Babylon Berlin (TV Series) Episode #1.1 (2017) User Reviews

Interesting

[create · 9/10 · 29 September 2021]

I decided to give this series a try, and since this is the first episode I admit that I am pleasently surprised. The first show was visually arresting. I rewound many of the scenes because the composition was stark.

It was also well written. They compose the script in a mini-series style, even though this is a regular series. They have many headliner characters all with different dramas. There doesn't seem to be a main event that will solve all there problems, like most mini-series; however, let's let the story develop.

There are a lot of storylines covering an entire historical period. This was a great beginning, so I'll try following it for awhile.

I didn't like the dubs, though.

Crime. Thriller. Politics. So good. Wonderful.

[debejere · 9/10 · 19 June 2020]

I just love this series. I hope you will take time to watch it through Season 3. I'm so looking forward to Season 4. I just don't understand the urgency of killing Greta. Watching that ran chills through my body. A breath and then death.

The wiretap scene was AWESOME! Just awesome and on vinyl no less. "Personal gain doesn't interest me". He is so full of crap. Loved it as well when he was all puffed up, thinking he was going to be the next big honchos.

And then on the upside seeing Gereon and that kiss with Charlotte was magnificent. They are adorable Love love loved it. I hope They hook up in season4.

I enjoyed the history In the show too.

Solid Tone-Setter

[Phonematology · 13 May 2021]

Introductions to character and tension. Babylon Berlin's beginning episode is a solid tone-setter, and upon second watch post-season, you'll notice how subtle this episode hints towards what will unfold. This first episode showcases the suspense, the humor, the unique qualities of our characters; and it contains a beautiful scene in the soon to be familiar Moka Efti, where the violinist (Kardakov), just out frame, harmonizes unknowingly with the portentous conversation, providing a clever diagetic analogue to the scene.

There are many seeds planted here, and we can only wonder if the ambition will wane into a yieldless harvest.

Great Series

[MJJ1Redd · 10/10 · 15 July 2023]

I tend to avoid shows which are dubbed over for obvious reasons. However, this is a great historical show. I've always been fascinated by the First World and the and the 1920's, so to watch a show taking place in Germany during the '20's was particularly interesting. I'm only a couple of episodes in but love it so far. One thing which stood out in episode 1: during an exchange between the main character, Gereon Rath, and his partner, Rath mentions he was in the war, during the "final game", the Seigfried Line. If I'm not mistaken, this was a campaign in WWII, not WWI. Historical error as "The Hindenburg Line" was one of the last campaigns during WWI. Anyway, carry on.

Episode 1.1

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 13 June 2018]

Babylon Berlin at 38 million Euros is the most expensive German television series ever. I like to think the CGI recreation of Alexanderplatz is authentic of the late 1920s. It does look like it presently does but with the fountain removed and cleaned up.

The first episode starts off with a train heist with many parties having a vested interest in this train arriving to Germany from Russia. The show's central conceit.

It would be cheeky to say this is Cabaret with murder and porn. It is set in the late 1920s Berlin, a city that is a melting pot and at a crossroads of many political factions. We know which political ideology will come out as the master.

We follow Gereon Rath, a driven and ambitious police inspector from Cologne. A veteran of the first world war, he might be suffering from shell shock but hiding it. He has a strict Catholic upbringing. His fellow officer is suspicious as to what he is doing in the vice division. We see the police raiding a porn shoot, some people are concerned that a film reel has fallen into the wrong hands. There is a hint that child pornography is involved.

We learn that Rath is not an uptight bore, he likes a good dance which includes running up the wall and doing a backflip. Looks like he might be a lapsed Catholic.

In a Berlin rampant with post war poverty and hyperinflation we also come across Charlotte Ritter, she is getting ready to go to work, she needs to get rent money by the end of the night. Is she a prostitute? We see her go to the police headquarters to look for any work going for the day. Her green hat gets the attention of someone and she catalogues murders. Charlotte bumps into Rath but I suspect at night she needs to use her glamour to get enough money together so that her family do not end up on the streets.

The first episode sets down the marker. It is more than a seedy, noirish crime mystery that will reveal the underbelly of Berlin. It wants to be a sprawling epic, this train heading somewhere in the middle of the night hints at an Edge of Darkness type conspiracy thriller.