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hestia8Someone talk to me about Deutschland 83, because I accidentally got a terrible pile of feelings when I watched it and I'm currently expressing them through angsty drawerfic.
Spoilers abound, obviously.
Ok, so I'm not even going to try to recap this but the setup of the show is that Martin Rauch is an East German soldier who gets blackmailed BY HIS AUNT (amazing) into going undercover in the West as aide to a General Edel. The first episode has some amazing shots (Martin in a West German supermarket, oh my) and then unfortunately the plot kicks in for a few episodes. This is unfortunate because Martin is both an idiot and the luckiest man in Germany, and people practically kill themselves to get him out of trouble. This culminates in the death of a woman who is technically Martin's fiancee but I'm not going into that bullshit because it was horrible and ridiculous.
But then with the second part of the series, the focus pulls back from Martin/Moritz a bit and onto some of the other characters, notably Alexander Edel, the son of the man Martin is now working for and against. Alex is awkward and doesn't seem to have any friends, but he gets to close to Martin, which means his one friend is an East German spy (poor Alex). He is in the army, although his heart is really not in it and he gradually gets involved with the peace movement, where he is a lot more organised than most of the protesters but no-one will listen to him (poor Alex). He also gets seduced by one of the leaders of the movement, who sadly for him is ALSO an East German spy (poor Alex, although iirc it is ambiguous as to whether Alex knows this or not by the end of the season). He comes up with a terrible plan to somehow get an American general to admit that America is planning attacks on East Germany and in the process a woman dies (not poor Alex in this case, it was a shit plan, rather poor woman, but it really starts to seem like he can't do anything right). He eventually gets told that his only friend and the guy who is a born soldier and the son his father always wanted is actually a spy and his heart practically breaks on camera (poor Alex). OH AND WAIT the guy he slept with might have AIDS so Alex might have it too (poor Alex).
AND THEN at the end of the series it is implied that either he kills himself or that his father does, in which case Alex will be the one to find him. GOOD LORD.
So it's all very sad and Alex is so vulnerable and so lonely and Ludwig Trepte does an amazing job and if there is a second series I would really like Alex to be healthy and maybe a bit happier and somehow still involved with the plot. Also with a friend or boyfriend who isn't an East German spy, EITHER ONE, I'M NOT FUSSY.
Also while all this is going on, Alex's sister is also going through some stuff, rebelling against their father by running off to join a commune and having an on-off relationship with Martin. At one point she ends up going to the East as a backing singer for Udo Lindenberg (this is a MASSIVE plot convenience) where Martin's (pregnant, btw) girlfriend tries to get her kidnapped by the Stasi, and then she finds out that Martin is an East German spy when he comes back and finds them. Poor Yvonne. I would also like her to be involved in another series, preferably with a friend or boyfriend who isn't an East German spy. AGAIN, NOT FUSSY.
Basically, I love how involved Martin got in the lives of these two screwed-up young people without really meaning to. Alex and Yvonne are both looking for connection, and their sibling relationship is really nicely portrayed as well as the stifling family environment they grew up in. It was just bad luck for them that the guy they connected with was a spy leading a double life.
...yeah, so. Like I said, someone talk to me about it!
Spoilers abound, obviously.
Ok, so I'm not even going to try to recap this but the setup of the show is that Martin Rauch is an East German soldier who gets blackmailed BY HIS AUNT (amazing) into going undercover in the West as aide to a General Edel. The first episode has some amazing shots (Martin in a West German supermarket, oh my) and then unfortunately the plot kicks in for a few episodes. This is unfortunate because Martin is both an idiot and the luckiest man in Germany, and people practically kill themselves to get him out of trouble. This culminates in the death of a woman who is technically Martin's fiancee but I'm not going into that bullshit because it was horrible and ridiculous.
But then with the second part of the series, the focus pulls back from Martin/Moritz a bit and onto some of the other characters, notably Alexander Edel, the son of the man Martin is now working for and against. Alex is awkward and doesn't seem to have any friends, but he gets to close to Martin, which means his one friend is an East German spy (poor Alex). He is in the army, although his heart is really not in it and he gradually gets involved with the peace movement, where he is a lot more organised than most of the protesters but no-one will listen to him (poor Alex). He also gets seduced by one of the leaders of the movement, who sadly for him is ALSO an East German spy (poor Alex, although iirc it is ambiguous as to whether Alex knows this or not by the end of the season). He comes up with a terrible plan to somehow get an American general to admit that America is planning attacks on East Germany and in the process a woman dies (not poor Alex in this case, it was a shit plan, rather poor woman, but it really starts to seem like he can't do anything right). He eventually gets told that his only friend and the guy who is a born soldier and the son his father always wanted is actually a spy and his heart practically breaks on camera (poor Alex). OH AND WAIT the guy he slept with might have AIDS so Alex might have it too (poor Alex).
AND THEN at the end of the series it is implied that either he kills himself or that his father does, in which case Alex will be the one to find him. GOOD LORD.
So it's all very sad and Alex is so vulnerable and so lonely and Ludwig Trepte does an amazing job and if there is a second series I would really like Alex to be healthy and maybe a bit happier and somehow still involved with the plot. Also with a friend or boyfriend who isn't an East German spy, EITHER ONE, I'M NOT FUSSY.
Also while all this is going on, Alex's sister is also going through some stuff, rebelling against their father by running off to join a commune and having an on-off relationship with Martin. At one point she ends up going to the East as a backing singer for Udo Lindenberg (this is a MASSIVE plot convenience) where Martin's (pregnant, btw) girlfriend tries to get her kidnapped by the Stasi, and then she finds out that Martin is an East German spy when he comes back and finds them. Poor Yvonne. I would also like her to be involved in another series, preferably with a friend or boyfriend who isn't an East German spy. AGAIN, NOT FUSSY.
Basically, I love how involved Martin got in the lives of these two screwed-up young people without really meaning to. Alex and Yvonne are both looking for connection, and their sibling relationship is really nicely portrayed as well as the stifling family environment they grew up in. It was just bad luck for them that the guy they connected with was a spy leading a double life.
...yeah, so. Like I said, someone talk to me about it!
