Unfamiliar: Spy vs. Spy in Berlin, with a Mongolian guy, a gay oldster, Kramer's d*ck and the drag boy grown up

 

Link to the n*de photos

Unfamiliar (2026) just dropped on Netflix.  You can tell by the random one-word title that has no connection to the story: it's about spies.  It stars Aaron Altaras, who I just profiled, and Felix Kramer, who plays a gay guy in Dogs of Berlin, so I'll give it a try.

Prologue: A man (Aaron Altaras) walks through a graffiti-strewn bad neighborhood of Berlin, by the Spittelmarkt Square, digs a microchip out of his stomach, and shoots himself in the leg.

Scene 1:  In a fancy restaurant kitchen, a Chef (Felix Kramer) and his assistants are cooking.  Meanwhile, a teenager girl opens a present and her Mom smiles.  A banner says "Happy Birthday" in English.

When the meal is done, the Chief and his assistant Yul bring it in...wait, the apartment is right off the restaurant kitchen?   Chef gives a speech about how he grew up over his dad's restaurant, then became a doctor.  So are you a chef or a doctor?

Uh-oh, a phone call.  The guy from the prologue says that he's been shot and stabbed, so he need medical and transport to a safe house.  Hey, you gave those wounds to yourself!

Chef grabs Mom, and they pick up the guy in their van (which is equipped with ambulance supplies) and drive him to a nondescript building. 

Left: Yul is played by Anand Batbileg Chuluunbataar, which sounds Mongolian.  He has nine acting credits on the IMDB.

Scene 2:  In the safe house, Mom complains that she can't find the guy online. No face recognition, no nothing.  His story doesn't check out either, and he won't tell them who his handler is. 

They discuss whether to believe his story, and then whether their daughter is old enough to go out to the clubs by herself tonight (it's still the night of her birthday dinner).

 "She isn't alone -- Yul is with her."  The guy who was helping Dad cook.  Is he a servant or a boyfriend?

Scene 3:At German Foreign Intelligence Headquarters, the Boss (Laurence Rupp)  asks for intel on both key players. 

Vera Koleev is set to become the Russian ambassador to Germany, although she has no diplomatic experience.  They think she is just a cover for her husband Josef's espionage activity.  But the German higher-ups need evidence to have them deported.  

An old acquaintance is coming in to help them gather the evidence.

Cue a shoe getting out of a car.  I figured it would be the Chef, but it's Grigor Klein (Henry Hübchen), their former Department Head. He looks at surveillance footage of Josef Koleev, the suspected spy, at a Berlin bus station half an hour ago.  He was scheduled to come in legally in a few weeks anyway, so why sneak in now?  Grigor has no idea.

Laurence Rupp's backside on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends

Scene 4: At the safe house, Mom interrogates the wounded agent.  He explains that he worked for a high-end security firm, and stole something.  They objected, and shot him.  Now he needs to vanish. 

Why did he call Chef?   "A lady I knew needed to vanish once, and she told me about your service."

They flirt with each other.  Or else Mom is flirting with him to gain his trust.

She feeds him.  "This food is good.  Did you or your brother make it?"

This surprises Mom, so she makes an excuse to leave the room, and calls Chef: "He thinks we're brother and sister.  The last time we played siblings was on the mission to Belarus 16 years ago!"

Meanwhile, the Agent grabs her fingerprints off her water glass. She watches the action on her spycam. 

Scene 6: The mission to Belarus, 16 years ago.  They enter a farmhouse, but Russian Spy Josef (Samuel Finzi, left) is gone, and everyone is dead except Grigor, who was shot in the stomach. They manage to save Grigor -- and the baby of a pregnant dead woman, whom they adopt.  It's their daughter, who is going out to the clubs to celebrate her sixteenth birthday!

Back to the present: Mom tells Chef that she'll interrogate the Agent to find out who he's working for, but meanwhile their daughter is in danger.  "Go find her and bring her home."

"But she's not answering her phone, and I don't know which club she's going to"  So use your spy skills.

