Whenever there is a show about a power-hungry, over-ambitious woman who is willing to do anything to get what she wants, I am more than willing to watch it. Therefore the new Netflix show Billionaire Island certainly did not disappoint me. Directed by Anne Bjørnstad and Eilif Skodvin, the series dives into the intense drama between two powerful families in the salmon farming industry: Gjert Meyer, who is the founder of Meyer-Fjordbruk, and Julie Lange, who is a fierce businesswoman who owns Marlax, but she has her eyes on Gjert’s empire because she wants total control of the Meyer family business so she can dominate the salmon industry. Even when her own daughter, Amy, begins to oppose her strategies and ideas, Julie doesn’t hesitate to turn against her as well, as for Julie, power means everything, even if it means betraying her family. The question is, does Julie ultimately succeed in taking over Meyer-Fjordbruk and becoming the queen of the fish farming world? You’ll have to watch the show to find out.
Spoilers Ahead
Why did Trine and Eigil want to ruin Julie?
When Billionaire Island introduced us to Julie Lange, the “Salmon Queen” of Brima, it was clear that she had her eyes set on getting control of the late Ole Richard Lykke’s share in Meyer-Fjordbruk, because Julie had discovered that Ole didn’t have a will, which means there was no clear beneficiary for his business share. Therefore, she sensed an opportunity and did not waste any time to approach Ole’s aunt, Pia-Lill. She knew Pia still held a grudge against Gjert Meyer, the owner of Meyer-Fjordbruk, because he had broken her heart in the past and married someone else—a heartbreak she had never really recovered from. Thus Julie promised Pia that she would take revenge on her behalf, while also promising her money and Julie’s fancy car that Pia had always wanted. Although that car was Julie’s favorite, she was willing to give it up because, in return, she would gain control of Meyer-Fjordbruk and would become the world’s biggest Atlantic salmon producer, surpassing Gjert. Julie’s older daughter, Amy, wasn’t on board with this plan because she respected the Meyer family for their long-standing business integrity and she feared that environmental responsibility would also be harmed because money is not everything. But you already know, Julie didn’t care about Amy’s concerns. At her younger daughter Hennie’s baptism, which was shared with Gjert’s grandson Felix, the bombshell got dropped—Julie had gone behind Gjert’s back and used a fake company called Tendulkar Holdings to take over Meyer-Fjordbruk. She chose the name “Tendulkar” because the cricketer was her favorite, and she didn’t want to spoil the celebratory mood with open rivalry at the event. Gjert was devastated by the betrayal, naturally his heartbreak was obvious. Seeing their father so down, Gjert’s daughter Trine and her husband Eigil decided to take action. They wanted to sabotage Julie’s plans and show the world she wasn’t fit to run the business. Teaming up with some workers from the coast, they managed to release 180,000 salmon from Julie’s newly acquired farm under Meyer-Fjordbruk. Their goal was to prove what a disaster Julie’s leadership would be, and to get recognition for all the hard work Gjert had put into the business over the years.
Why did Amy decide to go against her mother?
After the salmon escaped under Marlax’s supervision, both Amy and Julie were devastated, as they knew this incident could destroy their company’s reputation and paint them as environmental destroyers. To protect everything, Amy decided to stand by her mother, as she had done many times before, because she hoped this loyalty would earn her the chairperson position on the board of Marlax. But Julie had other priorities, because she was too focused on upgrading the business and didn’t want to disappoint her powerful business partner, Kjerschow, who held a lot of influence. Without discussing it with Amy, Julie handed the chairperson role to him and completely blindsided Amy. Amy had always wanted her mother to take her seriously and had even left her life in London to help run Marlax, but now, she got betrayed and she couldn’t see things the same way. Around this time, another business associate, Viljar Meloy, who had once offered Amy a role at his company, reached out again. Seeing her mother’s betrayal, Amy finally accepted his offer. Together, Amy and Viljar secretly met with Gjert Meyer and promised to support him, and in return, Viljar would take over Meyer-Fjordbruk, and Amy would become CEO if things went according to plan. However, this secret meeting was photographed and leaked to the press as Viljar had hired a photographer to test Amy’s loyalty, and the photos soon spread everywhere. When Julie found out about how her daughter had backstabbed her she was furious, and to take revenge, Julie went after her personal life when she discovered that Amy’s husband, Martin, couldn’t have children, but Amy was pregnant— which only suggests Amy had cheated on him with her own secretary. Julie congratulated Martin on the pregnancy and pretended to be clueless to set up the perfect trap to humiliate her daughter. It became clear that both mother and daughter were now on a path to destroy each other, with no turning back.
Who won at the end?
Amy and Martin managed to come to an agreement about their situation, and despite Amy’s affair, Martin agreed to stay with her, and they decided to raise the baby together and put the past behind them. With that, one problem was solved. However, on the other side, Trine and her husband Eigil were devastated when they found out that their hard work had gone to waste. Because Gjert Meyer, Trine’s father, had betrayed them by siding with Amy who was their supposed enemy and did not hand over the company to her own daughter or son in law who have worked their whole life for him. So naturally they felt betrayed, and to get back at Gjert, both Trine and Eigil planted evidence on Gjert’s computer to make it seem like he had caused environmental damage through his business as well in his fish pen area, which ultimately led to his arrest. Meanwhile, Amy knew that her mother, Julie, wouldn’t waste any time trying to seize power while Gjert was in jail. There was an important Sailor’s Union General Assembly meeting coming up, and Amy realized she had to act quickly. She secretly met with Trine and Eigil and offered Trine a seat on the board and to make Eigil the new chairperson. At the same time, with the help of her younger sister, Hennie, Amy uncovered Julie’s Synergy Plan, which showed that while the salmon business might grow, Julie intended to fire many of the salmon farm workers. Hennie was heartbroken and sided with Amy because she had learned the truth about their mother. Despite Julie buying her expensive gifts, like helicopters and boats, or private concerts to celebrate her victories, Hennie discovered through social media how her mother was destroying marine life. Hennie was especially devastated when her favorite K-pop artist from the band XTZ left the group after performing at her baptism following the negative association with Julie. On top of that, Hennie feared that Julie would fire her boyfriend Jakob’s father, who worked as a salmon farmer, which could make Jakob leave her. Therefore, with the combined efforts of Amy and Hennie, they were able to turn the board members against Julie during the final meeting. Most of the board voted against Julie, and with this final maneuver, Amy became the new CEO of Meyer-Fjordbruk.
The ending of Billionaire Island might surprise you because, after everything that happened, the two lifelong enemies—Julie and Gjert—ended up becoming allies to save themselves. Julie’s son, JJ, who had always dreamed of becoming an actor, soon realized he wasn’t talented enough to make it and decided to join his mother’s business instead; while that was a positive step for Julie, she felt utterly betrayed by her daughters. On the other side, Gjert watched as Trine and Eigil celebrated their victory in the Marlax quarters, and that’s when he realized that his own daughter and son-in-law had conspired against him and sent him to prison just to take control of the family business, so, Gjert knew he had to take action against his daughter. Hence, Gjert swallowed his pride and called up Julie from prison and offered her a deal: if she helped him get revenge on Trine and Eigil, he would give her his share of Meyer-Fjordbruk. This was exactly what Julie had always wanted—control over the entire business. It seemed like the fight was far from over. With Julie and Gjert teaming up, it looked like they might turn against their own families to get what they wanted. Who knows what might happen next? Maybe we’ll see their plans pull through or fall apart in the next season.
