As of last Thursday, Netflix audiences can breathe in… breathe out… and then Mindfully Murder for 8 episodes. After Berlin lawyer Björn Diemel (Tom Schilling) attends a mindfulness seminar, he gets a much better handle on his stressful life with family, job and criminal clans – even if he has to go to great lengths to do so.
For long stretches, the series concept of the normal guy mutating into a criminal genius works. Based on ambivalent “heroes” as we know them from Breaking Bad, Dexter or The Sopranos, lead author Doron Wisotzky delivers an enjoyable, bitterly evil adaptation of the original novel * by Karsten Dusse for Netflix. It’s all the more annoying that the Netflix film adaptation stumbles in its final moments.
Mindful Morden sticks closely to the original book, but stumbles at the end
Tom Schilling revealed in the Moviepilot interview that a lot of the series implementation was about “true to the work, staying closer to the novel”. You can tell that in the Netflix adaptation. The only major change is that the inspector from the book is now a female inspector: Nicole (Britta Hammelstein). Otherwise the series holds up very well close to the plot and tone of the literary source.
In this way, the series audience can experience the bestseller, including the first-person narrator’s voice, almost 1:1, without ever turning a page – with all the stops and hooks that Achtsam Morden hits. If not for this little one Change at the end were.
Actually, the ending of Mindful Murders is just a bit different arrangement of elements: In the book, the last thing Björn does is let gang boss Boris (Luca Maric) climb into his trunk after his successful drone scare maneuver. The series, on the other hand, continues afterwards: Policewoman Nicole, who has just been successfully fobbed off with a daycare place, listens to Björn’s defective bird toy, which distorts his confession “I dismembered my client and I’m free.”
At first glance, the story change seems insignificant. After all, the plush recording device and the willing gangster in the trunk also exist in the book. At second glance, however, the change is a bitter disappointment – because it is ideal ending wasted.
Season 2 instead of a complete affair: Why the end of Mindful Murder reduces the enjoyment of the series on Netflix
In the novel, the closing trunk above Björn’s last major opponent is the optimal conclusion to an uncompromising narrative: The story began with the lawyer getting rid of his unpleasant client Dragan (Sascha Alexander Gersak) by turning from an escape helper into a murderer and letting the criminal suffocate in the back of his car. Consequently, the successful circular argument of the rival, who is eliminated in the same way and who just as willingly seals his own end, is a well-rounded thing.
“Shut up, dead monkey,” Mindful Morden suggests to us, without having to spell out the cycle of dismemberment and sea disposal again. Regardless of how the second book continues the Boris story, this is it perfect head cinemande: bitterly evil and darkly humorous until the end. The stressful cuddly toy has already become a threat and has been defused again because it is not taken seriously.
The Netflix series, on the other hand, seems to have a more open ending, i.e. the discovery of a dangerous lead. definitely open the door for season 2 to want. Finally, there are four more novels, so the potential for four more seasons. Such cliffhangers are of course not uncommon in serial storytelling. It’s still sad when it comes at the expense of a precise landing in the end.
Is Netflix too cowardly for a “bad” ending?
The problem isn’t just the hunger for a sequel, but also what this greed does in passing: the series doesn’t dare to let a morally questionable character win. We are no longer in the era of the gangster films of the 1930s, where every successful criminal had to be brought down again in order to satisfy morality.
The honest lip service that most readers of the book celebrate the literary hit Mindful Morden precisely for its evil was even highlighted in an interview by Tom Schilling. There he says that 90 percent of those reading love Björn for his dubious actions and 10 percent describe him as inhumane:
Everyone always has this fear: This is our main character. We can’t damage it. It has to be understandable. He has to be friendly. But it’s exactly the opposite. The further he goes, the more he dares and allows himself, the more the audience enjoys him – a large part anyway.
Exactly these diabolical joy detracts from the Netflix series at the end with the finger pointing out that the mindfully murdering lawyer probably won’t get away with it but will be held responsible in the future.
Mindful murder ends up forgetting your own mindfulness
Instead of letting Mindful Murders end on a relishingly nasty note, the Netflix series doesn’t take the final step into the abyss, but instead rows back – which ultimately leads to it being a thriller own concept of inner peace reveals.
In the end, deep breathing in and out no longer helps. Tom Schilling’s lawyer Björn Diemel may have learned the principle of mindfulness – that is, not doing two things at once. The Netflix series can’t say that.
If I tell a successful ending, I tell a successful ending. And when I announce a second season, I announce a second season. But I’m not announcing a second season while telling a successful ending. This is careless.
Podcast according to Achtsam Morden: The 15 best new series starts in November on Netflix, Amazon and Co.
Do you need more fresh streaming tips? We present the most exciting series in November, which start on Netflix, Amazon, Disney+ and Co., in the monthly overview:
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The 15 series highlights in November include the finale of the Netflix hit Arcane as well as the hotly anticipated Dune series. In addition, the sci-fi tip Silo and the western phenomenon Yellowstone return with new episodes.
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