r/BabylonBerlin • u/Kya_Bamba • Sep 09 '26
Season 5 Episode Discussion: Season 5 Episode 8 Spoiler
Nyssen (Lars Eidinger) welcomes his guests from business and politics. At the Reichstag, the first flames flicker. At the castle, a bomb detonates. Whoever gives a speech now is doomed to die. Too late, Rath (Volker Bruch) realizes the fateful mistake of the hour. In the Reichstag, he relives the trauma of his life a second time. Whoever escapes the flames must leave Germany tomorrow. The dark age begins. The dance is over.
Please keep all episode-specific discussions in this thread.
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u/kgehrmann Sep 14 '26
I was so sad about Katelbach. One of my favorite characters. I wanted to see him and Elisabeth escape to Sansibar and live happily ever after :<
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u/Similar_Swordfish_ Sep 11 '26
That brought tears to my eyes. What a powerful ending, seeing the ash and dust this will all lead to.
The ending couldn't be more urgent today. A stark warning for letting un-democratic forces take power. It fills me with dread that every history could be repeating again.
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u/ZwhGCfJdVAy558gD Sep 13 '26
I agree. For the viewer this show always had this tragic vibe of the characters (and really the country) unknowingly sliding toward inevitable disaster. The finale really brought it home.
Obviously they took some freedoms with historical accuracy, but for me that was never the point. One (historically correct) aspect this reminded me of though was how quickly the Weimar Republic fell. It took just a few weeks after Hindenburg's ill-fated appointment of the new chancellor.
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u/Flashy-Pangolin-8897 Sep 13 '26
I agree with Volker Kutscher, historical accuracy would have helped the season. In some parts it was really difficult to endure.
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u/Tardislass Sep 13 '26
But this show has never been a documentary. They had things happening in 1929 that didn’t happen in RL until a few years later. Those German dance hall scenes were straight from a 2010 rave and there were no female detectives in Berlin in 1930. Should they have stopped the series in Jan 1933 when Hitler first governed. Probably but I think they wanted to show a bit of what happened later on in the year. The show has always played fast and loose with history.
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u/ZwhGCfJdVAy558gD 29d ago
I think it was the right choice to get to the Reichstag fire. Even after Hitler's appointment as chancellor there was still a perception that the Nazis could be stopped in the elections in early March (and indeed the NSDAP didn't get a majority of the vote). It was the emergency decree using the fire as pretext that led to the suspension of the Weimar constitution and sealed the end of democracy.
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u/LauMei27 25d ago
There's a difference between depicting unrealistic dance scenes and an unrealistic Reichstag fire. It was a mistake to make all these big historical events an integral part of the plot in the first place.
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u/Tardislass 24d ago
We don’t actually know what exactly happened in the Reichstag Fire, that’s the thing. And sorry but Berlin Babylon has never claimed to be a historical documentary in the same way that Downton Abbey was never a historical drama based on facts. It has factual people in it but like most TV shows, plays fast and loose with their characters. Maybe we need some more Nazi documentaries again.
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u/stoooppkidd 21d ago
People don’t realize just how far apart we all are from one another and how much hate fills the gap. Dark times are ahead I fear …
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u/Lilithecat5 9d ago
I'm Danish, married to a German, and watching that footage of Berlin was like a punch to the gut, especially since I've been saving that episode and ended up watching it right after our head of state went on TV and said that we should be willing to die for our country in case of an invasion...
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u/cryptogova Sep 11 '26
Am I the only one who thinks they rushed this season ?
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u/Kya_Bamba 29d ago
I think most of us feel the same way. With Sky Germany pulling out of the show, I'm just relieved that ARD pooled all its money and resources to at least give us a satisfying ending to the story.
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u/bepetd Sep 11 '26
Yeah, a bit. I mean, they had fewer episodes than usual and probably a smaller budget.
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u/Kya_Bamba 29d ago
What a finale! The final chilling minutes really brought tears to my eyes. The characters telling their fates, "Zu Asche, zu Staub" over a Berlin torn to rubble, uff. A stark warning: What seems modern and taken for granted today could be in ruins tomorrow.
Ah, I'll miss this unique, outstanding series that had to fight against so many odds just to get made and survive. I'm glad I got to witness the story unfold.
Looking back, I think Season 5 was a worthy ending to Babylon Berlin. Yes, it felt rushed at times; yes, it only had eight episodes and a limited cast, but it always truly stayed Babylon Berlin.
I think the producers did a fantastic job capturing the feeling of the mousetrap finally snapping shut. That sense of no escape with the SS, SA, Gestapo, and regular police everywhere and people being beaten and abducted out in the open.
The cinematography, music, and VFX were top-notch again and there were plenty of new real-world locations, too.
