User reviews

This was a decent miniseries, and I won't bother to discuss it in terms of acting, writing, etc.

It paid great attention to the post-war time in which it's set, 1946, except for the one glaring detail that drives me crazy in SO many productions that have been made in the 21st century. Stubble beards were NOT a thing then, especially for American police officers. Why, oh why, don't directors insist that their actors be clean shaven to fit in with the time period of their movies? Why does one actor's vanity trump the desire for authenticity?

This is not bad, and no where a propaganda show. Not no where near the others we see today. ilya is obviously upset that Russian's are portrayed for the brutality that they displayed after the war. This is just truth, many of us saw this, even way after the war was over, me personally in West Berlin.

And let us be clear, "They" did not willingly share anything. History, is always told in the perspective of the winners and of whom is telling it. To see the real truth you have to lived it yourself or experienced some of it yourself.

I did. So far this has been decent show and worth the watch. You will need subtitles for it.

I don't get the negative reviews here, yes it's far from perfect, but to say it's about white American saviours is a joke considering it's written by Germans. The show paints a good picture of immediate post war Berlin and the premise kept me glued right through the end.

This show is far from "woke" and it's characters for the most part are well written. I'd much rather see more historical shows with the occasional gaffe than the modern trash we have set in the present day.

It's also nice do have a mix of different languages, so do make sure you have subtitles since about 50% of it isn't in English.

There's something about Berlin that seems to inspire writers, and this particular series reminds me of another( probably better) police series called Babylon Berlin, although it was set in another era.

The magic of this series lies in the unique way that postwar Berlin is presented. It is a fascinating mix of ruins and decrepitude, shown in stark relief by the way some inhabitants live, particularly the Americans.

Having said that, there are many plots and sub plots the main one being the terrible crimes committed daily on the streets by all nationalities. There is a bit too much going on, so following all the different threads is probably helped by using sub titles.

The brutal nature of the series is I think helped by the engaging leading man. Several people have been critical of him, but I think a really tough guy actor would have turned a lot of people off. Elsie is an engaging character, and Max's brother is a great study in psychopathic behaviour.

It's not an easy watch, but it is an interesting one if you like to see how Berlin became the important city it is today, then this series can only enhance that experience.

Was surprised to see so many negative reviews and low score so had to leave my thoughts here.

I though this series was very good. In every aspect.

Things that really stood out to me compared to other series:

• amazing opening credits that set the perfect post war film noir vibe

• insane set design, very rich, dense and real. It really felt like huge city that was recently destroyed. I can only think of the eye for detail and money that went into this. Also the use of real explosions and real buildings really amazed me multiple times

• Showing the horror and horrible things people did during and after the war without holding back. There is some serious f'up things that happen in this series but I think it's only fair to show these cruelties in a post war series. If this was a netflix series I'm sure it would've been way softer and not so real.

• Excellent acting. Loved all the actors, German and American. Also loved that they spoke German a lot. All the storylines of each character is really gripping. With the right ise of flashbacks at perfect timings.

• Very well written. The story almost felt like a theatre play in a good way. Small additions to the story like the testimony scenes of the characters with the white light where they talk about something very personal were a beautiful addition and made the story that much denser and more believable

And so much more! I really recommend this series. You can see a lot of work and thought went into every aspect of this. I see a lot of critique of being not historically accurate but I have to disagree. They show the map of Berlin a lot and try to clearly show the different occupied areas and the problems that come with it. Also the upcomming cold war between Russia and America plays a big role in the dynamics of the characters towards the end.

Give this non-Netflix series some support! Would love to see a second season.

The technical facets to this are excellent. The whole look and design is really full of dust and rubble and a vanquished nation. The actors too show their skill and across the various nationalities all hit their marks.

Where the series falters, and often, is the story and plot. The plot is the mechanism and the story is the overall narrative. It has everything thrown into it from fraternal love, psychological cracks, art theft, Cold War espionage,a bizarre female resistance etc . It is so cluttered as to be a mish-mash of of high drama and incredible, story telling.

