Summary
“Partners,” the third episode of season two, introduces new characters, new villains, and odd partnerships, all in search of more information on the past three months.
This recap of Netflix’s Biohackers season 2, episode 3, “Partners”, contains spoilers.
“Partners,” the third episode of season two, could refer to a number of pairs. Mia (Luna Wedler) and Lorenz (Jessica Schwarz), or Lotta (Caro Cult) and her father, Wolfgang von Fürstenberg (Thomas Kretschmann), or even Mia and Jasper (Adrian Julius Tillmann). This episode is about Mia’s relationships, both from her past and in her present, and how all of these people are orbiting one another.
Beginning immediately after the events of episode two, Mia sits at dinner with Lotta, her parents, and her other roommates, panicking at the sight of Wolfgang, the man that kidnapped her only a few months prior. Lotta’s brother, with whom Mia had a brief relationship (?), an unexplainable tidbit, kisses her, giving the medical student an opportunity to investigate the family and their massive estate. After learning from Lorenz that the Baron writes all of his actions in a little red book, she finds it in his office, though it’s, unfortunately, the wrong red book, temporarily ending that search.
The majority of “Partners” exists within the setting of a founders’ gala being thrown by the Baron at the mansion. Like a wedding, it’s a reason for the entire cast of characters to be in one place at one time. Instead of a blow-up of emotions, though, it’s somewhat reserved, with Mia doing some snooping, Lotta snuggling up to Mia’s old beau, Niklas (a still moody Thomas Prenn), and the newly dating Chen-Lu (Jing Xiang) and Oli (Sebastian Jakob Doppelbauer) hoping to impress some wealthy donors. The two remain a bright spot in a sea of scientific atrocities, abuse, and death.
It’s hard not to compare Biohackers with Dark, another German sci-fi show focusing on young people figuring out a mystery. Though they deviate in tone and structure, they rely on the unbelievable to continue testing the patience and the will of their main characters, people who still haven’t completely matured. Season two of Biohackers leans into elements of scientific connection, bonds that are made without consent, like other oft-canceled Netflix shows like Sense8 and The OA. Like those shows, Christian Ritter’s German drama relies on a certain level of disbelief, shock, and unknowing community.
“Partners” once again looks at who is evil, who can be evil, and who can change. Are scientific developments worth the cost of human life, or in Biohackers, hundreds of human lives? The answer, in Ritter’s mind, is a resounding no. The ends don’t justify the means. Evil cannot always be taken out of someone. Science can without a doubt be taken too far. And usually, bald men with glasses who wear turtlenecks are evil, as with Andreas Winter (Benno Fürmann), the journalist who Mia delivered the files to at the end of season one, who betrayed her with ease.
Winter happened to be at the founders’ gala, invited by Wolfgang. He’s the last person seen before the end of the episode, as he stops Jasper and Mia’s car while they attempt to drive away. Another cliffhanger: nothing less is expected by now.
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