We Children From Bahnhof Zoo – Season 1 Episode 4 Recap & Review

Letters

Episode 4 of We Children from Bahnhof Zoo begins with Christiane having a bad dream. When she awakens, she finds the whole room shaking. She rushes into her Mother’s room but finds her in bed with Milos.

Kicking and screaming, Stella is brought back home by the police. Pauly is there too, and Stella tells her Mother to question him over why she’s acting like this. Now Nita realizes exactly what’s happened. She kicks Pauly out the bar and embraces her daughter, sobbing.

That evening, Christiane arrives at SOUND with the others. Benno knows she’s been doing drugs but a raid sees the kids forced to line up. The police search each of the kids, but as Christiane walks out Benno gives her a big kiss, passing the drugs over.

In the morning, after a night of taking drugs, Benno starts to lose control and finds himself desperate for a shot. After taking a dose, he heads over to see his Father with Christiane. Only, he’s obviously struggling.

He takes an old war emblem from his Dad’s place and shows up at Azxel’s work. Given his boss is a big fan of memorabilia, they intend to sell it to him. This gives them a nice stack of cash…which they immediately spend on heroin.

The tearaways eventually end up at Axel’s that night, where Christiane experiences visions of a strange horse – and of being strangled by Michi too. In the morning she’s oaky, but briefly talks to Benno about his experiences at Frank’s party. With him used to do sexual favours for other men, this very intimate scene is interrupted by Benno deciding to kiss Christiane – which seems like a clear defense mechanism.

Back home, Babsi finds herself forced to go to a clinic, courtesy of her Grandmother. She refuses to go though and instead, heads back to the club in search for her DJ. Instead, she finds the barman and some drugs. As she snorts a line, Babsi lets the bed consume her as she experiences more visions.

At school the next day, Christiane questions her teacher over what causes an earthquake. After class, she runs into Stella who decides to turn away from Christiane and the life of drugs, determined to help her Mum and pass school instead. Stella seems determined to sort herself out. Christiane however, finds himself falling further into Benno’s arms.

Time away at Eisfelden with her grandparents could be just what Christiane needs. Unfortunately, her horse Gabi is in heat and has run away. This leaves her all on her own.

Axel finds himself struggling with his feelings, sending a letter to Christiane with his thoughts and how he loves her. Only, he does so with invisible ink with the hope that she’ll be smart enough to figure this out.

Four episodes in and now we finally start to see some of the consequences for these kids’ actions. Babsi throws up outside the club, Christiane passes out and is rushed to hospital, while Benno continues to slip. While Christiane recovers in hospital, Robert rings from Thailand and checks in on her. It’s a brief call, especially given how much it costs, but one that confirms he’s doing okay.

Back home, Stella’s world comes crashing down when her Mother starts drinking again. Even worse, she has let Pauly back in despite what he did to her. Nati brushes it off, claiming it was a “misunderstanding” which completely breaks Stella. Angry and betrayed, she heads back over to Gunther’s to stay. Only, Babsi is there too and she’s now moved in.

Christiane heads back home and finds Benno stepping out of a random car. She’s not happy with him given he didn’t write when he promised it would. Dark rings under Benno’s eyes show the influence these drugs are having on the boy. Christiane turns and walks away, eventually returning home. When she sits at the table, Karin confirms that Benno actually rang the house a few times while she was gone.

Christiane heads into SOUND, desperate to find Benno. Realizing that he’s back at Frank’s, Christiane heads in and begins looking around. There, she finds Benno on the bed. He refuses to leave, screaming at Christiane to leave.

The Episode Review

One of the biggest criticisms with this show comes from its positive spin on drug taking. Don’t get me wrong, the feeling of taking these stimulants can be amazing and lead to some absolutely unforgettable nights. However, the lack of negative side-effects have been a real deterrent so far. There’s no comedowns, no sore jaws from gurning all night and certainly no discoloration in the face either.

However, this episode at least tries to address that with Benno spiraling out of control and Babsi throwing up. Aside from a trip to the hospital, Christiane hasn’t actually been affected that badly by the heroin – so far. She certainly isn’t erratic and jittery like Benno was but there’s still time for that to change.

The biggest problem here though comes from the age of these kids. We Children from Bahnhof Zoo really suffers when you realize how young these kids actually are.

Given they’re 13, the entire story has a pretty icky undertone and that’s made worse by the way this show almost glamorizes drugs. Although there are some negative side effects shown now, it remains to be seen whether that will step it up a gear for the remaining episodes.