The Bridge has been influenced by many things before that link to Nordic historical context. Stieg Larson popularised the crime fiction genre in Scandinavia with her release of the book 'The Girl with the Dragon tattoo'. The book has many similarities to The Bridge. Both feature an outsider female character who has little empathy but is very good at her job. Both also feature a co-detective from another background. There are links to the fascist movement in the crime fiction genre in Sweden. Most of the books/shows have marxist or socialist opinions and this is present throughout the script. Also, crime fictions often feature graphic scenes and realism a lot. For example, in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, there was a scene where the girl tattoos explicit language onto her rapist father whilst he is naked. One writer actuality said that she cares more about the effect it has on the watcher or reader than the plot.