Spoiler Alert!!!
Well, it only took five years, but I’m finally caught up with Babylon Berlin, the Neo-noir German detective drama set in Weimar Germany. Dropped by Netflix after three seasons, the long-awaited fourth season is now available for streaming on MHz Choice TV. Given the long gap between seasons, I decided to rewatch the earlier ones to refresh my memory before diving into the new episodes. While I mostly stand by my 2020 review, I have reconsidered my thoughts on the English dubbing. This time around, it bothered me so much that I wonder if they used different voice-over artists, though I can't say for sure. I highly recommend watching it in the original German with subtitles.
Today, it is fashionable to compare these United States with the crisis-ridden interwar period of Weimar Germany. An erroneous analogy, the “Roaring Twenties” were far more interesting than our own shameful epoch aptly and unoriginally referred to simply as the “Twenties.” Sure, both republics were/are decadent and corrupt. Yes, both were/are beset with political extremism and in danger of becoming totalitarian regimes, but whatever his problems (and there are many), President Trump is no Hitler, no matter what the unhinged mattoids running amok say. If anything, we are arguably much closer to realizing the Bavarian Soviet Republic than Nazi Germany.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not romanticizing the "accidental republic,” it was rife with economic instability, political turmoil, and social upheaval, I just find Weimar Germany far less repulsive than modern America, which should give you an idea of how far I think we have fallen as a society. Consider the cultural, artistic, and philosophical achievements of that era. Who are today’s Stefan George, Franz von Stuck, or Martin Heidegger? What prominent thinkers have emerged in our time that can rival Carl Schmitt, Oswald Spengler, or Ernst Jünger? Where are our great men of stature, such as Edgar Julius Jung, a key figure of the anti-Nazi Right, and "The Lion of Munster" Blessed Clemens August Graf von Galen?
Even their leftists, such as those from the Frankfurt School, were infinitely more interesting (if no less subversive) than the insipid, second-rate mid-wits we see causing trouble today. The garbage and schlock (urban mono-culture) that passes for art and culture in 2020s America cannot hold a candle to 1920s Germany. What have we produced that can compare to Fritz Lang’s influential Metropolis (1927), Bertolt Brecht’s landmark The Threepenny Opera (1928), or Eric Maria Remarque’s acclaimed All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)? Where are our timeless works of art? Sorry, but Barbie (2023), Hamilton (2015), and multi-millionaire Bernie Sanders' It's OK to be Angry About Capitalism (2024) will not stand the test of time.
Things have gotten so bad today that people actually look back to the modernist and decadent art forms and social mores of the 1920s and the “Dirty Thirties” with nostalgia. This debauched era continues to inspire and capture the imagination, as evidenced by the ongoing popularity of the stories set in that period. Off the top of my head, Broadway productions like Cabaret, which explores the sybaritic Kit Kat Club amidst the rise of Nazism in Berlin, and Gypsy, the tale of a burlesque dancer from the 20s and 30s, come to mind. On television, the critically acclaimed series Peaky Blinders, set in interwar Birmingham, and Mussolini: Son of the Century, based on Il Duce’s rise to power in 1920s Italy, further illustrate this trend. Nowadays, so many stories take place in the past or the future, as audiences seem uninterested in watching a bunch of narcissists glued to their smartphones and taking selfies.
Babylon Berlin also serves as proof of this cultural malaise. The show’s appeal to me lies solely in my passion for period pieces and my peculiar fascination with Interwar Europe. I wouldn't have considered watching it if it were set in a contemporary milieu.
While the first couple of seasons had their shortcomings, like romanticizing the communists and the fourth estate, they were fun and engaging. I found the third season slightly less enjoyable and the fourth to be the least compelling. That said, it still looks great. I love the costumes, uniforms, and old cars. The sets, cinematography, and score are all fantastic. I have no issues with the acting either, but the storyline is glutted with overly complex and outlandish plot twists that would give the most melodramatic telenovela a run for its money.
Season four shifts the narrative from 1929, the setting of the first three seasons, to early 1931, weaving together multiple storylines and dramatic turn of events. Notably, Gereon infiltrates and sabotages the local Brownshirts, while Charlotte takes down a murderous vigilante group known as the White Hand. While some things were totally predictable—like the depiction of Nazi violence and the outcome of the internecine mob war—others caught me by surprise. I wasn’t expecting them to transform the manly Colonel Gustav Wendt into a rutting pederast. The power-hungry colonel went from being an arch-reactionary (complete with dueling scar) conspiring to restore the Kaiser in the first three seasons to a Nazi secret agent buggering an underage boy in a public park in the fourth. This regrettable transformation also sheds light on Wendt’s affair with the young, beautiful communist spy Marie-Luise "Malu" Seegers and the reason for her increasingly masculine attire.
Although the historical backdrop is a big part of the show’s appeal, it often takes license with too many significant and tragic events. For instance, I found the decision to make the “gypsy” (Sinti) boxer Johann Trollmann Charlotte’s half-brother to be contrived and unnecessary. With only eight episodes scheduled for the fifth and final season, I’m baffled as to why they are introducing new characters and storylines when there are already too many existing ones that remain underdeveloped and adequately fleshed out.
We all knew it was only a matter of time before Charlotte and Gereon ended up together, but the romances between Helga Rath and Alfred Nyssen, Moritz Rath and Toni Ritter, and Samuel Katelbach and Elisabeth Behnke were all boring and formulaic. Pandering to modern bourgeois sentimentality and emotions, I found it all unnecessary and detracted from the overall story. Even the city’s bloody underworld feud stemmed from the bizarre love triangle involving Walter Weintraub and Edgar and Esther Kasabian. They couldn’t even allow Esther to run away for America without her meeting another man (Abe Gold) on the zeppelin. As far as I can tell, the only significant plot line that didn’t revolve around a love affair was the civil war (Stennes-Putsch) between the Sturmabteilung (SA) and Schutzstaffel (SS).
Genuinely not a fan, I don’t watch much television these days—I prefer old movies. However, if I’m going to invest my time in a show, it needs to be worthwhile, or I'm out. For example, I couldn’t get through the second season of Peaky Blinders. Way overrated, the story took a drastic nosedive, so I moved on. Exceptions were made for the highly disappointing Briganti due to its relevance to our Neobourbon cause and The Rings of Power (the dumbest show ever) because of my love for J.R.R. Tolkien. I’ll keep hate-watching them for those reasons. The fact that I managed to get through all four seasons of Babylon Berlin—twice!—despite my criticisms, I think, speaks volumes. It’s still a decent show, and with little else worth watching, I will almost certainly watch the final season. Whether I feel inspired to write about it remains to be seen.
By Giovanni di Napoli, April 6th, Passion Sunday