Credit: Netflix

Netflix just unleashed a page-turner Swedish crime thriller, Blood Sacrifice, that has netizens ready with a barrage of questions. But before we get ahead of ourselves, let’s start at the beginning.

The noir thriller opens with an inciting incident when a fake emergency call at midnight lures two police officers to a summer house in the Stockholm archipelago, where they’re brutally ambushed and murdered. As more officers from the precinct are targeted in similar ritualistic late-night setups, the situation sparks a desperate race against time.

Stockholm detective Thomas Berg is assigned as the lead detective on the case, which ultimately forces him to put aside his personal history with his estranged, retired ex-cop father, Alfred. Together, they join forces to help crack the case, finding themselves deep in the hot waters of a deep-seated conspiracy involving law enforcement.

Pretty early on in the series, Thomas and Alfred suspect that the killer is a police officer when a cop meeting on a Friday comprising the entire precinct results in no new murder. However, the question remains: who is the cop killer?

Who is the murderer in Blood Sacrifice?

As the killer at the centre of the Swedish crime drama Blood Sacrifice is a piece of the puzzle who plants clues throughout the series, even for a seasoned detective like Thomas Berg, the red herrings are difficult to overlook. Although he initially had his sights set on Anders Palm, who was even briefly arrested on suspicion of the horrific string of crimes, it was Max Abrahamsson’s noteworthy police work that unmasked the real perpetrator: Peter Johansson.

Despite everyone’s advice against it, Abrahamsson followed an instinct, which ultimately led him to Peter. What followed was rather unfortunate, as he lost his life misjudging the possible consequences of his impulsive decision. However, his expansive detective work became instrumental in helping law enforcement track down Peter.

For those curious about the reason behind Peter’s remorseless actions, well, they do have an unfortunate history. Back in the day, Peter lost his cop partner, Hugo Brankovic, despite calling for backup. But he ended up as the scapegoat due to the deep-seated ethical corruption and shoddy police work, courtesy of Lucas Lind. While Peter faced suspension at a time he was grieving for his friend and fellow colleague, the built-up anger and resentment bring viewers to today’s events.

Realising that he has to take matters into his own hands to ensure justice for Hugo, Peter schemed an elaborate plan, using audio recordings of his dead victims to lure cops into late-night setups before ambushing and killing them.

As for why Peter was hellbent on giving it back to Alfred? Well, Lucas reveals to Thomas that the night of Hugo’s murder, Alfred had been working with him. However, what Peter was unaware of was that Lucas was behind his partner’s death. However, since Lind got rid of the evidence, Peter unsuspectingly held Alfred responsible and thus wanted to kill him.