring is seemingly still at large, as another victim has just been discovered, infected with the same deadly virus. Dr. Kautsalo and Lorenz are left to grapple with the difficult decision of whether to go beyond their assigned duties to bring the criminals to justice.

Overall, "Cellar" is an intense and gripping introduction to the Arctic Circle series. The tension is high throughout the episode, with a combination of medical thriller, police procedural, and international intrigue genres. The stunning and harsh landscape of Lapland serves as a beautiful yet menacing backdrop to the unfolding drama. Fans of crime dramas and international mysteries will certainly be hooked by this captivating series.