'Vienna Blood's Penultimate Episode Explores "The Enemy Within"

This week on Vienna Blood, we get many illustrative examples that just because someone is paranoid doesn’t mean he’s wrong. Poor Oskar; it’s not enough that Max will be damn lucky to survive surgery following last week’s shooting. Nor is it enough for Oskar to torture himself thinking (incorrectly) he shot Max. Leah’s furiously whisper-shouts at the hospital have nothing on Oskar’s inner monologue.

Obviously, Oskar needs to fall victim to all the classic hallmarks of film noir. Start with being wrongly accused on circumstantial evidence of a murder he did not commit, go on the run from his former colleagues in the police department as the entire political establishment arrays itself against him, go undercover with what few friends stick by him, and finally, to maybe even be murdered himself. (Whew!) Despite the waking nightmare, Oskar keeps his wits about him. It’s nice to be reminded of how competent Oskar is – between his decades of experience as a detective and what he’s learned from working cases with Max, he’s got what it takes to get out of this pickle, so long as he survives a few more days.

The 24 hours von Bülow promises Oskar swiftly collapses when Oskar finds Therese’s husband’s corpse in her apartment and does the right thing by calling it in. I expect von Bülow to be pitifully credulous when faced with “evidence” such as “I heard men arguing! And one of them was…HIM!” from the neighbor; however, for the usually full-of-questions medical examiner to jump to suspicion of Oskar based on some untested fibers from under the victim’s nails that seem to match those in Oskar’s coat simply beggars belief.