The spy thriller is one of those genres that never goes out of style. From political commentary to personal vendettas, the genre allows filmmakers to explore multiple possibilities. Of course, the action that usually comes with it is the cherry on top for the fans of the genre. Netflix’s latest German show follows the same route. The spy thriller action series Unfamiliar, created by Paul Coates, is centered around two ex-spies, Simon and Meret, and how their seemingly perfect lives came crashing down around them as a result of a political shift. From the very first episode, it becomes evident that the past is crucial here. Sixteen years ago in Belarus, Simon and Meret were part of an operation that had gone south, and after all these years, they were forced to confront their past.
The series repeatedly shifts between the personal and the political, because they are both deeply interlinked in this case. Josef Koleev, a Russian intelligence officer, was too afraid of the world finding out about what had happened in Belarus. For the longest time, we don’t get to find out what exactly happened, and the story is narrated in fragments. Obviously, that one evening in Belarus is central to the plot, and the suspense is built around it. Josef’s wife, Valeria, was about to become the Russian ambassador in Berlin, and Josef had to destroy the ghosts of his past so that his wife’s political career wasn’t jeopardized. He was afraid that whatever happened in Belarus could be used against him, so he had hired private henchmen to find Simon, Meret, and their then-handler, Gregor, and get rid of them.
After Belarus, Simon and Meret had adopted false identities and tried to live an ordinary life. But obviously, they couldn’t completely abandon who they were. So, they decided to build a rehabilitation space where wounded agents could contact them, and they provided immediate assistance. Simon was a medical professional, and their little setup allowed agents to seek treatment without compromising their operations. The duo preferred sticking to the shadows and not disclosing any personal information. It was meant to be a trust-based system that was only accessible to a very particular network. One day, they received a call from a wounded young man, and they agreed to have him treated. They kept a close watch on him, because somehow his injuries and his story didn’t add up. When Meret noticed the man slyly lift a copy of her fingerprint from the glass she drank water from, she figured he was a spy. While she tried to keep him alive and gather information from him, he turned out to be quite feisty, and she had no choice but to kill him. Simon and Meret eventually discovered that Josef Koleev was back in Berlin, and he was the one who’d sent the young man to their apartment. The couple couldn’t just pack up their belongings and leave; they had a daughter who had no clue who they really were. Nina thought her parents were just ordinary people. Her father was a chef who ran a restaurant, and they were just like any other family living in the city. Nina suspected something was wrong when her parents suggested she take a long trip. She figured they wanted her out of the way while they dealt with some crisis. But Nina was ready to establish that she was old enough to deal with difficult news, and they didn’t have to send her away. Now of course, Nina didn’t expect to find her parents engaging in a shootout and taking down mercenaries.
Simon, Meret, and Nina’s story is definitely what holds the series together. The couple had made mistakes in the past, yet you can’t help but sympathize with them. That just goes to show the series successfully conveyed the mixed emotions of the characters who weren’t pious, but just humans. They were driven by self-interest when they were young, and after sixteen years, when the past came knocking at their doorstep, they admitted that they had made mistakes. Shows tend to shy away from morally gray protagonists, but Unfamiliar doesn’t really try to justify the wrongs.
The plot is interesting, although not completely unpredictable, but the narrative style felt a little jarring at times. The timeline goes back and forth between the past and the present, and it takes time to completely grasp the many angles of the same story. The pacing could’ve been better; there are segments that I thought were dragged longer than necessary. The show picks up pace when the details of the past are revealed, and by then, the reasons behind the actions start to make complete sense. I was under the impression that the ending would be conclusive, but just like most shows on OTT platforms, we find out that the show will likely return with a season 2. That was possibly the reason behind the pacing problem; information had to be withheld and the story further complicated to deliver another season. But thankfully, the episodes are not dragged out frustratingly long, and the action as well as the chase sequences make up for it.
The revelation of the mole in BND wasn’t as shocking as the show visually tries to make it appear. There were only two people who could’ve been working for the Russians, and considering one of them had asked Julika to not visit the safe house the night it was attacked pretty much made it obvious who the mole was. Out of all the characters, I felt Julika was the least explored. I really hope that in season 2 of Unfamiliar, we get to know the character better, because right now whatever information we have is not enough to make her relatable or even interesting.
Visually, the show leans on grim, dark, cool tones to set the mood, but honestly it has become extremely formulaic. Also, the dark tone works in films with a limited runtime, but for shows it gets a little frustrating (or is it just me!). Possibly because I’ve watched too many thriller shows with this exact visual tone, and I am clearly not a fan of it. Unfamiliar is an average entertaining spy thriller, but the fact that the ending is not conclusive might leave some viewers annoyed because every other show is doing the same thing to the point that it will eventually become impossible for viewers to keep track of the endings of every show they like! I personally did not feel as invested in the story to really hope for a season 2, but the fans of the genre might still find it hooking.
