Deutschland 89 Exclusive First Trailer: Martin Must Choose a Side as the Berlin Wall Crumbles

For fans of The Americans who are missing a show that delves into the other side of Cold War loyalties, don’t sleep on Deutschland.

As I wrote in our list of the most anticipated series for fall, this German series (airing in the US on Sundance TV) is “a riveting, colorful Cold War tale that starts in 83 following a young East German patrol guard who gets recruited to work undercover in West Germany by his aunt Lenora (Emmy-winner Maria Schrader). As Martin / Mortiz, star Jonas Nay is incredibly charming, able to meaningfully convey the constant confusion of being pulled between two Germanys and two systems of government while unsure who is ultimately right. Beautifully shot with some of the tensest, most anxiety-inducing scenes since The Americans, the series’ lead-up to Abel Archer will leave you sweating—nevermind what it does to poor Martin. But he returns, stronger and less naive, in the sequel Deutschland 86, which moves the story to where the East German state is providing weapons to the apartheid government of South Africa. More politically complicated and perhaps more action-packed rather than focused on Martin’s personal problems as an undercover agent, 86 expands the story in important ways, while preparing for the final installment of the trilogy, 89 (the fall of the Berlin Wall), very soon. Plus, it has one of TV’s best title sequences, set to Peter Schilling’s “Major Tom (Coming Home).”

That “very soon” is now! Well, almost. In the third and last season of the series created by Anna Winger and Jörg Winger, Martin will have to choose sides: CIA or KGB? Maybe both?

According to the official synopsis for Deutschland 89, “as Germany reinvents itself for the fourth time in the 20th century, Martin Rauch finds himself in limbo during the peaceful revolution around him, both the existence of the HVA (East German Foreign Intelligence) and the future of his country left uncertain. Martin, pursued by Western spy agencies and the KGB, is determined to finish his last job for his new and mysterious superiors after uncovering a terrorist plot, going undercover to infiltrate an anti-imperialist terror cell. As he tries to bring the perpetrators to justice, he becomes entangled in the schemes of his Aunt Lenora and his new partner in crime, Nicole (Svenja Jung). In the face of a fast-changing world, all our heroes need to reinvent themselves.”

Check out our exclusive first trailer for the new season below; Deutschland 89 premieres Thursday, October 29th on Sundance TV:

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