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Relieved to see the more key harsher aspects of this kind of show weren't brushed over. I was wondering whether the reaction to Lise revealing what she'd done and what led up to it would invoke in people. On Reddit, they're certainly reacting on a more primal level and not taking the full story or not understanding the full picture. Somewhat understandable, I guess, but they've definitely not understood everything that led up to this.
Myself, I feel sympathy for Lise to a point. She was sent into an unimaginable hell by Axmann and being made into a sex slave just to survive is a pretty damn low point. At that point, sympathy exists. But when she then accepted killing innocents as a means to get to Theodor, that's when sympathy gives in to a solemn acceptance. At that point, Lise is effectively unable to be saved. She sees things in two ways - the Stasi and Theodor. Anything else gets in the way. To choose death over committing an atrocity clearly seems the moral thing to do - but when you put someone in that position, the choice is a very, very hard one to make and many wouldn't be willing to.
The idea that Pham was trying to treat her as a person worthy of empathy isn't possible for her anymore. The idea that Irisdina and Katia can defy what she was forced to cave into combined with Theodor pledging allegiance to their cause is the straw that broke the camel's back. The only thing Lise can comprehend within her final vestiges of sanity at this point is that Theodor is her only source of salvation - a fact Axmann has always been able to coerce Lise with. If anyone gets in the way of her only hope, they have to pay. A rational person wouldn't think that but Lise's rationale and morality have been sent into oblivion by the Stasi.
All that said, Pham - may your kind soul be in a better place. You were better than this hellhole of a place these people are stuck in. You deserved better.
My anger isn't greatest towards Lise, to be honest. I'm split between Axmann and Theodor as for who I'm truly angry with. Axmann has played people for fools yet again. The need for mechs is understandable, but surely they know Axmann will leave them to burn/be defiled like he does with everyone. There'd better be one heck of a reckoning coming his way, because damn, for what he's done to everyone, especially Lise - that bastard deserves it. But I'll admit he is one damn effective villain.
As for Theodor....seriously....do the right thing for once! Use some common sense and stop letting things escalate. But moreso, he wasn't anything of a (step)brother at all. Any real brother would have been more concerned/mindful of what could have happened to Lise in the hands of the Stasi over that much time. But heck, you're just glad she's alive but constantly mulling over the possibility of her being a spy. If you bothered to reach out to her at all before Axmann stirred the nest up in Episode 6, maybe you could have drawn it out of her. But no....you go and do the worst thing by sleeping with her and send the worst signals you possibly could. What the heck did he think Lise would do after he has sex with her then outright says 'Irisdina and nothing else.' When Lise turns....he acts like an empty husk. When Lise loses the plot and kills Pham...he does nothing. Instead of ending it, he just runs and cries after the fact. Sure, familial ties would cause great emotional conflict, but you said it yourself, Theodor. The Lise that was your sister is gone. But you didn't have the balls to put an end to her misery. If anything, everyone has perhaps been too soft on Theodor. Perhaps this is the thing that will haunt him forever and finally get him into shape. Because without the women of the 666th to be his backbone, he is so damn milquetoast thus far....
All of this said, Lise is a necessary edge for this title. I can't imagine Schwarzesmarken being much of anything without her. Sure, Irisdina is the admirable, self-sacrificing leader while Gretel is the brains and Katia is the spirit. But Lise represents what the uglier side of life and humanity can do to even the most innocent of people. She invokes some of the most, if not the most, powerful emotions. The fact that she has been corrupted and that no one can do anything about it is the thing that one can't forget. You want her to pay for what she has done yet you pity her because she was doomed from the moment the Stasi caught her.
But I'm not getting vicarious kicks from her at all and I would never want to. Lise exists to be a source of conflict and a reminder of what war and the vile part of humanity can do to other humans + warp them into. Lise is the necessary element to give that extra burning desire to see the 666th succeed/be invested in the rest of the journey because while the women in the 666th give decent reasons to be invested, Theodor sure as hell doesn't give any good reasons.
I would like to think before all is said and done that Lise gets a chance to show she isn't truly evil and that whatever damnation is hopefully coming Axmann's way, that Lise gets to give it to him and allow some of the 666th to survive.
But given the reaction to this episode here and across other places online, it's clear what a heck of an impact Lise has made on Schwarzesmarken. Other characters like Katia will probably go on to achieve something for the greater good. But to have someone who never had a chance to start losing it - that really does cause such a memorable impact, even if it was in such a dark way. It is much harder to make a character that ends up not being the likeable one but the despised one to cause such a reaction with an effect that will remain long after the show is finished.
I'm not forgetting that episode for a long while....damn....I have to hand it to the director. I know not everyone approves of what he cuts out from the source material, but he really does keep things at a good pace and how he re-arranged certain moments to have a bigger impact/be in a more meaningful sequence has turned out for the better most of the time. 12 episodes isn't much time to cover the core of this but he's done well.
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