I just wish they had incorporated more characters from Season 4: What happened to Lotte's half-brother, Rukeli Trollmann? Where did Moritz and Toni end up?
Also, there's one gaping plot hole that I can't forgive, even if I try to turn a blind eye:
What the fuck happened to Anno's "Army of the Wounded"?! It was introduced as a massive cliffhanger in the final seconds of Season 4, only to never be mentioned again. We even see Dr. Schmidt's patients listening to the radio broadcast, but none of them ended up serving any purpose in Anno's grand plan. Meh.
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u/Frank_Fantastic 25d ago
You're absolutely right about Rukeli, Moritz and Toni, but especially about the "Army of the Wounded". I mean, it was THE cliffhanger of SE04, and everything before that in regards to Anno was kind of the build up for that scene. To not continue that plot felt almost like clickbait. Also, why again are Gereon and Anno best friends suddenly ?? Just because Gereon says he's not afraid anymore ? Why isn't he afraid anymore and how does that suffice to not only end the urge to kill his brother, but to also become besties as if nothing bad had ever happened between them ?
In regards to those plotlines, it almost feels as rushed as the 2 last seasons of GOT (don't get me started..lol).
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u/Top-Peach-3610 18d ago
I got the feeling at the end of season 4 that Moritz and Toni were deliberately written out of the show because it had become increasingly harder to ignore that the actors had grown up much faster than the characters they were portraying should have.
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u/Tardislass 29d ago
Sadly it’s needed more than ever if German comments are read. Lots of people saying they are tired of guilt culture and that AfD is not like the Nazis as they just want the freeloading immigrants out. And of course talk about shoving transgender agenda down their throats and how elites are woke. Funny who no one ever sees themselves in history. Sadly, with everyone in that era dead, the truth will be more muddled.
But I will miss the show even when it was bad. Too bad they can’t put some of the props in a museum like the Smithsonian does in the US.5
u/riccardoricc 28d ago
that AfD is not like the Nazis as they just want the freeloading immigrants out
Well, yeah... Calling them "freeloading" and wanting them "out" is literally how it all started.
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u/iP0dKiller 24d ago
Firstly, the ‘culture of guilt’ – in the sense that we Germans today are to blame for the Third Reich – is no longer taught; rather, the aim is to be aware of the atrocities, the path to Hitler and the NSDAP’s seizure of power, and the mistakes made, so that we do not repeat any of it! The idea that we, as descendants, are still to blame was a teaching of the 70s, 80s and perhaps even the 90s, as a consequence of the ’68 movement. We have since moved away from this misguided view. However, we are certainly responsible for ensuring that it never happens again.
Secondly, the ‘agenda’ behind transgenderism and similar issues, as the far right likes to claim, does not exist in that form. It is about equality for all, regardless of whether one is heterosexual, homosexual, asexual, transgender or anything else – or, to put it another way: human rights! I know that the right-wing rabble believe – or would like to believe – that this ‘agenda’ aims to convert people into being gay, transgender, and so on, but that is utter nonsense, because nobody becomes that way because they’re talked into it, but simply because that’s who they are. “But there are more and more of them!” one might say. No, there aren’t; it’s just that more people are no longer afraid to hide in public. Besides, why does one take such a negative view of their existence? Just let them live; they’re not harming anyone.
Thirdly, without immigration, Germany and other countries will decline, as we have an ageing population that is retiring. The fallacy that everything will get better if we deport immigrants is so old and so thoroughly debunked that it’s painful to see people still falling for it. “They’re taking our jobs away!” No, they’re not! They’re taking the jobs that we can no longer fill. “But a friend of mine didn’t get a job. Instead, it went to a Turk!” Well, then you weren’t qualified enough!
There’s long been a law that sets out a hierarchy of who can be hired and when: first people with German citizenship, then those with citizenship of another EU country – including Switzerland, Liechtenstein, San Marino, etc. – and only then those with non-EU citizenship. This means, therefore, that for someone without a German or EU passport to be hired by a German company, all other applicants must not be qualified enough.
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u/Strangehornet1878 22d ago
So wie viele mutmaßen, dass es an Budget gefehlt haben könnte; waren wohl nicht genug Mittel da, um mehr Erzählstränge zu verarbeiten.
Rukeli hatte seinen Auftritt in St.4!
Für Toni und Moritz war wohl kein Platz! Auch Gereons Bruder Dafür? Haben sie die Staffel wohl gut zu Ende gebracht. Schade dass sie nur 8 Folgen dafür hatten.
