![]() ![]() ![]() Vienna Blood is the sort of faintly comical costume drama where you can be sure the detectives will have to hide in a bush at night, sparring in awkward repartee, with only their hats visible. Staircases featured prominently here, thanks to Dr Max’s Freudian theory that in dreams they represent something phallic. This time, the climactic chase led our heroes to a staircase that spiralled down into the city’s cavernous sewers - again, a classic Third Man setting. In the very first episode, three years ago, the denouement of the case came on the famous Ferris wheel, scene of a great Orson Welles speech from that film. It is also rich with echoes of other stories, such as the magnificent 1949 Carol Reed movie, The Third Man. With its opium dens and streets filled with shadows, Vienna before World War I makes a suitably glamorous and Gothic backdrop for their exploits. Hammy acting and wide-ranging accent work all lend an air of silliness to the whole thing but it is panto season, and if you like your festive viewing on the grisly side, this might just hit the spot.Dr Max Liebermann (Matthew Beard) is the sleuthing psychiatrist, applying the methods of Sigmund Freud to his investigations, while burly policeman Oskar Rheinhardt (Juergen Maurer) trails beside him, ready to throw a punch if required ![]() Like the previous two series, the plotting is generally solid (even if red herrings are blindingly obvious), but the characters and script are never quite as engaging as Sherlock, the obvious comparison (and the former home of writer Steve Thompson). Traditional TV detective foibles are absent: Oskar is such a definitively good guy that he finds time mid-murder enquiry to threaten a landlord exploiting immigrant tenants. Meanwhile, Oskar is still a bit surly but ultimately a big softie. Max is still a precocious clipped vowel of a man and his on-off flirtation with the lovely aspiring journalist Clara is still moving at an aching pace. But, in a show designed to be a cosy comfort blanket watch, why should it be? Given that Adele had deliberately stayed behind after work, donned one of the fancy designer dresses and appeared to have had consensual sex prior to her death, Max (taking quite the leap) concluded that the fatal wound was inflicted at precisely the moment of sexual climax.Īlthough it touches on some heavier topics – the designer is famed for her billowing silhouettes rebelling against Victorian corsetry, the second victim’s death wasn’t properly investigated due to her low social status and the central pair are admonished for not realising how many women are murdered daily in Vienna – none of this is explored in enough depth to darken the fun of a light mystery in a beautiful setting.Įqually, overarching character development is clearly not a priority. The third series of the odd couple crime drama, based on the Frank Tallis book series, returned with Detective Oskar Rheinhardt (Juergen Maurer) and his psychoanalyst buddy Max Liebermann (Matthew Beard) discovering a particularly nasty serial killer at work in the gorgeous Austrian capital.Īfter a young dressmaker named Adele was found dead at the design house where she worked, with apparently no injuries or signs of struggle, the chalk and cheese crimefighting duo discovered a tiny punch wound on the nape of her neck which the mortician deduced was the result of a hat pin being inserted directly into her brain. For a show that can’t be considered in the slightest bit gritty, Vienna Blooddoesn’t half come up with some horrible deaths. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |