Vienna Blood
Jan. 17th, 2026 08:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
redfiona99I mentioned that I am way behind on reviewing things.
The first season of Vienna Blood was interesting. Now, did I watch it just to see Vienna on my TV screen? Of course :)
And that part of it was fun, the glorious mixture of "ah, I see that the Vienna tourism board have been at you" and "that road doesn't lead to that building" and realising why they're having to use that road to pretend to be that other road. They're also very good at showcasing the bits of Vienna that do tend to be missed off the first page of "things you have to see".
Bits of it didn't work. Like really didn't work (sexposition, full frontal nudity but only by female characters, the usual), but by the end of the first episode, when you're yelling "Lieberman, you're a twerp", it's said with love.
They do an interesting thing where the English-speaking actors play Lieberman and his family (and his love interests) and the rest of the Viennese characters are played by German-speaking actors who are mostly dubbed (except Inspector Rheinhardt). The dubbing does not work. I know it's the only way sensibly to do it but it does take away from the actors' performances.
von Bülow, of the dubbed characters, is the one least affected, and a lot of that is the actor who gives it some excellent spidery poisonously ambitious, while having these moments of almost turning into a decent human being (and each time he chooses instead the path of vile ambition, you're crushed for him or who he could potentially become).
I know all the promo stuff is about Lieberman, and he is definitely the main character, but Oskar Rheinhardt is my favourite. Partly, he's not dubbed which makes it easier for emotion to come across and partly because Rheinhardt is love.
When we first meet him, the worst has already happened to Rheinhardt. His infant daughter died a few years ago and due to their different ways of dealing with (or not dealing with) their grief his wife has left him.
At the start of the last episode of season 1, his wife comes back. Then it looks like he is going to be promoted due to his excellent work in the case.
And then:
1) The promotion goes to von Bülow, due to his membership of the secret schoolboy society who are involved in the case of the week. (When I say excellent spidery poisonous, you curse von Bülow when he accepts the job, and when he sneers at Rheinhardt, but still feel for him when he rubs the brand on his palm that signifies his membership because it must have been hellish).
2) His wife leaves him again. For good this time, leaving her wedding ring behind.
3) Only after destroying all of his daughter's things that he had kept.
This would turn most reasonable people against the world. Then Max Lieberman comes up to him and basically asks, should he chase after his fiancée (who has just broken up with him for other reasons, and has other things to worry about that Max's perpetual bullshit, and is generally far too good for him) or the other woman (who is also far too good for him and ... I get what they're trying to do with the character but it didn't work for me and I have no idea why you wouldn't go for the fiancée but Max won't see that because he can't see her outside the box that society has put her in but he sees that about the other woman and it is very frustrating).
And Rheinhardt, despite everything, tells Max to choose love.
Oh our Inspector is awesome.
Neither of our lead characters are in the best scene.
Lieberman's father is played by Conleth Hill, who is also excellent. He gets a lot to do, and he has to do it quietly. The scene in particular, he is invited to a fancy business thing, where in the way of the day, everyone is vividly antisemitic. Cue one of the other characters going, "don't worry Lieberman, we decide who is Jewish," and he does this quiet horror that he has to mask because of the company he's in, because obviously they can change their minds on this.
It's excellent.
Sadly I couldn't see the second series because I was enjoying doing RL fun things, and while I have started the first book in the series, I got struck with painful homesickness and have since managed to mislay the book.
I will find it and read the rest.
The first season of Vienna Blood was interesting. Now, did I watch it just to see Vienna on my TV screen? Of course :)
And that part of it was fun, the glorious mixture of "ah, I see that the Vienna tourism board have been at you" and "that road doesn't lead to that building" and realising why they're having to use that road to pretend to be that other road. They're also very good at showcasing the bits of Vienna that do tend to be missed off the first page of "things you have to see".
Bits of it didn't work. Like really didn't work (sexposition, full frontal nudity but only by female characters, the usual), but by the end of the first episode, when you're yelling "Lieberman, you're a twerp", it's said with love.
They do an interesting thing where the English-speaking actors play Lieberman and his family (and his love interests) and the rest of the Viennese characters are played by German-speaking actors who are mostly dubbed (except Inspector Rheinhardt). The dubbing does not work. I know it's the only way sensibly to do it but it does take away from the actors' performances.
von Bülow, of the dubbed characters, is the one least affected, and a lot of that is the actor who gives it some excellent spidery poisonously ambitious, while having these moments of almost turning into a decent human being (and each time he chooses instead the path of vile ambition, you're crushed for him or who he could potentially become).
I know all the promo stuff is about Lieberman, and he is definitely the main character, but Oskar Rheinhardt is my favourite. Partly, he's not dubbed which makes it easier for emotion to come across and partly because Rheinhardt is love.
When we first meet him, the worst has already happened to Rheinhardt. His infant daughter died a few years ago and due to their different ways of dealing with (or not dealing with) their grief his wife has left him.
At the start of the last episode of season 1, his wife comes back. Then it looks like he is going to be promoted due to his excellent work in the case.
And then:
1) The promotion goes to von Bülow, due to his membership of the secret schoolboy society who are involved in the case of the week. (When I say excellent spidery poisonous, you curse von Bülow when he accepts the job, and when he sneers at Rheinhardt, but still feel for him when he rubs the brand on his palm that signifies his membership because it must have been hellish).
2) His wife leaves him again. For good this time, leaving her wedding ring behind.
3) Only after destroying all of his daughter's things that he had kept.
This would turn most reasonable people against the world. Then Max Lieberman comes up to him and basically asks, should he chase after his fiancée (who has just broken up with him for other reasons, and has other things to worry about that Max's perpetual bullshit, and is generally far too good for him) or the other woman (who is also far too good for him and ... I get what they're trying to do with the character but it didn't work for me and I have no idea why you wouldn't go for the fiancée but Max won't see that because he can't see her outside the box that society has put her in but he sees that about the other woman and it is very frustrating).
And Rheinhardt, despite everything, tells Max to choose love.
Oh our Inspector is awesome.
Neither of our lead characters are in the best scene.
Lieberman's father is played by Conleth Hill, who is also excellent. He gets a lot to do, and he has to do it quietly. The scene in particular, he is invited to a fancy business thing, where in the way of the day, everyone is vividly antisemitic. Cue one of the other characters going, "don't worry Lieberman, we decide who is Jewish," and he does this quiet horror that he has to mask because of the company he's in, because obviously they can change their minds on this.
It's excellent.
Sadly I couldn't see the second series because I was enjoying doing RL fun things, and while I have started the first book in the series, I got struck with painful homesickness and have since managed to mislay the book.
I will find it and read the rest.