It may succeed with some audiences but it seems a little desperate, as if they are not quite sure of what they have and have conceived all manner of subplots to keep this thing spinning so you don't notice that it's, well, a bit nonsensical.

In a way its like the dime novels that had a thrill every few pages to keep the reader hooked but when they finished the book they couldn't remember anything.

People saying that it shows 1 group as good or others as bad, have either not seen all the episodes, or they're biased to hell and back. The show depicts villains and heroes in every corner. British, Russian, American, German, French... Perhaps it is a sign of the times that we live in that people choose to see just one side, but I assure you that it hits in all directions. It also shows humanity and decency from all directions.

This show is grand. It has mystery, the violence is realistic and used to great effect, the characters are well written and the connection to real events has a unique spin in that it depicts the post-war time of Europe rather than WWII. The set design alone is worthy of all the praise possible. So is the use of actual British, French, American, Russian and German actors. It would've been easy to just stick a bunch of Swedish and English actors into it all and call it a day. But they didn't, because this show is so clearly a labour of love. The one thing that confuses me, and surely others, is why it's called different names depending on region. To me as a Swede it is called, The Defeated, to others it's called Shadowplay. It causes unnecessary confusion for viewers, but those that do watch it all the way through tend to give it positive ratings.

Give it a chance. It is the first show I watched in 2021, and it set a VERY high bar for any upcoming shows to reach.

In response to KkonaW's review about Soviet brutality after the war, I think it's the opposite. The brutality of Soviet is not exaggerated. The brutality of Soviet soldiers is largely overlooked. Japan occupied northeast China for over 30 years but it was the Soviet army that exerted brutal force there - rape and robbery were just their standard practice. But the Chinese Communist Party just looked the other way.

Remember what they did to the Polish resistance? Statin tricked them. Then the Soviet arrested them sent them to Siberia.

It's not stereotyping. It's the reality.

About the show itself, the story of the main character felt very faky. The love story with Claire was really puzzling. His attitude towards Claire was really hard to understand the presumptuous.

The rest of the show was overall good.

Clearly there are a lot of bots on here - so many of the negative reviews either didn't watch beyond the first episode or take issue with the portrayal of the Russian or some other stupid thing that is ultimately unrelated to the show.

This show is fascinating that, while largely in English, Germans speak to one another in German, Russians in Russian etc - for people that aren't fond of foreign language films or subtitles it can take some getting used to, but it is very immersive and a cool take.

The pilot/first episode was slow to me and the weakest of the episodes and ultimately I think the scripts could have been better overall - but I found that as the series progressed I became more and more engaged with the storyline and what was going to happen/what would happen.

To me, each episode is better than the last.

Mala Emde (whom you might recognize from 2019's Charité at War or the 2015 Anne Frank movie "Meine Tochter") is a stand out. Great actress - hope to see more of her in English language films.

Logan Marshall-Green has a great performance - I won't spoil his role here.

Nina Hoss is another standout.

Solid performances by Taylor Kitsch (something about his accent just took me out of the scenes at times - maybes because it is so different than his "normal" accent) Michael C. Hall also had a solid performance but nothing compared to what he brought in those early season of Dexter and at times he comes across as more of a caricature of a guy from 1946 with his accent and appearance.

Really happy to hear that production has already begun on the second half of this limited-series.

Interesting to see where this will lead us.

My tv channel broadcasting this series started advertising with trailers at least six weeks before the screening of Episode 1. On the look-out for entertaining and well-made tv series I told everyone to look out for "Shadowplay" because it seemed like the next 'big thing'. Because the storyline dealt with the very early post-war Berlin, a subject not greatly explored in general cinema and tv, I very much looked forward to watching this series. But unlike many critics here, after 4 episodes, I'm greatly disappointed. So much so that even small details are annoying. So the two brothers make a pledge in the late 1920 to 'watch each other's back' an expression first used in print in a 1974 novel by John Le Carre. On the same occasion a very young Max uses the 'f' expletive and the character is the only in the series to continually repeat same when we meet him as an American policeman in 1946. What's the point? Realistically was this word's usage all the vogue at that time? It doesn't seem in character with the adult Max and is utterly annoying. Enough has been said on the caricature of the Russians as thoroughly evil. It also beggars belief that a lone US cop would be sent to Germany to organise a policeforce but not be given any of the materials needed to get such a project off the ground. And it seems a bit of lazy scriptwriting that so far the main emphasis seems to be on Max finding his brother Moritz.

