THE FOX (“Die Fuchsin”) – TV Review

The title of this German television series refers neither to the critter hunted by British aristos, nor the descriptor of attractive women before the PC era. It’s a rather frumpy middle-aged German woman named Anne Fuchs, with a deceptively keen mind. Despite librarian-esque appearances, she had been a top-notch East German spy until her career ended due to some misadventure or misconduct, and the disappearance of her son 20 years before the action, in this excellent five-episode TV crime drama.

The eponymous Anne Fuchs (Lina Wendel) is unemployed. She meets a young couple who run a café. When the wife’s brother vanishes after his best friend was murdered, they hire Fuchs to help them find and, ideally, exonerate or protect the fellow. This opens a new career path for Fuchs, and begins an odd-couple partnership with the husband, Youssef el Kilali (played by Karim Charif), that runs for the rest of the series. Youssef adds a bit of street smarts, a few contacts and a healthy dose of skepticism to their adventures. Each episode is a new stand-alone mystery, interlaced with the gradual unfolding of her backstory, with some new answers to old questions.

And, as must be the case in such programs regardless of the country of origin, there’s a gruff police detective (Robert Dolle, who resembles Christopher Lloyd with a shaved head that adds a touch of James Carville) who is dubious about these amateurs.

The stories are diverse, well-written, and performed at a pace that minimizes the distraction of subtitles. The relationships among the principals grow nicely, with touches of comic relief, mostly from Youssef) as counterpoint to the primary suspense tale. Flashbacks in the early episodes were a bit confusing, but wind up adding value and clarity to the product.

As usual for European cop series, the proceedings are less visceral, and more cerebral. Their physical confrontations are fewer and shorter, with the protagonists less likely to prevail. Either police over there get into fewer fist fights and shootouts than ours, or the viewers lack desire for our level of adrenaline spewing.

The five episodes deliver an entertaining experience, with an ending that satisfies, as is, but also  creating hope for more to come from our new friends. For those in the latter group, there’s good news, as well. These were made from 2015-19. I learned of two more airing earlier this year, which will allow us to continue rooting for this detecting duo whenever they cross The Pond.

THE FOX, in German with English subtitles, is now streaming on premium service mhzchoice.com

RATING: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars