Jo Nesb's Detective Hole ending is too disturbing for words but you couldn't have paid me to reveal the unhinged real-life inspiration behind the Netflix scene

Date:
Thu, 26 Mar 2026 09:00:00 +0000

Description:
Episode 10 of Detective Hole on Netflix reveals one fate that's too grim for words but Jo Nesb's real-life story behind it is even more ridiculous than the onscreen scene.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Tech Radar Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from
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successful An account already exists for this email address, please log in. Subscribe to our newsletter Disclaimer Spoilers for Jo Nesb's Detective Hole ahead. Guys... what have we just watched? All nine episodes of Jo Nesb's Detective Hole on Netflix are an absolute rollercoaster, but one of the final scenes in episode 10 made my stomach turn. As our hero Harry Hole (Tobias Santelmann) is piecing the clues together to discover that his work rival Tom (Joel Kinnaman) is actually a bona fide murderer, his penultimate showdown finds him pushed down onto a waterbed... that has the body of a woman inside. In a split-second, the two are face to face, and you can virtually feel the dry heave sitting inside Harry's throat. It's shocking... but weirdly enough, not as shocking as the real-life story that inspired it. Article continues below You may like No Netflix Jo Nesb adaptations planned after Detective Hole, says crime writer Harlan Coben's Run Away ending explained: all your burning questions answered 'Deliciously bonkers' or 'Too grim to be fun'? New Netflix show His and Hers divides critics but they all love its wild ending

I asked Nesb and Santelmann to break down the gruesome crime drama scene and what I heard was something I couldn't have ever been paid to reveal myself. Today's best Netflix deals Netflix - Standard with ads $6.99 /mth View at Netflix Netflix - Standard $15.49 /mth View at Netflix Netflix - Premium $22.99 /mth View at Netflix 'I asked for a waterbed and they looked at me
like I was asking for dirty magazines' Jo Nesbo's Detective Hole | Official Trailer | Netflix - YouTube Watch On "I bought the last water bed in Oslo in the late 90s, when nobody bought the water beds anymore," Nesb begins. "So I came into the store, and my doctor had said that because I had a bad back, I should buy one. When I asked for it, it was like I'd asked for porn magazines or something. But they had one down in the cellar.

"I had it installed, and maybe I didn't put enough bacteria-killing stuff in the bed, because after a while, when I got into bed, it started making these bubbling sounds. I'd lay there imagining that there's life evolving inside
the water, intelligent life slowly developing into some kind of monster in my waterbed. That was actually the starting point of the novel The Devil Star [which the series is based on]."

Not in a million years did I think this would be the answer to my question, but it completely changes everything I know about both Nesb and Harry Hole. But what about Santelmann? Was this all as freaky for him in the moment? Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

"I had the advantage of the script so I sort of knew what was coming," he explains. "But it's a freaky thing just to see, and so well done by the artists that made that character."

Thankfully, that wasn't a real person floating needlessly under a duvet and pillow. But there's no way I have even acted out the disturbing scene, let alone lived it for real. Today's best Netflix deals Netflix - Standard with ads $6.99 /mth View at Netflix Netflix - Standard $15.49 /mth View at Netflix Netflix - Premium $22.99 /mth View at Netflix Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

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