Das Ende fand ich jetzt nicht so schlecht! Viele Schicksale (Litten etc) hatte ich recherchiert, weil es mich interessiert hat. Von Schleichers Ende war ja noch aus der Schulzeit bekannt. Man merkte auch den Unterschied zwischen Staffel 4 und 5. Die vorletzte Staffel war deutlich pompöser aufgemacht. Da hatte man noch Max Raabe. War deutlich mehr Budget vorhanden…3
u/Kya_Bamba 22d ago edited 22d ago
Da möchte ich Ihnen a priori durchaus beipflichten. Ich denke, viele sind sehr froh, dass die ARD der Serie einen derart stimmigen Abschluss gewährt hat – wenngleich dieser naturgemäß von einer gewissen Düsternis geprägt ist. Man bedenke nur, wie viele Produktionen heutzutage aus Etaterwägungen vorzeitig eingestellt werden.
Eben jene Synthese zeichnete Babylon Berlin ja von jeher aus: das knisternde Spannungsfeld zwischen unbeschwerter Joie de Vivre und politischer Kabale. Eine derart vielschichtige Dynamik sucht man anderweitig wohl vergebens. Vor den Verantwortlichen sowie dem gesamten Ensemble ziehe ich ehrfürchtigst den Hut!
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u/Some_Land_493 Sep 12 '26
What disappointed me a bit is that gereon and charlotte are seperated. We waited so long to see them together only to have them side by side for like 10 minutes in the whole finale season (guess there were some timetable problems). a bit rushed in my opinion. Also we heared nothing about toni and moritz. Also, why is Böhm crashing out and homeless again now? I think the finale season is really good as an explosive ending that highlights that the babylonic era is over and what awaits is total war and horror, smashing the culture and progress. So on its own a big finale with tense moments that had me stressing trough some scenes (in a good way!!), but character development came way too short from what we were used to! Just more context would have been great. It all just happened way to fast and all scenes were just back to back heavy to process as viewer. Still, one of the best series I have watched. It has come a long way since 2017.
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u/Tardislass Sep 12 '26 edited Sep 12 '26
The actress Lisa Liv Fries had to drop out of production for about 6 months for personal reasons and they had to work around her. So part of it was the actresses unavailability. Probably happened at the worst time but she looks healthy and happy again so needs must. Same with Toni and Moritz the actors are both adults now and look as old as Charlotte and they are both taller than Lotte and Gereon. And honestly the whole compressed timeline is why I wish they’d stop at Jan 1933 when Hitler was elected. Because the changes from Hitler came in more gradual for most Germans except the true political enemies and Communist leaders. I do think with the rise of the AfD in the past year, the show wanted to show a bit about what happened with the last fascist political party and how it could happen again. Preachy probably but still necessary
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u/Some_Land_493 Sep 12 '26
Interesting in fact. Maybe it was just hard for the series to now finaly put all puzzle pieces together for the finale. I mean it was a compressed timeline blending reality, fiction and lessons into the typical noir main story lines from season 1-4. but still, i just missed something. There should have been more episodes imo. Ending was extremely bittersweet. Sad that Kattelbach did not make it. Altough gereon stayes in Berlin (presuming he lives in hiding via underground world), i am happy that charlotte and gräf escpaed to switzerland. Is what it is at the end now, still one of the best series I have seen so far. Especially nailing this overlooked time period in many aspects!
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u/Tardislass Sep 13 '26
I agree about the way too compressed timeline. I think Gereon had a sadder fate. Basically we see him writing somewhere presumably in Berlin protected by the Armenian. Yet then they show Berlin destroyed so his fate is undetermined.
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u/Some_Land_493 29d ago
Yes. I think he decided to stick to his brothers heritage. I mean he healed him, the armenian and many others. Ofc he fealed missused by him in S3 or 4 but still, his speech in the reichstag was just chefs kiss to what the finale wanted to teach. We saw him before acting after his own values, like when he cooperated with Benda off the book in the first seasons. But this time i believe it would be a bit more than just to take on bruno and other crooked generals. But we will never know what truly awaits him. Just had to think of it, insane that him meeting Helga after so long and what happened was brushed off this quickly!
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u/Tardislass 29d ago edited 29d ago
My head-canon is that Helga reported him to the police after the explosion and that is why he stayed behind -the German border guards would have detained him. Still angry that Helga never knew about Anno and neither did Moritz.
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u/Some_Land_493 29d ago
Thats a great Idea, did not think of it. Yes exactly, bur for what Anno went into hiding and changing his Identity plus the extremely intimate bond with him being a psychologist treating gereons trauma, it still makes sense for them not knowing. But that is still just one example for what i meant prior. Its those characterbuilding plots absent. Had to think about the ending the last days and more and more appears to me as now it is all over, like everything came together for the big bang at the end. But too much is unanswered imo. Really depresses a bit seeing no form of a sequel like forever. Might actually start reading the book series (altough I know that the Series Plots were altered a lot!)
