At the beginning of the episode, we see a young boy running through the woods and someone writing a note using mysterious code. The running boy makes it to the water’s edge before he is confronted by someone. Then, Daniel (Luis Aue) joins Max (Matthew Beard) and the other Libermann for celebrations. Max tells his parents that his engagement to Clara (Luise Von Finckh) is off. Daniel goes to another room and cuts himself with a knife. Max’s explanation is interrupted when the family finds out that Daniel has harmed himself. After the wound is tended to, Mendel (Conleth Hill) and Rachel (Amelia Bullmore) believe that the cut was an accident.

Max tells them that it wasn’t an accident. He believes Daniel is deeply disturbed. While Leah (Charlene McKenna) cares for Daniel, she finds wounds and bruises covering his back. The family learns about it moments later. After that, Max visits Oskar (Jurgen Maurer) and tells him about Daniel. They go to the St. Florian’s military academy together to investigate possible abuse. When they arrive, they’re confronted by headmaster Julius Reisinger and his deputy Mr. Becker. Max explains that his sister wants to know who is responsible for Daniel’s bruises. The headmaster does not want to give them permission to interview the pupils.

When Max says that Daniel will not return until they get answers, the headmaster says he will fetch Mr. Lang so they can collect Daniel’s belongings. Lang (Rafael Gareisen) meets up with Max and Oskar. During the tour, Oskar notices a memorial of sorts for Inspector von Bulow (Raphael von Bargen). Then, Lang is stopped by a young boy who wants a note so he doesn’t have to perform his drill. Lang agrees without hesitation or question. When Max goes through Daniel’s items, he finds a cryptic note. Max collects Daniel’s belongings while Oskar finds Becker attending to a boy with a wound on the palm of his hand.

Then, Oskar notices a bed with the name Wolf on it. Max notices that a bed next to Daniel’s is empty. Lang tells him that it belonged to Thomas Zelenka but he drowned. Max finds it odd that someone tried to erase Zelenka’s name. He suspects that Daniel was trying to cut Zelenka’s name into his arm. When they leave, the headmaster reminds Becker that they have friends at the police department so they’ll be fine. Max and Oskar return to Daniel. Max tries to convince Daniel to tell them what happened at the school but he will not. He begins rambling about something and asking for forgiveness. After that, Oskar returns to the station and confronts Von Bulow. Von Bulow admits he was the investigating officer for the drowning.

He is adamant that it was an accident. Haussmann (Josef Ellers) interrupts to tell them that the commissioner is asking for them. The commissioner tells the men that he is becoming the police chief so one of them will likely take his job. When Oskar returns home, he finds his wife Else (Kristina Bangert) there. They catch up over a cup of coffee. They also chat about their daughter. Drexler and the other boys talk about Oskar and Max visiting the academy. They believe that they’ll be fine as long as they keep their mouths shut. Mendel finds his son trying to decipher Daniel’s code. They chat about that before turning their attention to Max and Clara. Mendel is worried that his son is looking for something that doesn’t exist and may not know what love is.

Max goes to Clara to tell her that his family knows about their marriage falling apart. Max and Oskar speak with the medical examiner but he did not perform a postmortem on Zelenka. After that, the men are allowed to exam the body. They notice that Zelenka has a weird mark on his hand too. They ask Lang about that mark a short time later. Max pleads with Lang to help them. He says that it happened once before when he first came. He explains that he thought he had put a stop to it. He tells them about a ritual that has been passed down through the generations.

He shows them the basement area where the ritual takes place and the coin used to create the mark. Lang tells the men about Zelenka’s last day. Max suggests that Zelenka ran away because he was tortured in the ritual room. Max and Oskar discuss the matter with Inspector von Bulow but he sticks with his original story. Oskar accuses the inspector of preventing a postmortem from happening. Later, the boy with the fresh hand wound finds a stick figure and a cryptic coded note on his bed. Meanwhile, Max tells Oskar about his engagement falling apart. After that, Max visits Amelia Lydgate (Jessica De Gouw) and tells her how he feels about her.

He wants to kiss her but they’re interrupted by one of Amelia’s colleagues. That night one of the boys wakes up Stoikjavic (Maximilian Baldauf) and the others. They perform the ritual with another boy. The following day, Max and Oskar go to the site where Zelenka’s body was discovered. Oskar believes he was being hunted. They speak with Zelenka’s sister a short time later. She tells them that he was a good boy. She also says he was a very good painter and they would like his portrait painting returned. The men return to Max’s so they can speak with Daniel once more.

Max tells Leah to encourage Daniel to paint or draw before they question him directly. Daniel has the ritual mark on his palm too. Max performs an ink blot test on Daniel and asks him what he sees. Daniel says that he sees a wolf. With that, Oskar decides to get a warrant so they can interview the boys at the school. Meanwhile, Else scours through her daughter’s belongings. Oskar and Max go to the school. They show the headmaster the warrant before speaking with the boys. When they do not answer, Max suggests using silence and that seems to work. One of the boys tells them that he found a love letter behind a locker. It was written by Zelenka but he isn’t sure who it was written to.