More after the break

Scene 7: Grigor the Former Department head is at a food truck, Curry Eck (Curry, Etc.), with the lady who rode up the elevator with them.  She asks about him and  Russian Spy Josef.

"Nothing to tell.  I could never catch him."

"Are you sure that's all?" She asks with a grin.  What are you implying, girlfriend?

"That's not the dirt you're looking for."  Hey, that's too subtle.  90% of viewers won't catch that she's asking about a gay romance between the two spies, and Grigor is denying it.  He's certainly gay, though.

Scene 8: Josef the Russian spy is picked up by his associate, Jonas (Andreas Pietschmann, left), and tells us everything:  He's the one who sent the Agent.  As soon as their identities are confirmed, he'll order Chef and Mom killed.  "Oh, and kill Grigor the Former Department Head, too."  Aww, you're holding a grudge against your ex.

Mom pretends that she has to go away for a little while.  The Agent seizes the opportunity to sneak into the surveillance room and sends the fingerprint he took to Associate Jonas.  Mom is watching all of this, of course.

It's a match.  That's the woman they're looking for!  They identify her "brother," too, and Russian Spy Josef sends the kill order.   It literally says "Kill order.  Exterminate them both."  What kind of spy sends such a blatant message?

Mom floods the surveillance room with gas to knock out the Agent.

Scene 9: Grigor is hanging out with his spy buds, openly discussing their favorite top-secret cases (in public?), when he notices an assassin.  He ducks out.  She sends a message: "Grigor got away."  You gave up after one attempt?  What kind of assassin are you?

Cut to the Chef (d*ck on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends), wandering the streets of Berlin, trying to figure out where his daughter is.  Suddenly he hears a high-pitched sound and collapses.  Was he just assassinated?

Cut to Russian Spy Josef,  who isn't happy with the inept way his Associate  is handling the case. 

 "You're fired!"  

"Good!"

Scene 10: Mom has the Agent tied up-- badly.  What kind of spy are you?  She wants to know if her daughter is in danger.

"No, the people who hired me to kill you didn't mention a daughter. Just you and your brother."

"So who hired you?"

He won't say.  Why not?  You've blabbed everything else.

While she is rummaging through her torture equipment, he breaks free.  They fight, and he is killed.  Don't worry, he appears in Episode 2.

Scene 11: We see the woman in charge of the whole assassination scheme.  It's the one Grigor was having dinner with at the curry truck!

This turns out to be a misdirection, and the Chef's collapse is just a tease, but I'm out of space.

Beefcake: None in this episode.

Other Sights: Some Berlin exteriors, including a boat trip down the River Spree near the Oberbaum Bridge.

Heterosexism:  The daughter and Yul are dating.  Chef and Mom don't seem to like each other, but in later episodes they both have love affairs.

Gay Characters: Grigor, probably.  The woman eating with him at the curry truck has an ex-girlfriend.  They both turn out to be important. 

Maybe the Agent, too?

My Grade:  It's hard to keep track of all of the elderly men, when each is introduced as much more important and/or dangerous than the last.  These are the most inept spies I've ever seen outside of Get Smart.  And are there really so many spies who need to disappear that the couple can make money from a their safe house/hospital side gig?  But  I liked the gay implication with Grigor, and the Mongolian assistant is cute.  C+.

Update: Felix Kramer's character in Dogs of War, homicide detective Grimmer, was straight.  But his partner, played by Fahri Yardim, was gay.

See also: Aaron Altaras: Drag boy, gay soccer player, lots of Jewish teenagers, spy. With his backside, his boyfriend's d*ck, and Euphoria

Gemstones Episode 4.6: Kelvin cruises Anakin Skywalker, Corey smashes, and Cobb get his cobb bit off With some nude Mongolian dudes

Studs from the Steppes: Twelve Mongolian musclemen, Uzbek boyfriends, and Kyrgyz c*cks

Bumper in Berlin Episode 1.1: Bumper from "Pitch Perfect" sings, meets a hunk, and doesn't get The Girl. Plus Morris Bleibtreu's backside

Daryl Sabara: Juni grows up, fights cannibals, bikers, and Satanists, and shows his d*ck, but I'm still depressed