The Same Sky: Nixon, Trump, and the German Democratic Republic

I saw The Same Sky, the German short series now on Netflix, the past few nights. Like Deutschland 83 on Sundance, The Same Sky is about East German / West German espionage, and mostly in German with a little English from time to time. Since I speak a little Yiddish - which is a kind of medieval German - it's especially enjoyable to watch shows like this, where I can understand some of the dialogue without the English subtitles (which are often too quick to read, or shown against a light background with light letters, anyway).

The other nice plus about The Same Sky is that it takes place some nine years before Deutschland 83, in 1974, as Nixon is unsuccessfully fighting to keep his job against the rising tide of outrage and evidence about his attempt to cover up the Watergate break-in.  Having watched James Comey's testimony before the Senate about Trump's obstruction of justice yesterday, it was satisfying indeed to see Nixon get his just desert on The Same Sky a little past midnight.

The plot, as was the case with Deutschland 83, has been aptly described as a "Romeo agent" from East Berlin on a mission to seduce a woman in West Berlin with valuable connections to NATO and the capitalist West.   Taking place in closer proximity to the Nazis than 1983, The Same Sky interestingly shows the stated revulsion to the Nazis of the East Germans, who see themselves as more truly a refutation of Nazi ideology than their cousins in the West.

As a spy story, The Same Sky has some good twists and subplots, especially those in East Germany, where a family struggles with a daughter being given testosterone injections so she can qualify for the German Democratic Republic (East German)  Olympic swim team.   The six episodes end with Nixon resigning, a few other resolutions, and lots of hanging questions - more than enough for a second season, which I'd certainly watch, with any luck with a new President in our current White House.

My List of the Top 10 Television Series of 2015

This is the first time I've made a list, which includes television on network, cable, and streaming.   Runners-up - superb but not quite making this list - include Chicago Fire (NBC) and Vikings (History Channel). Also worthy of Honorable Mention this year are Empire (Fox) and American Crime (ABC). But here's my Top 10 for 2015:

10. Deutschland 83 (Sundance): An unwilling East German spy undercover as a West German soldier at the height of the Cold War, i.e., 1983, and much easier to buy than The Americans. Outstanding.

9. Humans (AMC): The best android story ever on television, and likely in the movies.  Isaac Asimov would've loved this.

8. Rectify (Sundance): He has the heart of a poet and the native literacy of a Dylan.  Is there any chance he's guilty of the murder for which he's been released from death row on a technicality?

7. Mr. Robot (USA Network): A hacker show in a class by itself, that'll keep you on the edge of your seat in extreme suspense when you're not chuckling at the dark humor.

6. House of Cards (Netflix):  Not its best season, but still a masterpiece of political intrigue including murder.

5. Nashville (ABC): What can I say?  I just love the music.

4. The Good Wife (CBS): Easily the best show on network television, mixing up-to-date 2016 Presidential politics, NSA, courtroom drama, and romance, with its best season so far (sorry Will).

3. Fargo (FX):  Very loosely derived from the movie, but staking out a wacked-out intensely compelling territory all of its own.   This past season, for example, which had little in common with the first, had Ronald Reagan and a UFO as crucial parts of the story (well, the UFO anyway).

2. The Affair (Showtime):  The writerly life as realistically as it's ever been portrayed on television - plus a top-notch whodunnit, and then there's that hot affair.

1. The Man in the High Castle (Amazon):  Philip K. Dick's masterful alternate history of the Nazis and Japan winning World War II brought to the screen so effectively that, when you look away, you can almost believe that the reality we're now living in is the dream.

Deutschland 83 Season 1 Finale: Looking Forward to More

A good finale to what I hope will just be the first of many seasons of Deutschland 83, but, as often happens in television drama, not quite as effective as the immediately preceding episodes.

The highpoint of those episodes was Martin/Stamm telling General Edel that he (Stamm) was really an East German agent - Martin needing to do this as the only way he could think of to get Edel to call off the exercise which the Soviets and some East Germans were sure was a build-up to a real attack.

In the finale, the only big surprise was Edel taking his life at the end - which I was sorry to see, not because the character was so sympathetic (he was a rotten father, for sure), but because he added a lot to the story.  The other reveal, that Walter (be my guest and spell his last name yourself) was Martin's father, was not quite as big of a shocker, but has all kinds of potential for further seasons.

The extent of the AIDS infection is also of interest. Tischbier may or may not have it, which means the same for Edel's son.   Truthfully, I wouldn't mind seeing both gone in subsequent seasons, since each, in his own way, was annoying in this first season.

Not so Annett, who, other than Martin, was one of the most interesting and compelling characters this year.  It's still hard for me to wrap my head around how she could be so loyal to the East Germans, but that's one of the main points of this story, isn't it?  Attractive and otherwise decent people can be loyal to a totalitarian society that locks you up for reading 1984.

But speaking of East German officials, I also found the guy who doubted that the West was attacking, and stood up both to Walter and the Soviets, of some interest.  Would be good to see more of him next season, too.

So, yeah, I hope there is a Deutschland 83 season 2 - which hasn't been announced yet - and which I'll be eagerly watching for and reviewing, in case this makes any difference to those who call those renewal shots.

See also Deutschland 83: Edge of Your Seat and Memorable Espionage ... Deutschland 83 106: Grave Developments


 

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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


 

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Deutschland 83: Edge of Your Seat and Memorable Espionage

Just caught the first five episodes of Deutschland 83 on Sundance last night - the new German produced English-subtitled 1983 Eastern German spy in West Germany series - and was impressed indeed.  Fast-moving story, appealing characters, twists and edge-of-your-seat action, all you could ask for in a spy drama, and more.

The obvious comparison is to The Americans, which also takes place in the same period, a time in which Soviet espionage was in high gear, in the keenly ironic position from our 2015 perspective of not being able to stop the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the Soviet block less than a decade in the future.

In at least one significant way, Deutschland 83 has an edge on The Americans, which asks us to suspend our disbelief about how two agents, however capable, talented, and brilliant, are able to speak perfect American English despite their being born and raised in the Soviet Union.   In Deutschland 83, Martin the East German has no trouble speaking German in West Germany, because that's after all his language.  He is, understandably, not in touch with the latest in Western popular culture, and seeing him work around references with which he's not familiar is one of the fun parts of this story (and a little reminiscent of Daniel's occasional confusion about current culture after being locked away for so many years in Sundance's other masterful series, Rectify).

Unlike some spies - including those in The Americans - Martin is conscripted into espionage against his will, but once he's installed in Bonn, he makes the most of it.  Though he loves Annett back home, he has little trouble seducing a target's secretary, and comes to care for her so much that he can't bring himself to kill her when he's ordered to because she poses a big threat to Eastern German plans.  The other East German operatives apparently have no such compunction, which makes Martin a memorable and unpredictable character.

Kramer is one such ruthless operative, but he also plays an essential role in the story, being an East German spy well situated in the West German military, and usually able to smooth things out for Martin when the need arises.   But there's one continuing loophole, which I'll be interested to see if and how it's resolved:  Martin's cover, Stamm (quietly eliminated by the East Germans), is an accomplished piano player - something which Martin can't do.  The East Germans wrench Martin's hand, prior to his going under cover, and the bandage on his hand provides ample excuse when his West German boss, General Edel, asks him to play.  But the bandage is off by the second episode, so isn't it just a matter of time until Martin is asked to play a tune on the piano again?

He'll likely figure out a way out of this, as he's done, more or less, with all the other tight spots in which he's found himself.  I'm looking forward to the remaining three episodes of this series, and hoping they'll be more next year.

 

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