Summary
Berlin offers a promising story as a prequel to Money Heist, but unfortunately, the writing falls over itself, offering a flawed, short-lived thrill.
The prequel series Berlin tries to recapture the appeal of Money Heist. The only problem is that Money Heist is magic. It’s a wonderful pantomime full of twists and turns, delivering a story at full throttle at all times. That sense of binge-worthiness on a streaming service is difficult to replicate.
In eight episodes, the character Berlin had to prove to his fans that he was worthy of a standalone series.
Berlin Season 1 Review and Plot Summary
It’s no surprise that Netflix decided to open up a prequel for Money Heist. Undercover, another Netflix international series, managed to gather a loyal fanbase, so much so that they decided to pedal the villain Ferry Bouman with a prequel movie and series. However, the Spanish series Money Heist was uniquely popular, sparking trends worldwide and inspiring protests, with crowds gathering with similar heist gear.
In this prequel, a younger(ish) looking Berlin (played by the returning Pedro Alonso) puts together a heist to raid valuable jewels before a highly anticipated auction. To do so, he and a well-versed heist team plot to infiltrate an auction house in France.
However, there is a second element to this overarching plot. Berlin, the apparent hopeless romantic with highly narcissistic traits, has suffered a divorce from his third wife before this heist. He’s heartbroken. His woes are equally as important to the story as they display his obsessive side when he’s engaged in a romantic interest. This character development was apparently needed.
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This leads to Berlin trying to court a woman named Camille (Samantha Siqueiros). She is married to a man named Polignac, who is also Berlin’s target, as he holds the delivery details of all the jewels for the auction.
My only issue with this premise is the questionable value gained in repeating similar developmental arcs for Berlin that were present in the original series. Berlin showed an amount of obsessiveness and sociopathic behaviors when he teamed up with The Professor. Maybe the prequel series is attempting to present the perspective of an origin story. But origin stories usually have cause and effect. If Berlin was a maniac desperate for human connection in Money Heist, he’s certainly a maniac in his own standalone series, regardless of whether he has a terminal illness or not.
Berlin is less wild in his prequel story, but that doesn’t defeat my point. Villains tend to become villains for a reason.
It also doesn’t help that the crux of the story is that Berlin appears less intelligent because of his simp-like behavior. For a man who can plan genius heists and has a level of authority, coupled with well-articulated rizz, you do wonder why he’s so easily willing to risk a heist after seeing a woman dance in her living room once. It does not add up in the slightest. I do often wonder if writers of TV shows write what the audience apparently wants to see rather than what the real world is.
(L to R) Pedro Alonso as Berlin, Samantha Siqueiros as Camile in Season 1 Episode 02 of Berlin. Credit to Tamara Arranze/Netflix © 2022.
The writing is oddly similar to the Netflix series Obsession, where the husband loses his entire mind because he locks eyes once with his son’s girlfriend. In the process, he loses all sanity, cheats on his beautiful wife (who still has sex with him regularly), and risks his entire happy and wealthy life with a loving family that took decades to build. Of course, men are certainly tempted by attractive women, but the writers in both series apply zero logic to the scenario. The only logic applied is more blood flowing to the p***s, but that’s a redundant take if there are no other circling factors.
Is Berlin a good addition to the Money Heist Universe?
Berlin has a brilliant cast. The heist team has great chemistry, like its sister series. However, with all the nonsense surrounding Berlin’s obsession, the series quickly departs from an exciting heist halfway through. The prequel centers itself on character development and romances. The promise of a thrilling premise fails halfway through, reducing itself from a good series to one that’s below-par.
Luckily, I’ve seen Money Heist, so I was invested. If you are a fan of Berlin and the concept of this universe, then this TV show is a must-watch. However, audiences who have zero knowledge of the story are better off watching Money Heist and saving themselves time. If Berlin were to be released as a standard international series with no relationship to any story, it would quickly be part of an endless pile of forgotten shows. Luckily, it will not suffer that fate due to the love for the story already, which will likely form more seasons.
Netflix clearly has great minds by expanding on universes that have created a fanbase. Heck, it’s not like they can compete with Disney and their IP. Unfortunately, Berlin fails to hit the mark.
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