4000 A Month
Episode 5 of We Children from Bahnhof Zoo begins with Benno deciding to join Christiane outside after all. Together, they start doing heroin in the park, eventually having sex right there in the field. As night turns to day Christiane finds herself struggling to concentrate in class. Now we start to see the toll this heroin addiction is having. Christiane hurries out of class and vomits in the flowerpot. Christiane struggles to find Benno, but as she looks around he can only find Michi. He grabs her round the neck and tells her to get lost. Only, this seems to be a vision, paving way to one of Benno’s “customers” (stuttering Max) to ask if she’s seen Benno. She hasn’t, as it turns out, but the prospect of scoring some heroin is too great for her. She takes Benno’s place and heads in to his apartment. There, he encourages her to whip him hard across the back. When Benno eventually shows up, he’s angry and frustrated. At SOUND, Stella and Christiane fall out over their drug taking. Christiane eventually finds herself stuck in the middle of a big fight as Benno and Matze trade blows on the dancefloor. The latter is not happy that he and Christiane are an item. Christiane however, kisses Benno in front of Matze. As night turns to day, Christiane awakens and starts frantically looking for a shot. She’s in Axel’s apartment, as it turns out, and he agrees to help her out. He admits to her that she’s his only weakness, which freaks out Christiane and sees her hurry out the door back home. Gunther’s birthday party goes ahead, full of these young teenage girls. While Gunther entertains the girls, Stella and Christiane talk about the latter’s addiction. In fact, Christiane decides to stand on the street corner and play up her role as a hooker, desperate to score drugs any way she can. As she steps in a car with a random guy, Benno charges up and tells her not to do this. It’s too late. After giving the guy a handjob, Christiane heads back home but finds herself rigorously scrubbing her hand in disgust. When Benno heads over and hears what happened, he tries to stop Christiane from doing this again. She’s too far gone though and begins rationalizing this job, determined to hustle her way into making loads of money. Benno is not happy and decides to leave. A drugged up Christiane shows up at SOUND the next evening and continues to dance away. Unfortunately she also dances away her prospects of a good education too, as she heads into her exam the following day. She ignores the test questions and begins adding up her funds along the blank column. Eventually she walks out of class and decides to pursue this shady line of business. Back at Gunther’s, things take a turn for the worst when Gunther notices that Stella and Babsi have money lined up across the table along with drugs. Gunther is irate, believing they’ve been selling themselves out. Babsi eventually stabs Gunther in the neck, high-tailing it out with Stella. However, this also leaves them with little other choice but to join Christiane on the street. Babsi and Stella reconvene with their friend as they begin selling themselves. Later that day though, Robert returns from Thailand here he talks to his daughter about selling his Porsche to buy a plane ticket for his new girlfriend Lamai. Christiane is not happy, calling the girl a whore. Robert lashes out, striking his daughter across the face and warning her not to be so rude. Thanks to Christiane’s antics, Karin is brought into school where the teachers confirm her absences. Unfortunately they go one step further and confirm the damning truth that Christiane has been taking drugs. Karin is obviously shocked and in denial. Unfortunately things take a turn for the worst when Christiane finds out that Matze has died from a heroin overdose. Distraught and shocked, Christiane returns home to find her Mother sitting, waiting for her. Karin asks her outright if she’s taking drugs. Christiane however, shuts her bedroom door and begins shooting up. With a needle in her arm, Milo kicks the door in and immediately grabs Christiane, as Karin scrambles to phone the police.
The Episode Review
With the kids forced into prostitution thanks to their drug addiction, We Children from Bahnhof Zoo takes such a bizarre stylistic approach to this by almost glamorizing the profession. The music, bright outfits and constant laughter and smiles from the girls makes for a pretty uneasy watch. In fact, I don’t know who was responsible for the drug advising on this show but seeing heroin addiction and selling one’s body as something stylish and hip feels in pretty bad taste. At least, that’s how I’ve interpreted it anyway. Do you guys feel the same way? Let us know in the comments! Unlike a show like Euphoria, We Children from Bahnhof Zoo doesn’t effectively balance drug taking in a way that actually rings through as a cautionary tale. Instead, what we’re left with is a series that feels like a pale imitation of the book it’s based on. With that shock ending though, hopefully this series will start to dive into darker territory with a more chilling undertone for the episodes ahead.
