Sebastian Fitzek's Therapy

I wasn't aware of the original novel, so I came to this without prior knowledge or expectations. It seemed like the sort of thing I would usually enjoy. I watched the dubbed-in-English version which probably made it less enjoyable than a subtitled version.

At the end of episode one, my partner was keen to continue. I would have abandoned it. The pace was glacial! Oh well, only two more to go, I mistakenly thought. Unfortunately, there were six in total! Three too many!

The "what happened to Josy" mystery was quite easy to solve, unfortunately. I grew to quite like Dr Roth and the spiky older woman though, which was the only saving grace.

I was waiting to watch something causual and call it a night ! Yea ok binge watched the whole series.

What an interesting story this was. Tugged at my heart strings and I played right into the story of this beret father.

Also so curious about the institute he had worked for. There's always a good story in a mental institution. Always.

It is a bit slow but that makes up for how quick a scene goes by that you have to rewind in your mind before another quick one comes.

Out of the blue I choose a show reading no reviews at all and enjoyed it immensely.

Great acting, captivating scenery. Lots of false clues. For a Friday night binge I saw bravo!

Surprised to see a German TV series on Amazon Prime just as we were getting bored with other programmes. We started watching this without much expectation knowing the ratings and reviews of this series being just about average. While we persisted in watching it, the story is getting better and better with twists and turns and a very surprising ending.

The story was weird to start with as the protagonist - Dr Victor Larenz, a psychiatrist with his wife and daughter living in a luxury villa near Berlin - was experiencing a personal crisis after the disappearance of his only child. The story goes back and forth mixing the present and flashbacks to trace the trajectory of his daughter's experience of growing up in a bourgeois family with a strict discipline imposed by her parents. Then we see the usual story of a teenager's rebellion and her final disappearance which resulted in the bitter separation of the parents. The personal crisis prompted Larenz to quit his job and travelled to a completely deserted North Sea island in the middle of a cold winter to have a soul-searching holiday alone. With excellent cinematography, the bleak winter beach scene perfectly conveys the feeling of desolation and despair of the protagonist. Then a series of weird things happened on the island.

At the same time, a side-plot developed in Berlin with Dr Larenz's colleague Dr Roth working in the same psychiatric clinic. The story exposes some of the common problems in the West - drug abuse and other social ills in the streets of Berlin. Roth helped Larenz to the end to solve the mystery of his daughter's disappearance.

A thought-provoking series which mixes the hallucinatory scenes with the bleak reality in the style of a psychological thriller. The story is not tinted by the usual "political correctness" and does not seek to sell any political agenda. It is both satisfying as an intriguing story as well as an example of aesthetically appealing cinematography without any special effects. Well worth watching. Highly recommended.

The only regret is the dubbing voices (in English) which sound a bit robotic - not natural enough as the native speakers.

(Translated with DeepL from German) The short series (6 episodes) begins with the disappearance of 13-year-old Josie and a completely distraught father who, at the start of the series two years later, travels to the island of Parkum (similar to a North Sea island) to find peace with his dog. By smoothly alternating between events on Parkum, which don't always seem coherent or logical from the viewer's eye, and memories of the past between the father, mother and daughter, it's still possible to get a good picture of the characters. As is typical in German crime/thriller productions, the characters are somewhat overdrawn, though less noticeably so than in other examples. Therefore, it is easy to immerse oneself in the thoughts and needs of the various roles, and to gain some appreciation for many of the important characters.

The story remains permanently exciting and offers some surprises, which greatly reduce the predictability of the plot. Thus, the viewer is kept guessing until the very end. There are a few plot holes, but they are only minor and therefore don't interrupt the thread.

In terms of setting, much of the action takes place on the island of Parkum with its classic North Sea/Baltic Sea charm. Wide sand dunes as panoramic shots and gloomy forests with stormy weather regularly remind you that this series is originally German. Other locations include the city of Berlin, the main protagonist's villa, and a clinic run by the second main protagonist, Dr. Roth, which is introduced as a second story strand at the beginning.

The Cons (Contains minor spoilers): While I had a lot of fun binge-watching the series, the setting on Parkum Island reminded me a bit unimaginatively of Shutter Island. Since other aspects of the series are also reminiscent of Shutter Island, they could have at least thought of something other than a vacation on an island. Some sub-aspects of the story were also only explained very briefly and therefore didn't fit too organically into the rest of the plot. This is exactly what other productions (like Shutter Island) do much better, probably because the roles already carry bigger signs of their past through the main plot than in "Therapy". However, the shift from thriller to heavily emotional moments (slightly overdrawn) was a pleasant refreshment.

Solid 7-8/10.

This is the story of a psychiatrist who believes he has "misplaced" his daughter. It contains several clever plot twists, dramatic incidents and insightful vignettes of family life. The first two episodes leave us quite confused and unable to predict what will happen next. Then things take a decidedly eerie turn. Of course, all is resolved in the sixth and final episode. In fact I did not believe all the puzzles could possibly have a convincing resolution, but to my surprise they did and the story held together well.

The cinematography alone made this a gorgeous viewing experience. English speakers can avoid the dubbed version, I found the original German dialogues together with English subtitles just perfect. This is a very European mini-series, thankfully missing the plastic acting that defines Hollywood these days. More on the lines of the great Nordic noir serials. Strongly recommended for the discerning viewer.