Deutschland 83—89

Finally gotten around to finish this season (and I’m pretty sure that also means the show is done now as well). Looks like the name has been factored out to just “Deutschland” now. It was always a bit confusing… “Deutschland 83, S02” or “Deutschland 86”? Or even “Deutschland 86, S02”? Not a big fan of reducing the title to just “Deutschland”, to be honest – the original title “Deutschland 83” has a very different ring to it and fits the mood of the show better.

But formalities like that don’t detract from the quality of the latest season in the slightest. Still very entertaining and exciting, possibly even more so than the second season. It has been a while, more than two years since the second season, which itself came out only 1.5 years after I first started watching the show. “Deutschland 83” will always hold a special place in my heart, as I watched it during my amazing journey across Europe in March 2017. On the long train ride from Amsterdam to Bern I binged through the entire thing, overjoyed by how much I liked it – a German show good enough to soothe my freshly broken heart? Unheard of!1

The third and final season obviously deals with the fall of the Berlin wall, a topic which has always fascinated me – even more so ever since I saw it from a new perspective when reading The Shock Doctrine. I was only four years old when the wall came down, so I have no personal feelings, but nevertheless it is something that makes me really emotional rather quickly. I suppose even as an Internationalist you can’t escape your national identity. Then again, the assassination of JFK is another topic that holds an odd fascination and emotional trigger for me, so who knows where it all comes from. The individual fates of people being able to reunite with their families makes it feel like an important and positive step in – not only – Germany’s history to me. But we’re living through a lot of the negative consequences of what came on the heels of it. It’s weird to almost root for Kohl, but to get back to the season: Just the portrayal of the reunification backdrop for the plot got me teary-eyed, so good job!

The main story got me even closer, but I was pretty sure from the first episode that I would eat this season up. Martin got a new love interest, and fresh, innocent love in a (admittedly pretty messed up by now, but still) coming-of-age context is basically crack for me. I sit in front of my screen, grinning like a stupid teenager when it’s done right. And boy did Jonas Nay and Svenja Jung knock it out of the park here. I’m not having a crush on her at all, no worries!

I’m sad to see the show go, but I’m happy it ended on a high note. Still an outstanding mix of great characters and drama, spy action and history lessons, and of course also some light-hearted comic relief – it doesn’t take itself too seriously but stays true to its roots. Definitely one of the best shows in the last decade2, more please!

x/10


  1. Mind you, that was still half a year before Dark premiered. And comparing both series as a whole, Dark doesn’t hold a candle to Deutschland↩︎

  2. tEcHnIcAlLy tHe nEw dEcAdE OnLy bEgInS In 2021! ↩︎

Categories: tv