Damn it! They couldn’t resist one last Jewish reference for Robert Kirsch in the season finale of Berlin Station – one every viewer would understand: “Something’s not kosher.” Give me a break and knock it off (already).
You know what else is not kosher? ( doesn’t seem right) this: Daniel Miller lives. Daniel Miller is apparently going to be assigned to the Berlin Station in season 2. Daniel Miller leaked an audio tape admitting he’s Thomas Shaw. All of Berlin, and probably people all over the world, heard that tape. That tape was recorded by Richard Armitage. An unforgettable voice. Ask any fan. Ask Audible.com. So, good luck keeping your identity secret in Season 2, Daniel Miller. I have visions of every asset you come into contact with saying, [h]aven’t we spoken before? Your voice sounds familiar.
Okay, maybe not.
The finale tied some loose ends together. I guess we’ll have to wait for Season 2 to learn more about Daniel’s mother or. whether he and Esther continue. Doesn’t seem like it, (We almost had something? Really! ) But she’s now a station chief and he’ll have to deal with her in Berlin unless she disappears. And honestly, what a time to start a make-out session. Did Daniel think that by kissing Esther passionately, she would give up her secrets? I mean, if he didn’t kiss her, wouldn’t she give up her secrets anyway, or not? And, did anyone sense any real passion then? Cold. Very cold. Bring back The Joker.
The best thing about the finale was Hector, now free, rescuing Faisal. (Remember Faisal? He was set to be executed for sodomy in Saudi Arabia.) The whole Swiss bank lock box in a vault scene was a little trite. Money, passports, hell – even a clean, untraceable laptop? Hector’s successful plan seemed next to incredible to pull off – but I was glad he did it.
Rhys Ifans wears a perfectly tailored suit well.
So, the whole mess was all an eye wash. I think we were all in on that by this time, except for the term, eye wash. An eye wash is the procedure one does – using a shot glass of water – to rinse one’s eye to flush out some foreign object or irritant. How that equals disseminating misinformation to a small group of people to flush out a mole just doesn’t compute with me. Which is the small group of people and which is the disinformation? The shot glass? The eye? The irritant, I can figure out. Maybe I’ve gotten it wrong.
Sigh. I guess we know where and with whom Richard Armitage will be spending his spring and summer – in Berlin. And to think, not one of the key players – not one of the core Berlin Station team – met an untimely death. Probably except for Stephen Frost – they’ll all be back.
As for the Germans, well, good shot Esther.
Let’s hope the writers get their act together for season 2. I didn’t see anything better or different in terms of Daniel’s dialogue. Sure, he was bit more proactive, but there was not much more to Richard Armitage’s performance in this episode than in any prior one ( though I thought his reacting when Patricia was talking about his father was pretty good.)
And finally, to Sling TV – good-bye and good riddance unless and until I need you again. Emailing my cancellation in one hour, after I watch the episode one last time.
Armitage Agonistes 
I still hope he won’t.
Ifan won’t certainly be in S2 he cut woth everyone running in the sun with the love of his life (sorry Clare who?), Frost is too exposed to still be there. They all are. Maybe Robert and Valerie will be the only ones in S2, maybe Sandra. Esther of course. But there is no way they can use Daniel as a field agent without everyone laughing out loud. What a stupid mess. Rate D
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But, glad you got to see it.
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It is really hard to imagine that they wouldn’t be horribly compromised. How can they stay in Berlin after everyone knows that everyone knows about all the double crossing and lies. While Stephen is in the worst situation because his exposure was public, the rest of them can never work with either CIA headquarters or German intelligence and have any sort of trust relationship. Especially, how can Daniel continue when headquarters wanted him dead? At least the Berlin Station folks established that they trust each other for the first time all season.
I liked this episode in spite of the flaws. For me the last half of the season was good television even if not as good as it could be — other than last week that is!
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It’s not real life, so they can make anything happen. They can take the position that Hans and Clay Williams were working rogue and Esther cleaned the Hans mess – if Robert Frost is gone, the penalty for bugging Merkle etc makes them even, Clay needs some comeuppance, but we don’t know whether he was authorized to have Daniel killed. I mean in reality, it seems impossible, but there has to be a CIA presence and a German presence anyway.
This episode seemed rushed to me in the same ways the others did, but I was still gripped by the full scene we saw parts of in the first episode. Also, I was surprised ( minor point) by how big and bulky the package of intercepts were.
A few plots that were not wrapped up bother me – for one – why was Golda Friedman interested in Valerie’s past, unless to make Robert suspect and distrust her more? That was never resolved.
I agree that it wasn’t terrible television, but if it were not for RIchard Armitage, I don’t think I would have continued with it. It is possible that a second season would be done better.
I also think we had very high expectations because of the creative team and the hype.
Lots of people, including critics, liked it a lot despite the flaws – which they acknowledged.
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There’s an English idiom, “eyewash” as synonym for nonsense or foolishness. That’s what I thought of anyway.
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I looked it up and saw a few different idiomatic uses, including the one you give, but I never heard of any of them before, and in this case, it’s difficult for me to figure out how the idiom came about. But, now I’ve got a new idiom to throw around. It might come in handy here.
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I’d heard it before — it’s the kind of thing people said in the 1950s, I think. And yeah, a turn of phrase is a terrible thing to waste.
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