I had thought this was the whole enchilada, but there are two more seasons, so maybe the muddle got cleared up? I've been a student of Weimar -era art, politics, and (to a lesser extent) literature since the early 80s, so I was initially heartened by the considerable pains taken to accurately recreate the historical scenario.

Unfortunately the mostly robust fictionalization took a fantastical turn in the final episodes of season 2, unveiling a truly ludicrous macguffin which would not have been out of place in a comedy, and ascribing outsized roles to a few minor protagonists, leaving us in the realm of a parallel universe rather than a remotely plausible depiction of real events.

It was all very entertaining, within a certain prestige television template.

Interesting. I see that Netflix took it off very recently (just a few weeks) but it's available to buy on Amazon. My friendly local supplier also has it at a special discount. I remember when it first came out, Mrs WilliamA and I were quite looking forward to it, but it wasn't promoted very hard considering what an expensive production it was and how they crammed in "names" like Brian Ferry* and we forgot all about it.

What's the Macguffin?

I've always been interested in the Weimar period, especially the artfag side of things. I was shocked to discover what a cunt Bertolt Brecht was and, for a while that rather soured my appreciation of things attributed to him. But learning more about people like Elisabeth Hauptmann and others, who were actually responsible for most of the work has put things back into perspective







*who is detestable these days

A railroad car of gold, is all I'm gonna say (it's in the first ep iirc). There are several, loosely-connected plot twists and lurches, that one is the silliest. Bond-worthy.

Brian Ferry did the score which was ... ok.

Yes. I was (literally) checking the Wikipedia episode guide when I saw your reply appear. God alone knows why it was necessary to include a very large number of events which would be implausible in an Indiana Jones movie.

The Wikipedia plot summary doesn't do justice to the train car's unbelievable content  -- it was fake ingots made of compressed coal dust, covered with gold-coloured paint -- the credulous protagonists eventually learn this amazing fact after a lot of violence and running around, by smashing them open. They later realize the whole car is 'made of solid gold' after someone throws one of the fake ingots at it, scratching through the car's paint. But the real valuable cargo is a deed to the Brooklyn Bridge, disguised as a gum wrapper!