Bad Banks

Being a Dutchman living in Hamburg, I am not a big fan of German TV-Drama. In many cases it means strange and artificial dialogs, "overacting" and a lot of melodramatic scenes. Bad Banks however is a fantastic series, I am truly amazed how good this German production is. Everything seems to fit: the acting, the scenario, the story in itself, the production design. And what is best, is that they skipped the crazy German synchronisation and let the actors speak in their own mothertongue or dialect. This series is just as good as comparable English or American TV-drama, like recently Billions or (some years ago) Damages, both with similar topics in the financial world. Desiree Nosbusch is great, so is Paula Beer and of course Barry Atsma, with an intensity and authenticity that I have rarely seen before. A good thing that ZDF immediately offered all 6 episodes on their website, because you should simply enjoy a terrific series like this in one long session. 10 out of 10. Excellent!

I rated the first season as 10 out of 10, but unfortunately I am not so enthusiastic about the second season. The basic setting has changed from Frankfurt to Berlin and also from traditional banking to the startup scene, but it appears a bit over the top. The dialogues are poorly written and loaded with clichés, the actors limit themselves to stressful looks in the camera, and directing is chaotic. I know the financial world quite well and it is almost funny to see how most extras have been cast: they need to have colorful hair, strange habits, big piercings and tattoos, whereby the reality is that people who are looking like normal human beings also can work in the startup scene. I am under the impression that the writers and producers wanted to do their utmost to provide a realistic view of banking in the year 2020, but this is simply too much. It is really a pity, because the first season was excellent.

The series gives an interesting picture of how the elite divide the jobs and how they go to their limits to achieve their goal. The first episode was exciting until the end.

Viewed in the Dutch version. No problems with the dubbing. It just seemed like a Dutch series, only the acting was of a higher level.

I binge-watched Bad Banks because it was THAT good. It's pretty high-brow i.e. I feel that you need to concentrate to follow what is going on if you are unfamiliar with the banking world; however, you come out of every episode feeling as though you've learnt something. Also, the suspense is great.

If you are familiar with international finance then you will know that the setting is unrealistic but the characters are all too recognizable. The twists and turns that swirl around the plots and counter plots can be dizzying but very fun to watch. There are no good or bad people, just winners and losers.