Summary:
There are many interesting elements, ideas and moments in this dark drama that takes place in 1946 in a destroyed postwar Berlin, but the various narrative lines do not fully integrate satisfactorily, its characters are wasted because they lack, in general, psychological depth and between them curiously, the cast stands out more Tuppence Middleton than Nina Hoos, with a more accomplished character and performance.
Review
Max McLaughlin, a New York policeman (Taylor Kitsch) arrives in destroyed postwar Berlin in 1946 to organize a precarious German police department in the American sector of the city alongside German Elsie Garten (Nina Hoos). In addition, both of them must deal with their personal losses. In Max's case, he tries to find the whereabouts of his brother, a missing soldier, while we know about Elsie that the missing person is her husband.
This precarious police squad armed only with sticks (the Germans could not carry weapons) must deal with a Berlin where Nazi hunters and avengers circulate, a villain pimp nicknamed Engelmacher (Sebastian Koch), terrorists, espionage, cruel authorities in the Russian zone and diplomats.
I confess that the presence of the great German actress Nina Hoos (who, as she always acts well) motivated me to watch the series, but her character lacks depth. There are interesting ideas and elements: several good dialogues, an excellent reconstruction of a Berlin in ruins, a successful darkness, suspense and violence, arbitrariness and corruption, characters who spy on each other ... but the various narrative lines do not finish integrating satisfactorily according to a script that has few revelations. The adherence to the norms of good old Max doesn't sound convincing (and neither does the performance of the plastic Taylor Kitsch). In any case, almost no one is saved from transgressing the rules when a post-war logic prevails where many situations are beyond their control. Almost all the characters have their good moments, but they lack psychological depth.
Another problem that arises (common in this type of series) is the plausibility of the language. Although German characters speak German, it is not very credible that many of them speak English fluently; sometimes even German characters speak English to each other. And what is worse: how do you send a policeman who does not speak German to organize the German police?
In addition to a quite vibrant final chapter, the best of the series is the character of Claire Franklin, the alcoholic wife of US Vice Consul Tuppence Middleton (the Riley Blue of Sense 8), a kind of brunette Jessica Lange (and for more than one reason), who makes a remarkable composition, full of nuances, of a femme fatal between melancholic, bored, dissatisfied and suffering.
There are many interesting elements, ideas and moments in this dark drama that takes place in 1946 in a destroyed postwar Berlin, but the various narrative lines do not fully integrate satisfactorily, its characters are wasted because they lack, in general, psychological depth and between them curiously, the cast stands out more Tuppence Middleton than Nina Hoos, with a more accomplished character and performance.
Review
Max McLaughlin, a New York policeman (Taylor Kitsch) arrives in destroyed postwar Berlin in 1946 to organize a precarious German police department in the American sector of the city alongside German Elsie Garten (Nina Hoos). In addition, both of them must deal with their personal losses. In Max's case, he tries to find the whereabouts of his brother, a missing soldier, while we know about Elsie that the missing person is her husband.
This precarious police squad armed only with sticks (the Germans could not carry weapons) must deal with a Berlin where Nazi hunters and avengers circulate, a villain pimp nicknamed Engelmacher (Sebastian Koch), terrorists, espionage, cruel authorities in the Russian zone and diplomats.
I confess that the presence of the great German actress Nina Hoos (who, as she always acts well) motivated me to watch the series, but her character lacks depth. There are interesting ideas and elements: several good dialogues, an excellent reconstruction of a Berlin in ruins, a successful darkness, suspense and violence, arbitrariness and corruption, characters who spy on each other ... but the various narrative lines do not finish integrating satisfactorily according to a script that has few revelations. The adherence to the norms of good old Max doesn't sound convincing (and neither does the performance of the plastic Taylor Kitsch). In any case, almost no one is saved from transgressing the rules when a post-war logic prevails where many situations are beyond their control. Almost all the characters have their good moments, but they lack psychological depth.
Another problem that arises (common in this type of series) is the plausibility of the language. Although German characters speak German, it is not very credible that many of them speak English fluently; sometimes even German characters speak English to each other. And what is worse: how do you send a policeman who does not speak German to organize the German police?
In addition to a quite vibrant final chapter, the best of the series is the character of Claire Franklin, the alcoholic wife of US Vice Consul Tuppence Middleton (the Riley Blue of Sense 8), a kind of brunette Jessica Lange (and for more than one reason), who makes a remarkable composition, full of nuances, of a femme fatal between melancholic, bored, dissatisfied and suffering.