It also confirms that Zelenka was going to run away and tells everyone what was going on at the academy. Next, Max returns to class and his professor wants to know more about the case he is currently working on. Lang is confronted by the boys at the school. They tell him that they’re going to spread rumors about him since he squealed on them. Max returns to Amelia. He tells her that he wants her to perform a test on Zelenka to see what she can find out. Oskar returns home and finds out that his wife got rid of their daughter’s belongings. She gave them to a charity and he is not happy about it. Max and Amelia go to the hospital and it brings back bad memories for Amelia.

Then, they check out the body. Amelia prepares to take samples. Once they finish, they leave and shake hands. Max wants a kiss but he only gets a smile and a handshake. The professor watches them leave. When Max returns home, Leah tells him that she doesn’t recognize her own son. Something she says triggers something for Max and he recalls something Lang said. He rushes over to Oskar’s place before being introduced to Else. Max tells Oskar that they need to find the painting at the school. They confront Lang and ask him where the canvas has gone. They find it hidden under another painting. It is a portrait of a young girl.

Max asks why Lang couldn’t let anyone else see it. Oskar recalls the young girl. They pay her a visit. Oskar asks Becker’s daughter if she was expecting someone. She tells them that Becker is her father. They believe that she posed for the painting in this room. She says that there are strict rules preventing her from interacting with the boys. Lang told her that there was a student who wanted to paint her portrait. She claims she was alone with Zelenka 4 or 5 times before Becker enters. Becker says that youthful infatuation is to be expected since the boys do not get to interact with women. When they leave, Max is convinced that they were going to run away together.

Oskar returns home and apologizes to his wife. Amelia tells Max that she wasn’t able to find anything from the tests. Mendel finds them together moments later. He encourages Amelia to leave but Clara enters and catches them together. Mendel explains that he was going to give them a professional consultation. The four of them sit down and begin discussing things. Clara gets angry and tells Max that he can go to hell. Later that night, Mendel ridicules his son’s decisions. They’re not happy that Amelia is not Jewish.

Later, Max wonders how Daniel knows the school’s prayer. Max tells Oskar about the prayer and the code. They work together to decipher the code. Once they’ve finished, they believe that there will be others. Meanwhile, the boys prepare to carry out the ritual once again. Stoikjavic is ordered to force a gun into another boy’s mother. They notice someone is coming so they drop the gun and make a run for it. Max confronts one of the boys in the dorm. He punches the boy and knocks him to the ground. Then, the abused boy arrives with the gun and points it at the other boy. Max encourages him to drop the gun. The boy puts the gun down.

The following day, the commissioner tells Oskar that there has been a complaint from General Wolf about abusive force against his son. Oskar accepts responsibility for everything. Daniel finally starts talking. He tells Max that the night Zelenka died it was his turn for the ritual. Thomas was selected for punishment but he ran. They chased him down to the river. Daniel says that no one hit Zelenka. He claims that Zelenka was sick and started choking. Zelenka died before anyone was able to touch him. They threw the body in the river because they thought what they had done triggered the attack. Max believes he can prove that Zelenka was already dying.

Oskar, Max, and Daniel go to the school. They find Zelenka’s clothes. Amelia finds some sort of cyanide gas on his clothing. Then, they go to Becker and his daughter says Zelenka was serving as a messenger for them. The letters were written by someone else. Oskar and Max confront Becker about his daughter. They accuse Becker of poisoning Zelenka. Becker admits that the boys were laughing and calling his daughter names. Max reveals that the messages were for Lang and not Zelenka. Becker tries to poison them and run away. He runs to the top of a clock tower and Max tries to talk him down. Becker says his daughter will remember him as a man of honor before falling to his death.

After that, the commissioner tells Oskar that the school might not survive the scandal. Oskar learns that Inspector von Bulow has been selected to take over. The commissioner shows Oskar the symbol on the palm of his hand. Oskar watches as the others celebrate von Bulow’s promotion. Meanwhile, Max is asked about taking samples from the morgue. He is told that he is no longer allowed in the hospital. Oskar returns home and finds his wife’s ring on the table. He meets with Max and admits that they couldn’t be together. He encourages Max to grab happiness with both hands. He tells Max to be with the one he loves. They speak about their friends before their conversation turns to the next case.

 

Vienna Blood Review

Vienna Blood had a lot of potential. The acting was pretty good and the show did a great job setting the mood. The atmosphere was excellent for the time period and subject. However, I think the length hurt it. The writers had too much canvas and not enough paint. It would have been far more enjoyable at 45 minutes or an hour. It was a chore to watch.

There were twists and turns along the way but not enough to keep the show interesting for an hour and a half. That is my biggest complaint with it. I am sure a lot of people gave up on the show midway through the first episode. It was just too long and way too drug out. The finale was decent but a tad predictable. We knew that Clara and Max wouldn’t get married. We knew that Inspector von Bulow and Oskar would be vying for the job of commissioner.

I think most felt that von Bulow would get it too. Overall, I think the biggest flaw was the length of each episode. I feel that the show would have been received much better if it was far shorter. The finale was just okay. It scores a 6.5 out of 10. Catch up with previous recaps of Vienna Blood right now!