The episode opens with an unidentified person sitting aside the road in a vehicle playing an online first-person shooter. The footage soon changes from the game to what appears to be Oliver Miller’s (Louis Landau) last recorded interview.
The footage is paused and the story picks up 9 days earlier in Kopwitz, Germany where Juliane Ericksen (Christiane Paul) is driven to a meeting with her son, Noah Ericksen (Steven Sowah). Juliane’s immediate question is whether or not he has shared the news with Hanna Bremer (Karoline Eichhorn). Noah claims that it would only be a distraction and much more effective coming from her. Noah immediately picks up on Juliane’s apprehension and learns that she is concerned for their people. He promises to speak with the council before grabbing his VR headset and leaving.
Noah is now giving a VR presentation for their two-year integration plan to transform Kopwitz into a safer, greener, and healthier place to live. He soon turns the floor over to Hanna who thanks their small audience for coming and offers them the opportunity to share in their experiment.
With the presentation ended, Juliane spends several minutes telling Hanna about a recent murder on the outskirts of Concordia. Although the murder does not appear to be tied to Concordia in any way, Juliane warns Hanna that she’ll be approached by the press. She also mentions something about Fatemah Amin (Ahd) sending in a crisis manager from London to help. Their conversation ends with Juliane assuring Hanna that she will do everything necessary to protect her career.
The footage cuts to several interviews of Concordia’s citizens talking about how happy they are with the city’s openness regarding surveillance and data monitoring. It appears the citizens are content with living in a state of 24/7 surveillance as long as they know how that data is gathered and used.
Upon arriving in at Concordia HQ in Sweden, Thea Ryan (Ruth Bradley) is immediately greeted by crisis manager, Isabella Larsson (Nanna Blondell). Isabella is quick to point out the differences between her role and that of a police officer while also mentioning that Concordia is a place where they prevent crime, not investigate it after it has occurred. Not long after this, Isabella confiscates Thea’s electronic devices to install a Concordia firewall.
With the admin out of the way, Thea is led to a boardroom where she meets Juliane, Chief Technology Officer AJ Oba (Kento Nakajima), and lead data scientist Mathilde (Josephine Jobert). It is soon revealed that Thea is at Concordia HQ on behalf of Fatemah to explore Oliver Miller’s death. Juliane and Mathilde are much more accommodating than AJ, which is likely because he is the one responsible for Concordia’s algorithm that is supposed to detect crime before it happens. The atmosphere immediately becomes strained when Thea insists on not sharing the surveillance footage of Oliver’s death until they’ve viewed it for themselves.
After meeting the officer in charge of Oliver and his family’s transition to Concordia, Azeem Mahmoud (Mohamed Achour), Thea schedules a meeting with Oliver’s mother, Cathy Miller (Dulcie Smart) for later that afternoon. Before viewing the body cam footage of the Gothenburg officer who discovered Oliver’s body, Thea learns that Oliver and his mother came to Concordia after his father’s death. Despite being bullied before the move, Oliver supposedly flourished and was on the fast track for an important at Concordia HQ. Although Oliver’s shooting mimics a gangland-style shooting, his criminal record was virtually spotless.
Upon arriving at Oliver’s house, Thea has a brief word with the Swedish investigator, Oskar Eklund (Set Sjostrand), in charge of the case. He and Isabella trade a few words of disagreement, which she later reveals as Oskar’s displeasure with the delay of the crime scene footage. Cathy is unable to provide any useful insight into Oliver’s death.
In Southwest Sweden, Tessa Vogel (Maeve Metelka) and Elodie Cailleux (Alba Gaia Bellug) are shown driving to a ferry. They both remain silent the entire time but share a suspicious look after hearing of Oliver’s death over the radio. They only appear even shadier as they wait in line to board the ferry.
After the court gives Concordia the go-ahead to review the surveillance footage, Thea learns more about AJ’s software and the R&C (Review and Confirm) department where Oliver worked. According to AJ, he originally developed the Concordia algorithm to read the minds of poker players. With a few tweaks, the software was transformed to monitor and flag suspicious looks/behaviors. It was then the job of the R&C associates to determine if the threat required action. After learning that the system didn’t flag anything on Oliver, Thea insists they go back a year, which will require another court authorization. In the meantime, Thea is given the footage that has already been cleared and released.
After disembarking from the ferry, Tessa immediately stops for fuel and tells Elodie to remain in the vehicle. Elodie goes to the bathroom while Tessa pays for the fuel and buys provisions from the Attendant (Jean-Claude Knobbe), including a prepaid cell phone. When Tessa returns to find Elodie gone, a minor dispute ensues that reveals it is Elodie who is on the run.
Thea returns to her suite in a bit of a panic and frantically searches for several bottles of medications. Later that evening she speaks with her son and husband, Alexandre (Hugo Becker) in Great Britain, London. The conversation is brief and nothing more than average chit-chat. After the call, it’s also revealed that Alexandre is caring for Thea’s ailing mother Veronica Ryan (Cara Kelly). She appears to be suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia.
While reviewing the crime scene footage, Juliane receives a notification from AJ, stating that someone has returned. The screen switches to reveal Edvin Claesson (Dietrich Hollinderbaumer). Nothing more than this is revealed at the time thanks to the arrival of Dr. Peter Blom (Duncan Green). Upon seeing him, Juliane immediately remembers dinner and apologizes for forgetting. There are a few words about the investigation but the conversation ends shortly with rescheduling the dinner and Juliane confirming that he will be present at some undefined event tomorrow.
The following morning, Isabella and Thea learn that Oliver started making overnight trips outside of Concordia 5 months prior to his death. When Isabella later shares the discovery with Oskar, she adds that Oliver generally left Concordia around 10 pm and returned around 6 – 6:30 am the following morning. As for his destination, they only know that he went north of the city 140-145 km. Given that the outings also coincided with elevated heart rate and blood pressure, Mathilde suggests checking his dating history. This eventually leads them to footage from Oliver’s date with Anna Perillo (Barbara Venturato). At one point during the date, Oliver mentions hiking and surfing which appears to freak Anna out. When they question her later, she reveals that it felt as if Oliver knew too much about her. When Mathilde later shares the discovery with Juliane, it is suggested that Oliver was using Concordia’s system to watch not just Anna but all of Concordia’s citizens.
The episode ends by showing some man watching what appears to be footage of Oliver watching surfing videos.
Concordia Review
Being that this was only the first episode, I feel as if I must give the second a watch before judging it too harshly. That said, I really don’t have a whole lot of negative to say. Yes, some of the acting is horrendous but this could be because it’s a France/Japanese/Swedish/German/South Korean production. Mannerisms and such might be different, people might interact differently.
As for the concept, I found it truly intriguing, although it reminded me a bit of a high-tech Twin Peaks/Wayward Pines. There was another series that aired on sci-fi several years back about the last humans living on a space station. On the night of their Independence Day, a body is found that sets off a chain of events that leads to the discovery that the whole station is a staged reality show. I’m wondering if the town of Concordia isn’t something similar. Either way, I was entirely turned off yet, although it probably wouldn’t take much.
There is a lot of mystery and intrigue that makes the show incredibly suspenseful. For that, I’d give it a 5 out of 10. Get more Concordia recaps here. Support Reel Mockery by donating. Learn how our advertising builds brand awareness by clicking here. Join our newly established forum to discuss new and classic movies, TV shows, Japanese wrestling, and more.