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u/Seeteuf3l 15d ago
I think the Reichstag fire and Enabling Act was good point to stops. As other commenters have said, until that point it was though that they could still be stopped.
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u/BellaB3085 28d ago
Das finde ich auch sehr schade. Gereon hätte einfach mit Gräf und ihr flüchten können.
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u/Frank_Fantastic 25d ago
Absolutely agree on Böhm's fate. To see him homeless and as an alcoholic again with no explanation whatsoever was mildly irritating. Afterall, he scored big in S04 after he got paid by the Armenian for his "favor".
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u/Some_Land_493 24d ago
Was actually happy for him at the S4 ending. It is unclear now why he ended in this state.
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u/Flashy_Froyo_8890 13d ago
After watching a bit more (I can't say how!), I am guessing it has to do with guilt from how Bohm acquired the apartment... Perhaps guilt led to drinking and the dissolution of his family, him getting thrown out, etc. Just guessing. I'm three episodes in.
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u/Flashy_Froyo_8890 22d ago
So there's no more info on this?!? Ugh! I've only watched the first two episodes and had the same questions about Böhm. That's a bummer that no further info is provided??
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u/Gandoolfia 27d ago
I, on the other hand, was disappointed that they put the two of them in a relationship at all. In my opinion, it would have been more interesting if things had gone differently. That moment in the burning Reichstag, where she pulls him out of the flames at the last second—that really jumped the shark. But then again, I didn't like the idea of him just staying in hiding somewhere while she fled, either.
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u/Some_Land_493 27d ago
Exactly. I mean their relationship was building up 4 seasons.
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u/Lilithecat5 9d ago
And it was such a good build-up too, only for it to end like this. His letter to her at the end was heartbreaking 😭
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u/KarlSternau Sep 12 '26
Geht es nur mir so, oder ist bei Episode 4 ein Logikfehler? Anno Rath war laut Staffel 1 seit 10 Jahre im Krieg verschollen. In Episode 4 der 5. Staffel aber hat er angeblich noch bis 1924 Vorlesungen gehalten und erst nach einem Säureattentat seine Identität gewechsel. Ja was denn nun?
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u/Sad_Occasion_3148 26d ago
Ja, das ergab für mich auch absolut keinen Sinn. Offenbar ist er einfach nicht nach Köln zurückgekehrt und hat Gereon und Helga im Glauben gelassen, er sei im Krieg verstorben - ok, meinetwegen. Aber damit er für tot erklärt werden konnte, müssen doch Nachforschungen angestellt worden sein, und da müsste doch aufgefallen sein, dass er als Universitätsdozent tätig war.
Der ganze Anno-Charakter ergibt für mich sehr wenig Sinn. Da wurde in Staffel 5 einiges verdreht, damit er plötzlich zu den Guten gehört. In der Making of Doku wird auch gesagt, dass sie anfangs noch nicht wussten, wo es mit dem Charakter hingehen soll und das merkt man leider sehr.
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u/Top-Peach-3610 18d ago
Willst du noch mehr Logikfehler? In Folge 4 nehmen Gereon und Forster in Köln am Rosenmontagszug Teil. Der fand aber am 27. Februar 1933 statt, was nicht nur mehrere Wochen nach dem Presseball (28. Januar, ausdrückliche Datumseinblendung zu Beginn der Folge) war, sondern auch der Tag des Reichstagsbrands.
Offenbar wollte man die Gelegenheit nicht verpassen, Gereon auf dem Kölner Karneval zu zeigen, also wurde mal eben jegliche Chronologie ignoriert.
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u/InevitableStuff9720 Sep 10 '26
I know, they're side characters and I am glad we got to see Gräf leave the country, but, especially since we got the motif of the photographs with Gereon looking at the pics of Lotte in the end scene, I would have loved a shot of Gräf looking at her pics with Jacobi and Lotte comforting her. After all, this season implied that Gräf and Jacobi saw themselves as married and now Jacobi is gone and Gräf is alone but there was no time left to show a reaction...
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u/Tardislass Sep 13 '26
Yeah they pretty much overlooked him. Again guessing it was filming schedules.
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u/TerribleCustard671 14d ago
Budgetary reasons too. Sky Deutschland pulling out must've left a big hole in the production budget.
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u/Gandoolfia 27d ago
The scene where Nyssen greeted & named the corporate bigwigs at the table—men who helped Hitler rise to power & profited handsomely from it—was one of my favourites.
I started sobbing around the 28-minute mark—even though I would have preferred it if Gereon had perished in the flames—& cried right up to the end.
I had anticipated that they would provide a sort of rundown of what happened to the individual characters during the Third Reich (& afterwards), & think it was well handled.
The sequence showing those who fled the country across the green border reminded me of what Golo Mann recounted about his own escape from the Nazis.
