Berlin Station is a contemporary, literate drama series set in 2016 at the CIA station in Berlin, Germany. The cast is filled with actors you’ve seen before, in a good way: Richard Armitage (Hannibal), Rhys Ifans (Notting Hill), Richard Jenkins (Olive Kitteridge), Leland Orser (Ray Donovan) and Michelle Forbes (24) are among the main figures in the first two (of 10) episodes.
Classic espionage dilemmas play out as field agents recruit local sources who sometimes die as a result, and modern themes resonate as Armitage’s CIA officer Daniel Miller comes to Germany in search of a whistleblower who’s releasing Wikileaks-like secrets to the press. There’s a high stress level at the station — run by Jenkins as Steven Frost and Forbes as Valerie Edwards — and plenty of tradecraft and spy action. I can’t quite tell where it’s all headed, but I’m in for the ride.
The acting is strong, the settings are colorful and the action is twisty — a fine initial original series foray by Epix (along with the Nick Nolte political comedy Graves, debuting the same night).
