Summary
The truth and blood are both spilled in “Love and Capital” as the show promises more chaos as it nears the titular Oktoberfest.
Check out our spoiler-free season review.
Things aren’t going especially well for Curt Prank in “Love and Capital”. Oktoberfest is only a month away, things are moving slowly, and, as of the opening to this third episode, one of his workers has been crushed beneath a falling crate. How many more people are going to have to die to bring these expansionist plans to fruition?
Then again, if there’s a life lost here, there might be another one gained elsewhere, as Clara is for sure pregnant, which threatens to cause problems for everyone, especially Colina, given Clara is technically her responsibility, but also Prank himself – his plans are pretty contingent on high-society flesh-pressing and nobody, not even Stifter, is going to want to wed Clara if she’s already up the duff.
Speaking of Stifter, he has a bit of a sit-down with Prank in “Love and Capital” during which, some snarky comments about foreigners notwithstanding, they suggest a partnership that’ll defy the committee but also line their pockets – part of that deal’s terms, though, is Clara’s hand in marriage, so you can see the problem here. And we know who Prank goes to with his problems: Golgauer.
The Hoflinger family, meanwhile, are still reeling from Ignatz’s death and the lack of support for their predicament. Maria is basically haunted by her late husband, while Ludwig is retreating into his art and Roman is focused almost entirely on Clara. The young Prank woman is determined to keep quiet about her whereabouts and doings, even while her father is interrogating Colina about such matters. But the prospect of marrying Stifter is less than ideal to the extent that she blurts out the fact she’s pregnant anyway.
Things continue to worsen for the Hoflingers when Ludwig’s art gets him into trouble with the police – trouble that involves a violent beating which interrupts him cosying up to another fella, a rather obvious development for his character that we’ll see be deployed against him, without a doubt. In the meantime, he finds himself in prison, eventually to be bailed out by Maria, who later burns his drawings in the front of him.
After Clara reluctantly agrees to the union of convenience with Stifter, it’s illuminating to see Roman and Ludwig open up to each other privately – or so they assume. It’s a great conversation about their rapidly changing fates and circumstances, pitched just-right for brothers who love each other but are blameful of each other just the same. Roman confesses that Clara is pregnant by him – a confession that Maria overhears, unbeknownst to both men.
Before long, the news is everywhere, and things begin to quickly unravel. Prank and Maria meet, but their testy exchange takes them nowhere new. Clara flees home. And in an eerily-shot sequence, Prank jumps Roman from behind and savagely beats him with brass knuckles. He drags him outside, his pulped head leaving a trail of blood on the floor, and leaves him in a crumpled heap as the camera sails up, up, and away.
Thanks for reading our recap of Oktoberfest: Beer & Blood episode 3, “Love and Capital”. For more recaps, reviews, and original features covering the world of entertainment, why not follow us on Twitter and like our Facebook page?