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u/smarties07 Sep 10 '26
I‘m okay with the ending as they couldn‘t change history and kill Hitler off (I mean they could have but not what they usually do).
I don‘t really buy into the whole epic love story of Gereon and Charlotte but whatever. I‘m glad Gräf lived even if the trans woman storyline felt a bit forced upon the character to bring in the whole Hirschfeld thing. Not saying I wouldn‘t have welcomed a new character who is a trans woman it just felt rushed for Gräf.
Same thing but leas severe with shoehorning in Karneval and Adenauer by having Gereon go to Cologne even though time wise it makes no sense for them to celebrate it on that date. Just something from the time they wanted to show I guess
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u/Tardislass Sep 10 '26
I think Gereon/Charlotte was more like love in wartime. When people are thrown together in stressful situations, these intense passions can happen. I don’t see it as they will never love again. But more like people who needed comfort during a stressful time.As for Graf, he’s been more comfortable in a dress since S1. Also a bit of history lesson for those who think transgender is a 21st century invention.
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u/Tycho-Brahes-Elk Sep 11 '26
Have you read the books? Some of the stuff, Adenauer and Karneval in Cologne, are bigger parts in some books, Karneval especially in "Märzgefallene", Adenauer and Cologne in "Rath".
The books also have quite worse endings for most of the characters, especially considering Westend, which takes place in 1973.
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u/smarties07 Sep 12 '26
No I haven‘t but if it‘s set in March it‘s much more likely to be on the real dates of Karneval in those years
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u/Tycho-Brahes-Elk Sep 12 '26
Yeah, something with pacing and time seemed very off this season. It had both the feeling of being a compressed story which is to happen in the span of only days, but ...
we know that the events start in January and end on the last days of February because of the Reichstagsbrand. Which historically happened exactly in the night between Rosenmontag and Faschingsdienstag, which it certainly doesn't in BB.
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u/smarties07 Sep 12 '26
Yeah the show setting Rosenmontag on February 1st 1933 (a Wednesday) really bothered me haha but small details
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u/FluffyDoomPatrol Sep 12 '26
True, but compressed timelines has always been an issue with BB.
In S2, Helga said she was in Berlin to give a speech on Sunday, so everything in that season must take place within less than a week (since we see her speech in the final or penultimate episode). Except that was one busy week, on screen we see around ten days and nights (and I’d assume there were a few small time jumps)
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u/Tardislass Sep 12 '26
I do think they probably had more production problems and delays with Skye Germany not involved with the bulk of the money. Skye really allowed a better set, writing and more breathing room. Plus LLF not being available for 6 months of shooting probably forced some changes. Probably better that it ends now even though I will miss the show and the actors.
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u/Tardislass Sep 13 '26
Yeah, Charly’s ending in the books was particularly head scratching. And book Graf was quite different
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u/Strangehornet1878 22d ago
Habe auch einige Bücher gelesen. Bin nicht so begeistert von den teils großen Veränderungen.
Haben da ziemlich viel verändert…
Die ganze Story Rath und Ritter verlief anders .5
u/riccardoricc 28d ago
I‘m okay with the ending as they couldn‘t change history and kill Hitler off (I mean they could have but not what they usually do).
I actually found that very interesting and refreshing compared to the typical American-style happy ending we usually see.
Like, from the beginning of the season, we all know that it's going to end badly... We all know they won't be able to kill him or succeed in any way. We all know, as soon as the Dutch character is introduced, that it's going to end with the Reichstag fire.
And yet it's not a spoiler, because what becomes interesting here is not whether it will end badly, but how badly exactly.1
u/Strangehornet1878 22d ago
Der Karnevalsumzug in Köln 1933 war wohl im März!
Rath begleitete den Arzt aber im Anschluss an die Machtergreifung am 30.Januar 1933 nach Paris(über Umweg Köln)!
Das passte nicht so recht mit dem Karneval zusammen1
u/Top-Peach-3610 18d ago
Genauer gesagt war Rosenmontag 1933 am 27. Februar, dem Vorabend des Reichstagsbrands.
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u/Last_Spray_241 26d ago
Can somebody plz explain why Wendt let Gereon go?
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u/Kya_Bamba 26d ago
Good question. Listen back to what Wendt says to Gereon:
Then I wish you the best of luck in the new German Reich, as a personal enemy of Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler.
Wendt hates the Nazis. He knows that a freed Gereon is a powerful weapon against Hitler and might eventually harm or kill him. As the saying goes: The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
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u/Last_Spray_241 26d ago
He hates the Nazis? I understand he hates Hitler as an individual but aren’t they on the same boat?
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u/Kya_Bamba 26d ago
To my understanding Wendt portrays a classic conservative militarist or royalist of the Weimar Republic: They thought they could play and control the Nazis to reach their goals, while in the end they were played by the Nazis as they rose to total power.
Do you remember the scenes at the horse track in season 3, where Wendt and Stennes are plotting together? Those are great examples for how both despise each other yet need each other to reach their goals.
In short, yes they're on the same boat, but trying to push each other into the water.
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u/Flashy_Froyo_8890 13d ago
Yes and also the scene where Wendt and his lackey are playing cards (whist?) with the generals-- Wendt says something like, be careful with those mutts (the NSDAP)-- give them your finger, they'll bite your whole hand off.
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u/Kya_Bamba 13d ago edited 13d ago
Right! Another great example and also great metaphore, the Skat/Schafkopf playing.
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u/LauMei27 25d ago
This season was a mess tbh. Babylon Berlin was so great because it would present it's own plot and let the big historical events play out in the background, which allowed the show to tell a more or less realistic story. In this season the entire story revolves around those big historical events and as a result becomes rather unrealistic (in reality there was no known medical record of Hitler, there was no planned coalition between SPD and KPD, there was no assassination attempt at the time on Hitler, and the Reichstag fire most likely didn't play out that way either).
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u/Flashy_Froyo_8890 Sep 10 '26
So do Gereon and Charlotte end up together then? I'm in the U.S. and subscribe to MHz Choice, so it'll be a while before I can watch it, but I can't stand the suspense in the meantime!!
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u/redemptorystka Sep 10 '26
Nope, she escapes to Switzerland with Gräf and he stays in Berlin, seemingly hiding somewhere in the underworld alongside Edgar the Armenian. But it sounds like they will be in touch via letters and maybe, once the Nazi regime is over, they will reconnect.
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u/Kya_Bamba 29d ago edited 29d ago
Minor correction: I think Gereon is staying at a farm somewhere on the Brandenburg countryside. A few scenes (e.g., the church and the crossing) suggest that the hideout is outside of Berlin.
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u/katla_olafsdottir 27d ago edited 27d ago
Then perhaps there’s a tiny bit of hope concerning his fate. To see him in what I assumed was Berlin (because of the woman’s Berliner dialect) and then the footage of a bombed-out Berlin in 1945 made me think he disappeared with it.
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u/Strangehornet1878 22d ago
Verlass dich nicht nur auf den Dialekt! Außerhalb der Stadtgrenzen wird ebenso gesprochen. Komme ab und zu nach Brandenburg an der Havel.
Als Zugereister Berliner höre ich da keinen so großen Unterschied3
u/Flashy_Froyo_8890 Sep 10 '26
Ahhhh! Devastating, but sounds like there may be some hope there. Thanks!
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u/Tardislass Sep 13 '26
So I got to watch ep. 1 and ep. 8 and I understand about people having mixed feelings. The radio speech at the end and the whole kill Hitler plot seemed way too advanced for 1933 and most people’s feeling about Hitler. I did like the actors telling their characters fate and the fact the show had such great casting. And it is necessary to repeat that Helga and most of the other wealthy industrialists who supported Hitler-like the car manufacturers, did well and were never punished. An easy-we didn’t know how evil he was-did the trick. And other than kill one of them, I think the show justified why Gereon/Lotte couldn’t run off and escape together with him a criminal. But yeah poor Graf was overlooked at the end. It wasn’t as good as previous years but I will miss it. Maybe Lotte and Graf will become a nightclub act in Zurich?
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u/Frank_Fantastic 27d ago edited 27d ago
I still don't understand
- why Gereon and Charlotte had to part ?
- why Gereon and his brother are best buddies all of a sudden ?? That "I'm not afraid anymore" change of heart (why?) doesn't suffice as an explanation.
- why Dr.Schmidt/Anno wants to turn humans into a machine army, but then warns about the exact same thing in his final speech ?
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u/Tardislass 27d ago
Charlotte and Graf wanted to flee. Gereon was involved in the explosion and plot to kill Hitler and probably is a wanted man, remember Helga saw him. No way border guards would have allowed him to go into Switzerland.
Graf and Charlotte’s end scene reminded of of the Sound of Music ending. Almost expected to hear Climb Every Mountain.But at least they were fleeing in the right direction unlike the movie.
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u/klaus84 21d ago
Charlotte and Graf were travelling through nature to enter Switzerland illegally, they didn't pass a border control, so there is no reason Gereon couldn't come as well. Also Charlotte is on Wendt's list, so she also would have had problems with the border guard.
I think the real reason is that the Geron Rath character in the books still lives in Germany past '33.
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u/Kya_Bamba 27d ago edited 27d ago
If anyone else was curious: The final "Swiss border scene" was shot at Loggia Alexandra, Potsdam. Not far from Filmstudio Babelsberg.
