Kleo is a German action-thriller series that follows a former East German spy who heads out on a quest to seek revenge on those that betrayed her. The series is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Kleo is an eight episode show that is every bit eccentric, politically charged and action-packed as it can get.
The show follows Kleo, an ex- East German spy as she emerges from prison after being vilified by her own organisation, The Stasi, and the Democratic Republic of Germany. She tragically loses her unborn child, and heads out to seek revenge after spending two years within the prison walls.
A mysterious red suitcase and a need for revenge are what propels Kleo- both the show and the protagonist- forward.
She emerges outdoors just after the collapse of the Berlin wall and at the time of the German reunification, a time fraught with socio-economic, cultural and political changes- all of which serve as the background for the show.
Kleo was in a romantic relationship with Andi, a comrade at the organisation, who was also the father of the unborn child she lost while imprisoned.
As she walks out for the first time, she heads out to meet and confront her grandfather, who was among one of the people who testified against her.
Her grandfather tells her he was forced to turn her in, and she ends up shooting him and burying him by pouring concrete over his burial spot.
Kleo visits her ex-lover Andi, and his pregnant partner to unearth more information on her unjust imprisonment. He tells her it was Colonel Wieczorek who ordered her imprisonment, but he died while she was locked up.
She ends up on a trail to find more clues, and ends up killing the judge who convicted her. Soon enough, she finds a picture showing that Wieczorek was not dead, and had actually escaped to Mallorca.
She heads there and kills him, but not before getting intel on more individuals responsible for her situation. She keeps Andi updated on her every move, and he warns her that a former agent was tasked with keeping an eye on her too.
Simultaneously, Sven, a West German officer, starts to secretly investigate Kleo after identifying her picture from old records.
Alexander Belov, an associate working under Wieczorek, escapes and warns Min Sun, an agent under the Federal Intelligence about Kleo’s plan and actions.
Kleo now has multiple people and organisations tailing and following her every move. Sven and Min Sun also form an agreement to share information for their own benefits.
Everyone is after the red suitcase, and everyone around her is trying to ensure Kleo doesn’t get her hands on it.
It soon becomes clear that Kleo’s grandfather betrayed her to save her from her own assassination as she had killed someone who held a lot of power. She would have been dead if he had not testified against her.
Andi attempts to kill her and then later also attempts to divulge more information but is killed by Ramona, who was pretending to be his wife, before he can do any further harm.
Min Sun’s senior, Anne Gecke, who is also the Federal head, turns out to be a double agent on Kleo’s trail too.
After failed assassination attempts and action-packed chase sequences, the unlikely duo soon trace the red suitcase to an old acquaintance of Kleo’s, Jorge, in a location in Chile.
This marks the final chase as the pair go through flashbacks and piece together information to find the mysterious red suitcase and unearth its contents.
Kleo ending explained in detail:
Does Kleo finally get her hands on the red suitcase?
After a turbulent chase, Kleo does end up finding the red suitcase. Andi had informed her that it belonged to an East German official who attempted to transfer sensitive information to West Germany.
Otto, Anne, Ramona and Jorge were all involved in some capacity or the other in an attempt to take and protect the contents.
Sven and Kleo piece together information and end up finding the suitcase, just barely beating Ramona in the chase.
The suitcase is filled with sensitive documents on an agreement the United States President had formed with an East German official.
The documents held a struggle for power, with careful deliberation of socialist, communist and capitalist ideologies and a quest for allyship for each state’s own benefit.
An intense political and ideological battle was hidden within the contents of the documents, which is why Otto aimed to preserve the information and not let it go into suspicious hands.
What happens to the suitcase after Min Sun takes it?
Min Sun ends up taking possession of the suitcase due to the deal she had with Sven, and instead of handing it over to her organisation, she signs a pact with the United States forces for an undisclosed pact.
Min Sun realises that all officials work for their own advantage, and she felt no sense of loyalty to her country and workplace where she was not given the credit she deserved.
She does what benefits her most, and avoids any further political strife that could arise.
Does Kleo get to meet her mother?
Margot Honecker ends up sharing the location of Kleo’s birth mother, Brigitte, with her. Brigitte had run away to West Germany and did not approve of Kleo’s training.
Brigitte was against the values Otto and Kleo upheld, and thus refuses to talk to Kleo upon her visit.
She refuses to interact with a daughter who was trained to assassinate the people of the area she inhabited, which could have possibly included her too.
She thus refuses to meet Kleo, and returns back to her peaceful life.
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