User Reviews

All I could think of as I watched this was Sherlock, the Abominable Bride episode in particular, it very much has that vibe, that's something I see as a definite plus.

It was bursting with energy, a dynamic watch, but the tone of if was so deliciously dark, I loved the story. A complex crime being dealt with using a mix of traditional and modern techniques.

Production values were immense, it looked dazzling, with incredible sets and costumes. I love the way they showed lavish Viennese society, such extreme elegance. I loved the music, Sherlockesque in sound but brilliant.

The acting was hugely impressive. Each person played their part well.

I'm a sucker for this stuff. Can't wait to read the books off which this show was based.

Too many comparisons to Sherlock in these reviews. Benedict Cumberbatch had quite a bit to do with the success of that series. Matthew Beard is not Benedict Cumberbatch. He's not supposed to be. He's the cool, collected, scientist. And he plays that rather well.

When he ran up the stairs to change for dinner, the way his hands moved, he seemed - to use modern definitions - somewhat feminine. It would be interesting if that's something this show explored - what it was like to be gay in 1906 Vienna for a student of Freud.

Not completely original but wonderfully thought through and filmed in one of the most beautiful atmospheric cities in the the world.

Good acting and nicely directed.

Another smart guy/ dim bulb mystery series.

The justification for Dr. Lindemann being a omniscient know it-all is that he is a student of Sigmund Freud. Freud, in real life, had no interest in forensics and even failed a medical/forensic exam! How Freud's rambling ideas about intra-family romance translate into Lindemann's knowledge of stagecraft, for example, is not explained. This, to me, was a lingering problem. Why does this guy know so much? Is he an alien?

Hardly a scene passes without a memory of some other series, usually a better one, being recalled. The setting is new, but the plot seems to be a bit of a cut and paste job. Characters are stale. They are not rounded into interesting people nor does anyone have any particularly wittty lines.

The mystery, thus far, (I have only seen the first episode) is faintly familiar but still pretty intriguing

Worth a look but don't change any plans just to see it.

The clues just are not here to solve this mystery. If you like to play along and try to solve a murder, The Last Seance is not for you. As another review said, the production values are immense. But any episode of Inspector Morse has a better mystery. Most of the story is completely irrelevant, and the final "Aha" moment involves jumping to a conclusion that only one person in the world would be able to get a particular item - despite the fact that a second copy of that item is sitting in front of the person making that logical leap and almost certainly a hundred other copies of that item could also be found in similar places.

Steve Thompson wrote several episodes of the modern Sherlock series.

Branching out on his own, Thompson has gone for another mismatch pair in this rather clunky euro pudding. It is not made by the BBC, although they have purchased the broadcast rights for the UK.

The first episode of Vienna Blood sees Detective Inspector Oskar Rheinhardt (Juergen Maurer) under pressure to solve the case of a dead medium. He reluctantly accepts the help of student psychoanalyst Max Liebermann (Matthew Beard) who has been observing him. Max is a devotee of the new fangled theories of Dr Freud.

The beautiful young medium was shot through the heart, but there is no bullet lodged anywhere. A suspect is arrested and later released, he is then found dead.

Reinhardt is a bit of blunderer, going on gut instincts. Liebermann uses psychological insights to read behaviour. The two men initially despise each other.

Set in 1905, Vienna looks very clean but beautiful from the rooftop views. Max is from a well to do family. His father is rising up the greasy pole but the upper strata of society is anti semitic. His father is also concerned about the branch of psychiatry that Max is delving into.

The well connected society is a clue to solving the murder of the medium, the motive is a little more sordid. An underbelly of Vienna is revealed that is not out of place in the film Cabaret.

The opening episode was too long at 90 minutes. It lacked the wit and verve of that first season of Sherlock. This one does not get off to a flyer, some of the dialogue is lumbering.

This was an average mystery that tried to be above average by utilizing its historic setting - imperial Vienna at the beginning of the 20th century. I love Vienna, so I thought that we would see lots of historic locations and buildings. Sadly, there is not much Vienna featured here - just a couple of panoramic shots of the city, and some very cramped shots of street corners and cobblestone. I guess it is very hard to film in prime Viennese locations because of all the tourists and the modern additions, unless you have a huge budget.

So, with the historical grandeur unavailable, the series is left to do with its plot and characters, but that is its weak point. The main character is the young doctor, barely out of his diapers, yet he is somehow omniscient with seemingly endless experience in just about every area of life. How does he do it? Through the magic of psychoanalysis and Freud fanboyism. To anyone who is actually knowledgeable about psychology, this is absolutely laughable. Not only does psychoanalysis have absolutely nothing to do with many of the areas that the kid doctor is an expert in (forensics, magic, illusionism, mediums, to name just a few), but even the psychology part is often wrong. The doctor explains to his policeman partner that he can draw conclusions about a person by carefully observing their behavior. That is not psychoanalysis, but behaviorism and those two schools of thought in psychology are completely opposite to each other and mutually exclusive. Oh, and his brilliant deduction? He sees the cop huffing, puffing, pacing nervously and concludes that he is anxious. And the cop is completely blown away by the deduction. Really, doctor, how on earth did you do it?

Adding to this, the doctor is a thoroughly unlikeable character - annoying, arrogant, dishonest, know it all. I am not sure if that was intentional, but there should be some redeeming qualities to him since he is the main character, but there are none (unless you count the Freudian fanboyism as a likeable trait). The cop is a much better character, played by a better actor, but he plays second fiddle to the doctor, and is supposed to be a senior police officer with 20 years of experience who is apparently completely incompetent in his job. You really wonder how he managed to solve any cases and get to where he is before the doctor grew out his pacifier and came to the rescue.

So, the good guys aren't written that well, but the bad guys are written horribly. They are basically just caricatures - they are all rich, anachronistic old men, set in their old (and wrong, of course) ways, who completely despise everyone who is not in their caste and treat anybody who has a penny less than them like trash. Really nuanced characters, you see. Oh, and they are also super antisemitic, just in case you didn't realize that they are awful and you should hate them.

The plot of this episode is just run of the mill mystery, nothing special, and the resolution seems like it was just pulled out of Freud's behind (which is actually quite in line with the show's emphasis on psychoanalysis).