Berlin Station

Plot

The story follows Daniel Miller (Richard Armitage), who has just arrived at the CIA station in Berlin, Germany. In season 1, Miller has a clandestine mission: to uncover the source of a leak who has supplied information to a now-famous whistleblower named Thomas Shaw. Guided by veteran Hector DeJean (Rhys Ifans), Daniel learns to contend with the rough-and-tumble world of the field agent: agent-running, deception, and the dangers and moral compromises. In season 2, four months after Miller was shot at the end of season 1, he recovered from his injuries sufficiently to be given a new clandestine assignment: to infiltrate a far-right German political party believed to be planning an act of terror right before an upcoming election.

Cast

Main

Richard Armitage as Daniel Miller, a cerebral CIA officer who shifts from working as an analyst at Langley headquarters in the US to serving as an undercover officer in Berlin and is tasked with finding a leak in CIA operations

Rhys Ifans as Hector DeJean, a disillusioned veteran CIA officer with dubious tactics and many secrets

Leland Orser as Robert Kirsch, a devoted and successful Deputy Chief who digs intelligence out of the city of Berlin through a mix of force, diligence, and cleverness

Michelle Forbes as Valerie Edwards, the no-nonsense administrator who serves as a Berlin Station Internal Branch Chief, and later Station Chief

Richard Jenkins as Steven Frost (seasons 1–2, recurring season 3), a veteran of the Cold War, who serves as the CIA's Chief of the Berlin Station in season 1 and is retired at the start of season 2

Tamlyn Tomita as Sandra Abe (season 1), a quiet presence leading the efficient operation of Berlin Station while having an affair with her boss, Steven

John Doman as Richard Hanes (season 2), the new American ambassador to Germany and an old friend of Steven's

Keke Palmer as April Lewis (seasons 2–3), the new young case officer assigned to Berlin Station

Ashley Judd as BB Yates (season 2, recurring season 3), Berlin's new Chief of Station, nicknamed "The Station Whisperer"

Ismael Cruz Córdova as Rafael Torres (season 3), an officer for the Special Activities Center of the CIA, previously in the military

Recurring

Mina Tander as Esther Krug, a German BfV agent and later the head of the BfV

Mark Moses as Jason Wolfe, Berlin Station's supervisor at the CIA (seasons 1 and 3)

April Grace as Jemma Moore, Steven's superior at the CIA

Caroline Goodall as Kelly Frost, Steven's wife

Bernhard Schütz as Hans Richter, an old-world spy who has risen to the highest ranks of the BfV

Victoria Mayer as Ingrid Hollander, a German reporter

Sabin Tambrea as Julian De Vos, a courier funneling information from "Thomas Shaw" to Claudia Gartner

Sylvia Hoeks as Claudia Gartner, the courier between De Vos and Hollander

Claudia Michelsen as Patricia Schwarz, Miller's cousin

Antje Traue as Lana Vogel, aka "Joker", a freelance agent

Zahra Ahmadi as Clare Itani, an American agent and DeJean's girlfriend

Daniela Ziegler as Golda Friedman, a Mossad agent

Thomas Kretschmann as Otto Ganz, a German alt-right extremist

Emilia Schüle as Lena Ganz, Otto's daughter

Natalia Wörner as Katerina Gerhardt, head of the far-right party Perspektive für Deutschland (PfD, “Perspective for Germany“)

Episodes

Production

Epix announced a ten-episode straight-to-series order on May 21, 2015. Michaël Roskam executive produced the series and directed the first two episodes. Olen Steinhauer wrote and executive produced the series. Production started in November 2015.

Principal photography took place in Potsdam at Studio Babelsberg, which is co-producer of Berlin Station. The whole interior of the CIA Station, which includes a security entrance as well as the big windowless office space within, was built on stages at Babelsberg's studios. Other scenes were shot on locations in Potsdam and Berlin, Germany.

On February 7, 2018, it was announced that Jason Horwitch would be joining the series as showrunner and executive producer. He replaced Brad Winters who had served in those positions for the show's first two seasons. For the third season, production moved to Budapest, Hungary.

Broadcast

A 10-episode first season of Berlin Station premiered on Epix on October 16, 2016. The series is exclusive to Netflix in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It is broadcast free-to-air and on-demand in Australia on SBS TV. It also is available in Israel. The series has been licensed to more than 150 territories worldwide.

Reception

Berlin Station has received generally positive reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the show holds a rating of 65 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". In a season 1 review for Variety, Maureen Ryan attests the series "an outstanding cast that takes its reasonably solid storytelling and raises it a few notches through sheer talent and charisma", praising especially Richard Jenkins, Michelle Forbes and Rhys Ifans. The New York Times' Mike Hale called season 3 a "well-made but not hugely original mix of spycraft, action and sexy office intrigue" and noticed that "Berlin Station is elevated by the surprising, and relatively unnoticed, quality of its core cast", mentioning particularly Leland Orser, whose "shifty, nervous energy still carries the show".