The Trap Recap Season 1 Episode 1 ‘The Monster’
For 10 years, Lisa Wilking, writing under the pseudonym Lisa Konrad, has been living in a mansion outside Munich, never once leaving the confines of her comfortable but trauma-filled prison. Her housekeeper Yuma brought her supplies and served as her connection to the outside world. Her therapist Dr. Anger was the only one who knew what kept her inside, the murder of her younger sister Anna and the guilt that never left her — of not coming home on time that night, of not being able to provide the police with a useable description of the murderer, whom she saw as he fled the apartment. Then, one night, she woke up, her service dog Bukowski beside her on her bed, the large tv in her room showing a press conference. The camera turned to the assembled press, and just like that, Lisa recognised the killer.
It’s a great hook, and the execution of the story, blending the past and the present, real life and the story Lisa had started writing, was confident. I watched this not in the original German but with English dubbing, and for a short time, I was a bit confused on whether what I was seeing on screen was real or inside Lisa’s imagination. That cleared up quickly, though, and I appreciated that the episode set up this narrative technique early, with Lisa’s Italian ‘vacation’.
As soon as she had a face and a profession, Lisa found the man easily enough. She started with the woman she saw him chatting with, Ellen Demir. She found Ellen’s LinkedIn profile and checked her contacts. There was journalist Robert Lenzen, who worked at The Guardian, then at The Münchener (he was married the publisher’s daughter Alexandra Faust until 2016), then as a freelance correspondent in the Middle East, and now as senior editor at the investigative desk at Reflekt Berlin. He was a chess player, a marathon runner, and he had a 12-year-old daughter.
Lisa instinctively called the man who handled Anna’s case from a decade ago, now Chief Detective Leon Weber, but he was not around. The detective who answered the phone figured out who Lisa was quickly enough, and told her that her colleague had explained to her many times that the investigation was closed. Thinking that the police would never believe her, she resolved to get Robert’s DNA.
But, how to get it? Lisa was a successful writer who has never given an interview, ever. She decided to write a crime novel based on Anna’s murder. She called her agent Pia and told her she had given herself a quick deadline, by June 30. She also said she would choose the journalist for the publicity interview. Her writing served as a gateway to the past, not quite flashbacks since these were the characters in her novel (Lisa became Sophie, an artist rather than a writer), and a roadmap to her plan to catch Robert.
Is it a farfetched idea? Sure. Do I like it anyway? Yes. There is a lightness of touch in the execution of this story that I appreciate, especially given the subject matter. As always, I don’t watch ahead so I have not seen the rest of this miniseries. However, based on the first episode alone, my verdict is, I’d add this to the streaming list this week.
Rating: B+
Strays
💻Lisa was at a psych ward following Anna’s death. When she got out, she chose a new name, picked a new publisher, and moved to the publisher’s mansion.
💻When she told her about seeing Anna’s murderer in the news, Lisa’s therapist offered to up her meds.
Episode Writer and Director: Isabel Kleefeld
Based on the novel by Melanie Raabe
Now streaming via Netflix