Things may improve but I may need to soon ring those to whom I so avidly recommended this series and apologise.

First of all, "Shadowplay" is a dumb name for this show. "The Defeated", the show's original title, might have been better. But neither really captures the show that well. Set in post-war Germany shortly after their defeat, the show's early episodes seem to do a decent job of capturing the misery, desperation, and the broken remains of a country and its people who not only lost the war, but had their civilization bombed into submission.

And perhaps that's why a story of a NYPD cop trying to help rebuild and reestablish law and order sounded like a good premise. But that epic-worthy premise gets weighed down by a search for a brother who's gone AWOL, run-ins with Russian military (which is okay if they weren't made into villains), and multitudes of minor story branches that just seem to drag the story into smaller issues that muddle the show and makes the story feel small. What gets lost is the bigger picture, of what is transpiring at the historical level during this time period. This is no Babylon Berlin, which in my opinion, is a masterpiece.

And what's up with the Brooklyn accent? Kitsch does a passable job, but the show can't seem to make up its mind on whether he's a scrappy street cop or a polished NY police brass savvy in the ways of bureaucracy and politics. I suppose it's part of his backstory, but to me, it feels unnecessary, just like all the f-bombs casually thrown in.

Despite all its shortcomings, the show is beautifully shot, the acting is mostly good (mostly the Germans), and there is a main story that makes its way through, I think. It's not entirely a waste of time to watch--if you have the time, that is.

Ended up quite contrived and I think some of the actors got tired of their roles especially the star. Also had so many story lines I kind of lost track of what was happening. I'm assuming there will be more "Nazi Hunters go to Rome". I'll probably watch but it could have been so much better had the story been more focused.

I read CarsonTrent's review. I suspect s/he and I didn't see the same program. There is NOTHING black and white about this series. It shows a society divided and under immense stress. It shows characters trying to make sense of the times, while trying to create order. It shows competing political regimes, each of whom thinks they are right. All this with a plot of a brothers love, interwoven by that brother driven to unspeakable horrors because of what he has experienced.

So not the simple pap that reviewers like CarsonTrent want. This is complex drama, not perfect, but certainly worthy of more than trite ignorant niaeve spewing of the worst of the Middle American mind, such as it is.

That was not a very satisfying finale of the first season. Especially if there isn't another one. There was no cliff hanger but also no resolution. The acting was fine but there were some unrealistic scenes for sure. This period in history is seldom discussed or the topic of movies. I found it fascinating and would like to see more of the reconstruction of Germany after WWII. I hope there is another season and we learn more about the lives of the remaining characters and where they're headed. I really like the main character, Max. I just feel like this story was dropped before its time.

Glad I ignored the naysayers and tried it. What a great show. Humanity put on show without window dressing.

If you want to get a glimpse of post WWII Germany, the good, bad and ugly - watch this.

Summary:

There are many interesting elements, ideas and moments in this dark drama that takes place in 1946 in a destroyed postwar Berlin, but the various narrative lines do not fully integrate satisfactorily, its characters are wasted because they lack, in general, psychological depth and between them curiously, the cast stands out more Tuppence Middleton than Nina Hoos, with a more accomplished character and performance.

Review

Max McLaughlin, a New York policeman (Taylor Kitsch) arrives in destroyed postwar Berlin in 1946 to organize a precarious German police department in the American sector of the city alongside German Elsie Garten (Nina Hoos). In addition, both of them must deal with their personal losses. In Max's case, he tries to find the whereabouts of his brother, a missing soldier, while we know about Elsie that the missing person is her husband.

This precarious police squad armed only with sticks (the Germans could not carry weapons) must deal with a Berlin where Nazi hunters and avengers circulate, a villain pimp nicknamed Engelmacher (Sebastian Koch), terrorists, espionage, cruel authorities in the Russian zone and diplomats.

