Rummaging around for anything worth a watch, I stumbled on a series that I just disappear into these nights. It’s called “Babylon Berlin,” set in 1929 and stuffed to the gills with Weimar wickedness, for which I’ve always had a soft spot. I’m into season 2 (there will be at least four) and trying to pace myself because I really want this one to last.
It’s a gritty detective story, but a lot more than that is going on here. It’s just far enough away from the Nazi takeover that it can focus on the perks and perils of everyday life in one of history’s most brittle and hedonistic capitals. BB doesn’t shy away from nudity, even full frontal, but I’m long past pretending I find such scenes unwelcome.
The detective is a mopey, morose charmer, played by Volker Bruch. Serious, guilt ridden and pessimistic, yes, but get him near a dance floor and he comes alive, an endearing dynamo of crazy footwork and back flips. You can’t take your eyes off him. There’s a dream sequence early in season 2 (not his dream, by the way) with a jaw-droppingly cute dance to a tune called “I’m in the mood for You.” I wish it had gone on twice as long.
If I have a crush on Herr Bruch, I’m also quite smitten with the female lead, Liv Lisa Fries. She’s tough, young, seen it all, and cute as a button. Uncrushed by poverty and the extended family from Hell, she often looks underslept, but on her, it only adds to the allure. In her quest to become a detective, she’s not above – well, anything.
There are subtitles – it’s in German. So what? We’re grown-ups. It’s dark, but there are unexpected pockets of sweetness and lunacy. One character is a lip reader for the police. Both his parents are deaf, and in one scene he’s trying to sleep but they don’t realize a radio is blaring. He gets up to shut it off, but they cajole him into signing for them as to what’s happening on the radio. It’s a Mahler concert. “Is there singing?” ” Yes, a lady is singing,” “Tell us.” And he does, with flowing signage that is a pleasure to behold. The vignette was so warm and unexpected, but this show is loaded with such surprises.
There’s a wacky scene where two detectives can’t stop slapping and punching each other, and every blow is followed by a fierce look of “You didn’t just do that!” There’s also a character who survives more assassination attempts than Rasputin. Three separate times I wrote him off for dead only to have him pop up again. Yet, the plotting is always credible.
If you fancy top notch writing and acting served up with mayhem, betrayal and perversity, give Hallmark a rest for a few weeks and wallow in “Babylon Berlin.”
Me Now 