Thursday 15 February 2018

EINSTEIN - SERIES 2, EPISODE 1: OPTIK (SAT. 1)

Launched last year, German crime/comedy Einstein returned this week on private channel Sat. 1 for a second series (10 x 45-minute episodes).

Actor and singer Tom Beck (Alarm für Cobra 11 - Die Autobahn Polizeï) stars as Felix Winterberg, the great-great grandson of Albert Einstein and a scientific genius himself. Felix has Huntington's disease (like his father) and he works reluctantly for the Bochum police as a consultant.
 
The bottom line: Rather The Tom Beck Show than Elementary.

Felix Winterberg interrupts his lecture because of a student who is watching a live broadcast of internet star Nana's video channel on her smartphone. Nana is about to present a very special object... which kills her in a spectacular explosion. The police quickly calls Winterberg, who joins Elena Lange (Annika Ernst) and forensic specialist Kirsten Maybach (Haley Louise Jones) on the crime scene. The victim's biggest fan Rosa Marcial (Vita Tepel) and Nana's boyfriend Crazy Alex (Phil Laude), another internet celebrity, are in shock.

Tremmel (Rolf Kanies) and Elena add Energy Drink executive Jens Abmeyer (Jochen Schropp) to the list of suspects. Felix Winterberg finds online fitness coach Zoe (Gizem Emre), Nana's best friend, quite interesting. BKA agent Julia Weigert (Laura Berlin) helps him and Dr. Lee Kwon (Yung Ngo) against old adversaries. Professor Constanze Winterberg (Angela Roy), Felix's mother, becomes the new dean of the university. Written by Matthias Dinter & Martin Ritzenhoff and directed by Dominic Müller, Optik is an effective premiere.

Tom Beck's undeniable gift for fast-paced comedy and a solid cast make Einstein an enjoyable series which doesn't take itself seriously. Sometimes it doesn't work (see the second episode of Series 1) but overall it's fun and entertaining. Let's hope that the rest of Series 2 is as good. Also starring Paul Bohse (Leon Lange) and Christian Hockenbrick (Dr. Rössler). Einstein is produced by Zeitsprung Pictures for Sat. 1 and distributed by Red Arrow Studios. Produced by Dominik Frankowski and Michael Souvignier. Music by Karim S. Elias.

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