Deutschland 83 106: Grave Developments

Another excellent, fast-moving episode of Deutschland 83 last night - #106 - which has two especially grave developments for our hero, Martin.

First, in terms of long-range impact, we learn near the end of the episode that Tischbier's lover has AIDs.   Since Alex has recently slept with Tischbier, this unfortunately opens up all kinds of possibilities for General Ebel and his family, which makes what he just went through with his son MIA seem pale in comparison.

But the other piece of bad luck for Martin comes from Alex's rash hostage-taking, which results in Kramer being killed in the shoot-out as Martin and Alex escape.  As I mentioned last week, Kramer was a key figure in Martin's deception - perhaps the key figure - since he was well-situated in the West German command, had Ebel's complete trust, and was thus able to cover for Martin/Stamm whenever necessary.   Kramer's death will leave Martin bereft of a crucial ally and source of support.

Speaking of support, Annett surprised Martin and the audience by encouraging him to continue his patriotic work away from her, when he was pledging to her to stay by her side and take care of her and their baby. In other circumstances, this might have been an indication that Annett was having an affair with someone else, but in this case, her support of Martin's work stems for her devotion to the East German cause, which we already saw in evidence in her cooperation with the authorities regarding the banned books. So maybe we shouldn't have been surprised, and should accept that patriotism outstrips personal love in this circumstance, however alien that seems to us - and did for Martin.

I meant to mention in my review last week how apt the opening music is to Deutschland 83 -  Peter Schilling "Major Tom," a sequel to David Bowie's "Space Oddity," was not only a big hit in 1983, but suits the spirit of the narrative of this series just perfectly.

And I'll be back with more next week.

See also Deutschland 83: Edge of Your Seat and Memorable Espionage


 

different kind of spies

#SFWApro