I confess that the presence of the great German actress Nina Hoos (who, as she always acts well) motivated me to watch the series, but her character lacks depth. There are interesting ideas and elements: several good dialogues, an excellent reconstruction of a Berlin in ruins, a successful darkness, suspense and violence, arbitrariness and corruption, characters who spy on each other ... but the various narrative lines do not finish integrating satisfactorily according to a script that has few revelations. The adherence to the norms of good old Max doesn't sound convincing (and neither does the performance of the plastic Taylor Kitsch). In any case, almost no one is saved from transgressing the rules when a post-war logic prevails where many situations are beyond their control. Almost all the characters have their good moments, but they lack psychological depth.

Another problem that arises (common in this type of series) is the plausibility of the language. Although German characters speak German, it is not very credible that many of them speak English fluently; sometimes even German characters speak English to each other. And what is worse: how do you send a policeman who does not speak German to organize the German police?

In addition to a quite vibrant final chapter, the best of the series is the character of Claire Franklin, the alcoholic wife of US Vice Consul Tuppence Middleton (the Riley Blue of Sense 8), a kind of brunette Jessica Lange (and for more than one reason), who makes a remarkable composition, full of nuances, of a femme fatal between melancholic, bored, dissatisfied and suffering.

Something missing from a lot of TV shows. Another thing is that there's no fat. So many shows dilly dally and hold off on exciting stuff. Not this one. Each episode ends without anything big necessarily happening. And holy crap it actually looks like a movie. And the CG is flawless.

Taylor Kitsch first grabbed my attention. He's an underrated actor that tries to make interesting stuff. The concept was actually original. When I saw WW2 I kinda rolled my eyes because we've seen it all before. But not this story. And it doesn't feel old, which was cool. And the character of Max was really good. I liked how he couldn't help but do the right thing. And how he knew what he was doing and doesn't hesitate to kill people. And his swearing was also a nice touch.

I also like that it wasn't hard to follow. Some shows expect you to remember someone's name once from 10 episodes ago. All the stories were different. And i like that the gruesome stuff wasn't really shown. Not that I'm against it but you don't always need to show it. And they didn't waste their time.

I really hope they make another season. And as a Star Wars fan it was nice to see Rich McCallum's name again.

Great setting, the first 2 episodes were interesting. However the whole thing was so drawn out and too much time spent on an uninteresting relationship that was developing between the main character and a married woman that added little overall to the story. If the series had been cut down by at least 2 episodes it would have been much better. I nearly stopped after episode 6 because it was dragging so much. I had the show recorded, so I started fast forwarding through certain parts and it didn't seem to matter much.

Very good not a dull moment Kitsch and Middleton are great in it. Definitely plan to binge watch you can't stop till it's over.

Supervillains. Dark histories. American savior. Everyone is on the take one way or another, etc etc. Promising, with a good German cast and secondary stories of law enforcement in the weird bureaucracy of post war Berlin, but overshadowed by the dumb A plot.

American embassy in Berlin in August 1946? Nonsense! Military mission is OK but embassy? In 1999, the embassy would fully be moved back to Berlin from Bonn.

Soviet prison camp near Munich? Hahaha! Munich was liberated by American troops 30. April 1945.

Max is a New York cop sent to Berlin in the aftermath of 1946, to train the local police, a motley crew of amateurs. Actually, Max is hiding something, his real purpose being a slightly more personal one than doing a good job.

Moritz is Max's insane brother, who may be the sanest person in Berlin, since his purpose is to hunt Nazi criminals.

The rest of the large cast is a mixed bag of scarred survivors and criminals with evil plans.

Despite some weak points, this series benefits from perfect settings, costumes and a decent plot. Even the main characters are more than the usual politically correct, cardboard cut characters found on Netflix notorious series. I would definitely recommend this show and I am surprised by the negative reviews.

Yes, it could been better but I gave 9. I enjoyed it very much, how Germans being survived as 'the defeated' as the original title. War is terrible, but surviving it after expect a high drama no less. I could gaive 10 but Taylor couldn't deliver the depth of the chracter enough.