Babylon Berlin

Notoriously the most expensive non-English television program ever made, this series is much more than pure spectacle. It combines a police drama and a spy story with the historical context of pre-World War II Germany in a vivid and compelling way. As you'd expect with a spy show, everyone seems to be working toward different ends. Just when you think Inspector Rath is a good guy, something comes along to indicate he might not be. Rath's partner is suspicious of him from the jump, but that may be because his partner is a corrupt and violent cop ... or it may be because he has cause for suspicion.

Even with all the mystery and intrigue, Babylon Berlin's best moments often come when they depict the German nightlife of the time. Rath drinks by himself in a pub, but when he sees a group of students dancing raucously in the back room, he joins in and surprisingly outshines them all. The best early scene combines the two: After working all day to provide for her extended family, Charlotte attends a cabaret where Countess Svetlana Sorokina (Severija Janušauskaitė), secretly a member of an anti-Stalinist cell, is performing in drag. There's an elaborate dance number involving the whole audience, which takes place at the same time a massive hit is carried out on the anti-Stalinist group. This juxtaposition between Berlin's vibrant nightlife and the seedy world of its criminals drives Babylon Berlin, giving it the tone of a pulp novel while providing a window into a critical time in German (and world) history.