It’s not a remake of the movie
While it shares the name of the classic 1981 movie, this isn’t a remake. Technically it’s another adaptation of Lothar-Günther Buchheim’s classic semi-autobiographical novel Das Boot, but it’s really its own show, using the backdrop of the Battle of the Atlantic to tell its own stories.
Even when elements from the original do crop up, they’re often given an ironic spin: the title “Old Man” was given to the U-Boat captain in the movie out of respect, whereas here it’s an ironic joke on his lack of experience. In some ways, the opening scene in episode one is like the original film packed into ten minutes – and with that out of the way, the real story can begin.
There’s conflict on land…
Simone Strasser (Vicky Krieps) Source: SBS
Much of the first series sees her torn between two sides. On one hand Carla Munroe (Lizzy Caplan), leader of the local chapter of the French Resistance, wants her on board for her usefulness to the cause… and she also becomes Simone’s lover. On the other, local gestapo chief, Hagen Forster (Tom Wlaschiha), is also clearly interested in her – and while his interest might initially be romantic, having a gestapo officer obsessed with you isn’t exactly ideal when the local Resistance leader is sharing your bed.
… and at sea
Captain Klaus Hoffmann (Rick Okon) Source: SBS
It’s not a simplistic look at the war
Source: SBS
We’re accustomed to think of the French Resistance as about as pure as good guys get, but Carla is a Spanish Civil War veteran and communist who’s happy to kill innocents if it’ll get the job done, while Forster is charming and urbane while also being a committed anti-Semite. Out at sea, clichés are turned on their head as the by-the-book officer turns out to be a calm and level-headed leader – who still gets deposed by his men in a mutiny. This war isn’t a mighty clash between two unified sides, but a struggle where every person has to figure out their own duty for themselves. And not everyone chooses the right side.
Season one ended on a huge twist
Samuel Greenwood Jr (Vincent Kartheiser) Source: SBS
Things aren’t much better at sea in season two, with the U-612 now commanded by Ulrich Wrangel (Stefan Konarske) the exchanged prisoner who helped drive the crew’s mutiny. They now have a new mission: to intercept fellow submarine U-822, which is currently on a mission to drop off spies in the US and is suspected of planning to defect.
But the biggest development in the second season came right at the end of the first. Cutting from France to New York, we’re reintroduced to American Samuel Greenwood Jr (Vincent Kartheiser), the other captive swapped in the mid-season prisoner exchange. It was a win-win for the Germans: they got back an important U-Boat captain, and with Greenwood Jr returned, his father would continue to covertly buy Nazi war bonds to help finance the war effort.
So when a mysterious visitor turns up at his office, the surprise isn’t that it’s a German – after all, they’re secretly helping their war effort. It’s that it’s Hoffman, who was set adrift in a lifeboat after the mutiny mid-season and hasn’t been seen since. How did he survive? How did he get to New York? How is Greenwood supposed to help him? They’re all questions for season two.
