The Witnesses (2021– ) User Reviews

Ludicrous

[laduqesa · 3/10 · 31 October 2021]

It sounded fascinating, a series of eight episodes, crisply done in 25 minutes each with one witness to the kidnapping per episode and then, presumably, a solution at the end.

Instead we got Dr Jasmin Braun who betrayed her professional and personal ethics to assist directly in this police investigation instead of evaluating the evidence.

In her first foray over the eight episodes into interrogation, she seemed to posses almost Bene Gesserit powers. Witnesses crumpled before her incisiveness, memories were awakened, false ones implanted, supposed truths arrived at.

And then the denouement! Utterly risible. I don't want to get into spoilers, but that all this was set up and masterminded by someone who wanted revenge (and got it) was absurd. The identity of the original perp was not guessable at all as they were dropped into the plot at the last moment. So there was no pleasure to be had by playing detective in front of the TV set.

I was extremely disappointed. This could have been so good, but the memory jogging angle was not plausible. Nor was the storyline. If I'd known, i wouldn't have bothered. Let this be a warning to others not to.

It WAS Fascinating

[shoshanim · 8/10 · 16 November 2021]

Thought this was a very interesting angle on trying to solve a case. Witness testimony is always fraught with error, misinterpretation, bias, etc.

The show was kind of like an Agatha Christie cast of potential suspects being examined via their memories of the crime they had supposedly witness.

Acting was very good. Interesting premise with a bit of a twist at the end. I would recommend it.

Disasterous from minute 1 to the end. Don't waste your time on this.

[maria-ricci-1983 · 3/10 · 14 November 2021]

Everything is wrong in this production: the psychological premises and "expert" scientific behaviour, the investigative and procedural work by the police, the justification for the character's actions, the culprits' characterization which is absolute inconsistent with the skills involved in the criminal plan design and execution, the presumptuous complexity of the whole thing, which is laughable and unbelievable even if you want to be a complacent viewer and give it a fair chance.

So I regret having lost a few hours of my leisure time with this cheap, nonsensical production.

If you really are a fan of crime and police genre, you will in all likelihood find no value or merit in this show, and my advice is to let it go and search for a better title.

Very unexpected

[zaenkney · 8/10 · 29 November 2021]

I thoroughly enjoyed this psychological thriller. My education is in Behavioral Sciences and while I'm not familiar with the methods used in this mystery/thriller, I was intrigued and in this day and age, I am surprised by that. There were red herrings (or were they?) that kept me engaged. If you are one who wants a certain outcome, you might be dissappointed. This had a little of both. Definitely one of the better series out there and the psycho-babble, of which some commenters refer to, is not so bad as it could have been. In fact, it was necessary to the plot (as is some bad language in other works and we put up with it). In fact, for me it helped a bit to advance the storyline.

We are all human, with human frailties (eeeeeeYup!), so sit back, close your eyes and go with the flow. My best to you all. Katie.

Don't waste your time

[ikanboy · 4/10 · 18 November 2021]

Lasted 20 minutes. The psychobabble drove me nuts. Why do we always have to put up with "Psychologists" with super human intuition and insight? And this one can't stop showing how much she knows, after telling us she shouldn't be doing what she's doing over and over again.

Riveting, atmospheric, economic thriller

[gridoon2024 · 8/10 · 18 March 2023]

This 8-episode mini-series is a model of German efficiency: it comes, it does its job (well), it leaves. Each episode lasts about 25 minutes; many series could learn a lot from this economy. Be prepared, though: it is an almost exclusively dialogue-driven show, so if you're looking for physical action, forget it. It is basically a series of one-on-one interviews, and thankfully there is enough variety in the witnesses to keep things interesting. Alexandra Maria Lara is perfectly cast as the "memorologist" with an icy, all-business exterior and a vulnerable interior; she also projects the required intelligence for the role. There is a smart, and subtle, clue as to the identity of the most crucial "witness" - notice the color of each name as they appear on the screen across all episodes. 8/10.