Amazon Prime
Series: 10 eps; Producers: Jordan Peele and David Wier (and others)
Cast: Al Pacino, Dylan Baker, Logan Lerman, Jerrika Hinton, Saul Rubrik, Carole Kane, Josh Radnr, Kate Mulvany
They are out to stop the Fourth Reich that is being perpetrated by exiled Nazi’s in the United States in the mid-1970s. Myer Offerman (Al Pacino) leads a group of highly motivated and, what else but, quirky characters, as they attempt to rid country of these evil people, many of whom were knowingly brought into the country by their own government. Some were placed in high level jobs, others who escaped Germany and ended up in the US with new identities, somehow managed to get into highly influential positions of industry and power. They were now on a new mission, aided by some young modern blood, to continue the work of Hitler.
When nineteen year old Johan Heidelberg (Logan Lerman) watches as his grandmother, a holocaust survivor, is killed in their house, his anger and circumstance bring him to join this group of Nazi hunters on his quest to find her killer. The series uses flash backs to the death camps as the stories are told of the horrific treatment the prisoners went through. Offerman wants to catch a doctor he describes as worse than Josef Mengele.
I don’t know why I watched the whole series. It was evident from episode one that this was a cartoon-ish, Quentin Tarantino-style attempt at dealing with an incredibly horrific reality, while trying to appeal to the super-hero lovers crowd. Show creator David Wier was attempting something of a morality tale, a commentary on government, racism and perhaps sophistry. It’s a different approach to this subject. But it’s violence, mixed with real angst and philosophical discussion do not do enough to take away from the ridiculous comedic antics and overtones of the characters. Despite some good acting performances, it just misses the mark-quite widly.