This was an average mystery that tried to be above average by utilizing its historic setting - imperial Vienna at the beginning of the 20th century. I love Vienna, so I thought that we would see lots of historic locations and buildings. Sadly, there is not much Vienna featured here - just a couple of panoramic shots of the city, and some very cramped shots of street corners and cobblestone. I guess it is very hard to film in prime Viennese locations because of all the tourists and the modern additions, unless you have a huge budget.
So, with the historical grandeur unavailable, the series is left to do with its plot and characters, but that is its weak point. The main character is the young doctor, barely out of his diapers, yet he is somehow omniscient with seemingly endless experience in just about every area of life. How does he do it? Through the magic of psychoanalysis and Freud fanboyism. To anyone who is actually knowledgeable about psychology, this is absolutely laughable. Not only does psychoanalysis have absolutely nothing to do with many of the areas that the kid doctor is an expert in (forensics, magic, illusionism, mediums, to name just a few), but even the psychology part is often wrong. The doctor explains to his policeman partner that he can draw conclusions about a person by carefully observing their behavior. That is not psychoanalysis, but behaviorism and those two schools of thought in psychology are completely opposite to each other and mutually exclusive. Oh, and his brilliant deduction? He sees the cop huffing, puffing, pacing nervously and concludes that he is anxious. And the cop is completely blown away by the deduction. Really, doctor, how on earth did you do it?
Adding to this, the doctor is a thoroughly unlikeable character - annoying, arrogant, dishonest, know it all. I am not sure if that was intentional, but there should be some redeeming qualities to him since he is the main character, but there are none (unless you count the Freudian fanboyism as a likeable trait). The cop is a much better character, played by a better actor, but he plays second fiddle to the doctor, and is supposed to be a senior police officer with 20 years of experience who is apparently completely incompetent in his job. You really wonder how he managed to solve any cases and get to where he is before the doctor grew out his pacifier and came to the rescue.
So, the good guys aren't written that well, but the bad guys are written horribly. They are basically just caricatures - they are all rich, anachronistic old men, set in their old (and wrong, of course) ways, who completely despise everyone who is not in their caste and treat anybody who has a penny less than them like trash. Really nuanced characters, you see. Oh, and they are also super antisemitic, just in case you didn't realize that they are awful and you should hate them.
The plot of this episode is just run of the mill mystery, nothing special, and the resolution seems like it was just pulled out of Freud's behind (which is actually quite in line with the show's emphasis on psychoanalysis).
So, with the historical grandeur unavailable, the series is left to do with its plot and characters, but that is its weak point. The main character is the young doctor, barely out of his diapers, yet he is somehow omniscient with seemingly endless experience in just about every area of life. How does he do it? Through the magic of psychoanalysis and Freud fanboyism. To anyone who is actually knowledgeable about psychology, this is absolutely laughable. Not only does psychoanalysis have absolutely nothing to do with many of the areas that the kid doctor is an expert in (forensics, magic, illusionism, mediums, to name just a few), but even the psychology part is often wrong. The doctor explains to his policeman partner that he can draw conclusions about a person by carefully observing their behavior. That is not psychoanalysis, but behaviorism and those two schools of thought in psychology are completely opposite to each other and mutually exclusive. Oh, and his brilliant deduction? He sees the cop huffing, puffing, pacing nervously and concludes that he is anxious. And the cop is completely blown away by the deduction. Really, doctor, how on earth did you do it?
Adding to this, the doctor is a thoroughly unlikeable character - annoying, arrogant, dishonest, know it all. I am not sure if that was intentional, but there should be some redeeming qualities to him since he is the main character, but there are none (unless you count the Freudian fanboyism as a likeable trait). The cop is a much better character, played by a better actor, but he plays second fiddle to the doctor, and is supposed to be a senior police officer with 20 years of experience who is apparently completely incompetent in his job. You really wonder how he managed to solve any cases and get to where he is before the doctor grew out his pacifier and came to the rescue.
So, the good guys aren't written that well, but the bad guys are written horribly. They are basically just caricatures - they are all rich, anachronistic old men, set in their old (and wrong, of course) ways, who completely despise everyone who is not in their caste and treat anybody who has a penny less than them like trash. Really nuanced characters, you see. Oh, and they are also super antisemitic, just in case you didn't realize that they are awful and you should hate them.
The plot of this episode is just run of the mill mystery, nothing special, and the resolution seems like it was just pulled out of Freud's behind (which is actually quite in line with the show's emphasis on psychoanalysis).