Murder Mindfully begins with the protagonist, Bjorn Diemel (Tom Schilling) introducing himself as a fairly peaceful defense attorney who never killed anyone until he turned 42, which was apparently inspired by his recent adaption of living a more mindful lifestyle. Despite this, he so fully embraced his new lifestyle that he racked up half a dozen kills in that first week alone. Bjorn’s introduction goes back three months to prove himself as quite the capable attorney. So capable in fact that he is the go-to attorney for a huge criminal kingpin, Dragan Sergowicz (Sascha Alexander Gersak). This in turn has bought him and his family a very nice life but as a missed birthday party shows, it’s a life that he doesn’t get to participate in often. It is a brief argument after the missed birthday party in which Katharina Diemel (Emily Cox) gives him a magazine article about mindfulness.
It isn’t until Bjorn is snubbed by his coworkers that he makes an appointment with mindfulness guru, Joschka Breitner (Peter Jordan). As it turns out, Dragan isn’t Bjorn’s only ethically questionable client. Due to his success with these types of clients, everyone is more than happy to push their ethically challenged clients off on him but no one wants to be associated with him.
Although Bjorn arrives at the appointment with an open mind, he nearly backs out until Joschka points out character traits that Bjorn never realized he even had or purposefully overlooked. Joschka continues to blow his mind while simultaneously introducing him to mindfulness. By the time the breathing exercises begin, Bjorn is as good as converted. As time rapidly passes, Bjorn fully embraces the mindfulness lifestyle. He even goes as far as moving out of his home and taking time away from his phone which doesn’t initially set well with his clients.
By the time Bjorn’s completed the first mindfulness course and offered an advanced class, he’s not only improved his family life but he’s learned to overlook the insults at work. All Bjorn’s progress is put to the test when Dragan interrupts Bjorn’s weekend at the lake with Emily Diemel (Pamuk Pilavci). When making the demand, Dragan uses the code word ice cream, so Bjorn is already suspecting problems and drops Emily off with one of the firm’s trainees, Doro Kerner.
It doesn’t take Bjorn long to learn that the situation with Dragan is far worse than he could have imagined. After receiving a tip about someone selling drugs on his territory, Dragan attacks and kills a rival boss’ right-hand man, Igor. The worst part is the act was not only witnessed by a bunch of school children on a field trip at the time but they filmed it. Apparently, the videos are already online. Things go downhill even further and faster when Dragan begins demanding Bjorn fix the situation.
Although Bjorn suggests leaving the country and hiding out for the next 30 to 40 years in a joking manner, Dragan takes the advice literally and that’s where the episode ends.
Murder Mindfully Review
Murder Mindfully certainly offers a refreshing break from the typical police/criminal procedural series that has become so commonplace over the last few years. The different take and feel could also have something to do with it being a German production, dubbed for English viewers. I also appreciate the shorter runtime. I’d hate to be too critical after just 1 episode but from the first episode, this could be a somewhat enjoyable Dexter/Breaking Bad-like series.
There are lots of different ways this story could go and I am for one interested in seeing where and how it gets there. The premiere earns a 5.1 out of 10.
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