‘Berlin’ series review: This ‘Money Heist’ spin-off is more about hearts than heists

A still from ‘Berlin’ 
| Photo Credit: Netflix

Despite its last two seasons not being on par with the first three, the Netflix series Money Heist has undoubtedly transformed into a phenomenon. The show’s iconography — like the red outfit or Dali masks — became a symbol of rebellion and, unsurprisingly, even led to real heists with thieves wearing the same costume. ‘Do burglars strike twice?’ may not have a definitive answer, but like most successful franchises, it was expected of the makers of Money Heist to bank on the success with spin-offs; after the South Korean adaptation Money Heist: Korea – Joint Economic Area, we now have a spin-off series titled Berlin, based on the eponymous larcenist.

ALSO READ: ‘Money Heist’ Part 5 Vol 1 review: A dizzying, heart-pumping celebration of The Professor and his crew

Just like its parent series, Berlin is also based on a heist that’s meticulously planned with all the contingencies in place. But unlike the original series, which predominantly revolved around the actual heist and jumped to glimpses of the robbers’ personal lives to distract us from the nail-biting robbery sequences, Berlin is almost completely about the love lives of its primary cast. In fact, the heist, involving the stealing of 44 million in jewels from a heavily guarded vault, is — spoiler alert — completed within the halfway mark of the 8-episode series. What follows is a set of incomplete love stories masquerading as a police pursuit.

Berlin (Pedro Alonso) is arguably the most fascinating character from the Money Heist gang. In the original series, he’s a terminally ill grand larcenist who comes off as a psychopath and an egocentric narcissist, but someone who also values the codes of friendship and would eventually sacrifice himself for it. In a series filled with fascinating characters with backstories enough for the franchise to churn out spin-offs for an infinite future, Berlin, who is also the mastermind Professor’s brother, is poles apart from his nerd sibling. With glimpses of his contrasting past shown in season 3 of Money Heist, Berlin showcases the titular character’s charismatic best and Alonso aces it as the man who would do anything for love.

A still from ‘Berlin’ 
| Photo Credit:
Netflix

But this trope of the series — humanising its antiheroes — turns out to be its biggest flaw. While it’s understandable that in the grand scheme of things, Berlin is set before the Bank of Spain break-in in Money Heist, the new series’ heist itself is too simple, featuring an uninteresting heist sequence that transpires just over a few episodes. Where Money Heist falters at times is when its characters jeopardise the otherwise well-made plans only for the Professor to provide course correction that doubles as an unnecessary twist and this, unfortunately, happens more often in Berlin. Add to the equation the secondary characters that are cut from the same cloth as the ones from Money Heist and we have a lineup of newbies who the series doesn’t provide much for us to care about.

ALSO READ: ‘Money Heist’ Part 5 Vol 2 review: Bid ‘Bella Ciao’ to The Professor and his crew in this explosive series finale

It’s also disappointing how the series doesn’t build upon some interesting ideas that are already present in the script. Take for example how while Berlin is having an affair with a married woman, a teammate of his, Damián (Tristán Ulloa), learns about his wife cheating on him; the series hints at a parallel here but never capitalises on it. There are some intriguing lines, like “Love is a disease with different phases — anxiety when you find it, fear of losing it, depression when it leaves you” and “A robbery’s not a plan, a robbery is a curriculum”, apart from references to the Professor and even some surprising cameos featuring familiar faces. But they don’t add much, except for bringing in some strong female characters in a series riddled with badly written ones

Berlin is a series with a surprisingly shallow plot and one too many convenient twists. It’s supposed to be the story of a bunch of thieves who can steal anything but can’t save their hearts from getting stolen. Unfortunately, it only ends up stealing six-plus hours of your time which you would have rather spent listening to ‘Bella Ciao’ on a loop.

Berlin is currently streaming on Netflix