Great sci-fi television with a hot topic? At least that’s what the basic idea of the new ZDF series Concordia, which starts on Sunday, promised. However, the reactions so far have been rather deterring.
In Concordia, the dark sides of a utopia are revealed
The ZDF series is about the fictional Swedish city of Concordia. It is considered a utopia that has become reality. Through comprehensive surveillance, a seemingly free and fair social model was created that focuses on the well-being of each individual. Everyone is welcome and receives equal educational opportunities and comprehensive health care.
On the 20th anniversary of the city’s founding, Concordia’s successes and the upcoming adaptation of the model in Germany will be celebrated. But then The first murder case occurs in Concordia in 20 years and the AI that is considered safe is hacked and manipulated. In a race against time, the team of investigators must solve the murder and close the data leak so that the plan to establish Concordia’s model in Germany is successful. The investigations lead to an event in the past that made the founding of Concordia possible. Now it threatens the existence of the model city.
The reviews of the successor to The Swarm have been rather poor so far
The team from Der Schwarm, namely producer Frank Doelger and director Barbara Eder, are among those behind the series. However, reviews of the series have not yet promised a must-see TV event, quite the opposite. For example, Prisma says:
The material is exciting and relevant and yet the series seems a bit like off-the-peg art. The drawing-board-like figures always show more concept than real life. The dialogues are also more targeted than surprising and lively.
At epd Medien you can read:
[…] The setting Concordia remains intangible as a city; it seems to consist mainly of proper suburban settlements and the headquarters of the operating company. Even the dialogues of the international co-production, which was shot in English […] seem sterile and soulless, the synchronization can be felt at any time.
Disappointment also reigns in the Moviepilot community
Concordia is already streaming in ZDFmediathek since Septemberso there are already a few reviews and comments from the Moviepilot community. The average rating is currently only 4.2 out of 10 points, but the number of reviews is not yet meaningful.
However, the comments on the series are mostly negative:
“Cancellation in the fifth episode”, writes Godlike and summarizes: “Too random, too unexciting, not enough of a dystopia and too unoriginal. And far too much sentimentality…”
“The story aroused curiosity, but unfortunately the story was told in a confusing and illogical way“, writes Michael1918, while the OUROBOROS series at least gave some food for thought:
The series had one effect on me that I like to take away with me, namely experiencing the feeling of total surveillance, when you’re constantly thinking about what you can and can’t say so that the AI doesn’t see you as a threat. […] I would be very uneasy about having all moral transgressions monitored by an AI. But the series does a poor job of implementing all of this and I took away more than was actually there.
Critic56 is more positive:
Even if I couldn’t get used to a project like this, I still found the series quite entertaining. Unfortunately, the excitement doesn’t come until quite late in episode 5 and I would have been more interested in the influence of the AI. For me, Concordia was not a disappointment.
This is how you can watch and stream Concordia on TV. Concordia is streaming in the zdfMediathek and will be shown on ZDF from Sunday, October 20th. The broadcast dates are as follows:
On Monday we continue with parts 4 to 6:
More for fans of German series: Where’s Wanda with Heike Makatsch in the podcast
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Where’s Wanda is not only the very first German-language series on Apple TV+, but also an unusually humorous thriller that brings a breath of fresh air into local entertainment. In the podcast, star guest Heike Makatsch gives insights into the highlight.