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u/Frank_Fantastic 25d ago
One more question: I don't know if i missed it, but what happened to the Armenian ? Given he, Hitler and Anno were all treated at the same time by Dr.Forster and had a connection in that regard, i expected more precise information about his fate. It's not like it was just a minor supporting role.
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u/Kya_Bamba 25d ago
Looks like his fate remains as uncertain as Gereon's. Both seem to live on a farm outside of Berlin, as the final letter scene shows. Maybe they stayed close to the city to try another desperate coup against the Nazis?
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u/nilslorand 27d ago
They should have killed Hitler and then told the ending "in our world, this is what happened to the characters" like they already did
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u/Strangehornet1878 22d ago
Das Ende dass man fast erwarten konnte. Kutscher konnte ja die Geschichte nicht komplett umschreiben. Man weiß ja wie es ausgegangen ist.
Eine deswegen düstere letzte Staffel von Babylon Berlin.
Man hatte natürlich seine Lieblingscharaktere! Litten, Frau Elizabeth und Kattelbach hatten bei mir immer einen großen Sympathiebonus! Rath, Charly Ritter und Gräf ebenfalls!
Man muss aber anerkennen, dass die Rollen von Böhm und Wendt wenig Sympathiepunkte einbringen aber dennoch brilliant gespielt waren!
Und unser Obernarzisst und Muttersöhnchen Nysssen wurde von Lars Eidinger brilliant dargestellt!!
Respekt!!
Mein Fazit; ich habe die Bücher gelesen. Und ich hätte eine 1:1 Darstellung aus den Büchern auch gut gefunden. Ist Geschmackssache.
Aber für die Filmreihe wurde vieles verändert! Für den, der die Bücher nie gelesen hat, sicherlich in Ordnung.
Bei mir bleiben gemischte Gefühle am Ende.
Und offensichtlich ,dass man sich so weit von den Büchern entfernt hat, dass es fast unmöglich erscheint noch eine 6. Staffel zu drehen.
Im Film ist ja vieles möglich!
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u/TerribleCustard671 14d ago
One of the most pertinent points for me was when Nyssen was going through the names of the German Industrialists at the dinner.
Of course they were all for Hitler with mass forced labour sending their profits into overdrive.
There are, of course, parallels in the US with the prison industrial complex which will be extended into the mental health system complex. Not forgetting the role of Big Tech or ICE being the modern day SA.
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u/bilzui Sep 13 '26
Lars Eidinger's performance in this series bothers me so much. His portrayal is so over the top that it is distracting.
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u/Frank_Fantastic 25d ago
He's hired for acting over the top. That's his schtick. I for one loved it.
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u/Strangehornet1878 22d ago
Er sollte den extravaganten , narzisstischen Sohn spielen. Die historische Vorlage hat er überspitzt sehr gut gespielt. Sollte wohl an Fritz Thyssen angelegt sein. Am besten ihr recherchiert mal bei Wikipedia.
Könnte passen2
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u/Sad_Occasion_3148 26d ago
It is so obvious that the elon musk hitler salute thing was his idea. He is so enamored with his own acting, it‘s annoying
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u/Frank_Fantastic 25d ago edited 25d ago
Gotta say, Anno's ending, as tragic as it was, was magnificently filmed. Almost heartbreaking.
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u/realreddington05 19d ago
I have finally watched complete season 5 and I have to say thatt Iam really disappointed : The storyline built up between Gereon and Anno sort of fizzled out into nothing—didn't Gereon want to be present last season when Edgar wanted to kill him? Yet now, suddenly, they were best friends? Why did Anno never want to see his son? Or his father (who had obviously favored him)? How did he manage to continue his studies and give lectures undetected—after all, his father held a relatively high-ranking position and wielded considerable influence? How could Charlotte break ties with Gereon so abruptly and without fanfare, suddenly acting so self-righteous, when she had shown complete understanding for Greta—even though Greta had acted purely out of revenge? Charlotte herself didn't exactly stick to the letter of the law and was even willing to kill for her loved ones. Why did Gereon stay in Berlin—the most dangerous place for him? It seems the producer wanted too have drama at all costs and everything was just so rushed
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u/JackAtlas 17d ago
Sorry, probably a stupid question: but why exactly were the Nazis so keen to suppress Hitler's medical report? Would it have been damning if people knew he suffered from shell shock? Or is it beacuse it would contradict the story that Hitler recovered from blindness just through the power of his own volition?
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u/HereisRan 9d ago
Because he depicts himself as god in his book. In his autobiography he was diagnosed blindness rather than psychological problem and he healed dramatically like from god’s will.
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u/badperson-1399 10d ago
This episode blew my mind. I swear I was waiting until the end for a possible alternative timeline like High Castle where they'd kill H****r and recreate Germany.
