In the opening scene of the third and final season of the Sky series “The Passport”, a child in old-fashioned clothes tries to escape across a field into a forest. Fog is in the air, the sky is gloomy, the forest like a barrier. With each new episode, the picture becomes more concrete: the pursuit continues in the forest, a rock formation becomes visible, a group of children sit around a leader with his face covered, as if at a secret ceremony. It all must have been a long time ago.
“Der Pass” (from Thursday on Sky/Wow with a double episode, the other six episodes every week) is one of the best German TV series alongside “Babylon Berlin”. Since the first season of the Krampus murders, every sequel has become an event. As in the Danish-Swedish series “The Bridge – Transit to Death”, “The Passport” thrives on the transnational action. The connection here is not the Öresund Bridge, but the Alpine region between the Berchtesgadener and the Salzburger Land. However, the gorges of the region are not nearly as deep as the human abysses that have to be explored by the German-Austrian Soko team led by Ellie Stocker (Julia Jentsch) and Gedeon Winter (Nicholas Ofczarek).
Anyway, I’m a friend of leaving things out. The viewer can make up a lot for themselves. Magic and projection get lost in the constant ramblings. If you can do without it, less is always more.
Nicholas Ofczarek plays a worn-out and corrupt Salzburg policeman in “Der Pass”.
With the finale, showrunner Christopher Schier wants to continue the work of his predecessors Cyrill Boss and Philipp Stennert without repeating it. It was necessary to focus more on the conflict between the unequal investigators, to establish a new type of serial killer and to incorporate the legend of the Schinderjackl. A character that represents one of the darkest chapters in the history of this region. From here to modern satanists and ritual murders the way is not too far. There is even room for a Reich citizen.
The fact that the third season was shot in late summer is hard to believe given the dim light and constant ground fog. In any case, this series cannot be used as advertising for tourism. As gloomy as the images are, the musical accompaniment is depressing. She oscillates between latent alertness and extreme excitement. It is surpassed only by the moments of stillness that add to the frightening sense of menace.
Schier implemented the scenery together with co-director Thomas W. Kiennast. The fact that the third season was shot in late summer is hard to believe given the dim light and constant ground fog. In any case, this series cannot be used as advertising for tourism.
The first two seasons were already extremely dark, the finale is raven black. As a spectator, you sometimes wish for a night vision device. And the investigators also have to search for a motive for the mysterious murders for a long time. “There has to be a connection, we have to find it,” Ellie Stocker encourages the Soko team.
A key question remains whether Stocker and Winter can close the rift created in season two. Since then, the investigator has held her corrupt colleague responsible for the death of her colleague Yela Antic. She is obsessed with bringing him down. Winter, on the other hand, has another obsession. He chases the demons from his childhood in an artists’ commune, keyword: boy pictures. Both are afraid of nothing in their manic obsession. Only one thing seems to unite them: the hunt for the murderer.