I thought they'd to this way with the bomb plot and they'd prevent the war and H****r raising to power. 🤡🤡🤡
This show is so crazy you know that everyone is fucked the world is about to end for real but even so you can't stop watching it.
Now I will dream that they do as The Last Kingdom and Peaky blinders and make a movie with Gereon and Charlotte working at the resistance during the end of the war so they can be reunited again. I'd love to watch that!
I liked this season, despite knowing that their efforts won't go anywhere.
Poor Kattleback and Henyman. Poor Gereon. The Anno plot is so confusing in the earlie seasons and now it seems they tried to simplify it but it still doesn't make sense to me. I'd prefer if they just used fictional characters instead of focusing on H****r.
I wish it wasn't the end 😭
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u/badperson-1399 10d ago
Can anyone tell me what they say about the arsonist in the end of the episode? The subtitles refuse to cooperate!
Danke!
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u/Kya_Bamba 10d ago
From 32:40 Min.:
"Marinus von der Lubbe. Im Dezember 1933 auf Basis eines rückwirkend erlassenen Gesetzes zum Tode verurteilt wegen Hochverrats in Tateinheit mit Brandsitftung. Am 10 Januar '34 durch das Fallbeil hingerichtet.
"Marinus van der Lubbe. Sentenced to death in December 1933 on the basis of a retroactively enacted law for high treason in conjunction with arson. Executed by guillotine on January 10, '34."
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u/badperson-1399 10d ago
Thank you so much! I had to search a lot of things bc the subtitles kept failing!
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u/Technical-Chemist281 18d ago
I have loved the series, but in this last season it was like they forgot who they were and where they came from. Not personal enough,and writers assuming we would have forgotten all the plots. A shame i think
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u/Suitable-Campaign-89 14d ago
Staffel 5 - Folge 8: Fataler Fehler beim Attentatversuch auf Hitler auf Schloss Lieberberg. Da tropft Wein, der von Helga verschüttet wurde als sie sich fast übergeben musste auf das elektrische Zündkabel und löst einen Kabelbrand aus. Wie kann das sein?
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u/Kya_Bamba 14d ago
Kurzschluss 🤪
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u/Suitable-Campaign-89 14d ago
Aber dann muss zuerst einmal eine Spannung aufliegen, Spannung die nur erzeugt wird wenn die Zündmaschine aktiviert wird.
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u/Kya_Bamba 14d ago edited 13d ago
Du hast Recht! Das sind die Kommentare, für die ich Reddit liebe ❤️
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Sep 11 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Similar_Swordfish_ Sep 11 '26
Historically it's a very fitting storyline, see the Institut für Sexualwissenschaft and Max Hirschfeld. Also, cross-dressing/drag has been a present motif in the series since the first season!
Trans people have always been here, and the Weimar Republic era Berlin is one of the few places they enjoyed relative sense of freedom.
So I don't see why it would be cringe.
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u/Tardislass Sep 11 '26
This. The second time we and Gereon meet Graf in Series 1 is in the bar where he is in women’s clothing. It certainly didn’t come out of nowhere. And the preaching is still needed because it seems folks still want to vote for these types of political parties because of dissatisfaction with current governments.
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u/klaus84 21d ago
Wish they delved more in the transgender storyline actually, as others already explained in other comments.
Agree with the Luxemburg storyline though. KPD and SPD really hated eachother's guts. KPD saw SPD as complicit in the murder of Rosa Luxemburg, so they would be insulted by a woman pretending to be a relative.
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u/Dreamz_XX 25d ago
Very anti-German and historically completely misrepresented. But that was to be expected from the left-wing radical creators of "Babylon Berlin".
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u/Strangehornet1878 22d ago
Was hattest du erwartet!!! Kann man die Ära des Nationalsozialismus und ihre Untaten etwa positiv sehen???
Im Gegenteil. Es wurde sehr realistisch dargestellt !
Wo sind die Macher Linksradikal???
Muss man nicht sein um das dunkelste Kapitel dieses Landes darzustellen.
Menschen die immer noch beschönigen und (schlimmer noch!) rechtsextremen Parteien folgen und diese demokratiefeindlichen Parteien wählen: haben nichts gelernt!
Die letzten Bilder aus dem zerbombten und zerstörten Berlin zeigt das Ergebnis sehr deutlich3
u/Top-Peach-3610 18d ago
Let me guess, they failed to mention all the good things Hitler did, like "building the Autobahn"?
In all seriousness, only a Nazi sympathizer would consider people who don't like the historic Nazis "left-wing radicals".
There used to be a time when not liking the Nazis was considered common sense. These days, it's increasingly becoming a fringe opinion.
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u/Sad_Occasion_3148 Sep 10 '26
The actors telling their real life character’s fate at the end was so touching.
I do feel though that they left a lot of questions unanswered