Television Review: Elektrana (Povratak otpisanih, S1X11, 1978)

Elektrana (S01E11)

Airdate: 12 March 1978

Written by: Dragan Marković
Directed by: Aleksandar Đorđević

Running Time: 55 minutes

In our modern world, where the flick of a switch brings light and the turn of a tap delivers clean water, we are rarely confronted with the fragility of the civilian infrastructure that underpins our civilisation. The most recent conflicts have brutally reminded us that the destruction of power grids, water supplies, and communication networks could result in a societal catastrophe, capable of reducing urban life to a desperate, primitive struggle for survival. Roughly half a century ago, this unpleasant truth served as the urgent backdrop for the latter episodes of the cult Yugoslav television series Povratak otpisanih (The Written-Off Return), where the protagonists' missions shifted from direct sabotage to a desperate race to preserve Belgrade's vital organs from a retreating, vengeful enemy. Following Vodovod, an episode dedicated to saving the city's water supply, the instalment titled Elektrana ("The Power Plant") deals with a similar, equally critical action. While it delivers the series' trademark suspense and spectacular action, a closer examination reveals an episode that, for all its technical competence, feels strangely like a celebratory diversion—a well-produced piece of fan service that softens the war's grim edges at the precise moment they should be sharpest.

The episode opens on 13 October 1944, with what is arguably the most expensive and ambitious shot of the entire series. A large column of Partisans, accompanied by Soviet Ttanks, advances along a road towards the capital. The scale is impressive for a television production of its time, effectively conveying the weight of the approaching liberation army. A voice-over reads official communiqués about the front-line situation, grounding the personal drama in the larger historical narrative. This grand prologue, however, creates a tonal dissonance that lingers. The war feels already won, the outcome assured, which inadvertently undermines the tension of the central mission. If the Red Army and Partisan forces are at the gates, how critical can a single power plant be? The script attempts to answer this by having Prle and Tihi receive orders to prevent the Germans from demolishing the city's main electrical source. Tihi astutely notes the increased difficulty, observing that Major Krieger and the Gestapo "won’t allow themselves to be caught off guard like they were during the raid on the waterworks." This line of dialogue promises a heightened game of cat-and-mouse, a promise that the episode ultimately fails to keep, as the Major Krieger is conspicuously absent, leaving the antagonists as a faceless garrison.

The operational planning showcases the series' strengths in procedural detail. Tihi's reconnaissance confirms the plant is heavily fortified, with the only viable approach being from the river, demanding a silent, nocturnal infiltration. The mission's perceived difficulty is such that the Partisan commander Milan dispatches two of his best men—Španac (the "Spaniard," played with roguish charm by Ljubiša Samardžić) and Pavle (Mihajlo Kostić), both veterans of the Spanish Civil War—to cross the lines and reinforce the group. The plan hinges on two internal elements: expertise and weapons. The need for an explosives expert is solved by Mrki recruiting the engineer Damjanović (Toma Jovanović), who infiltrates the plant as a worker and not only identifies the demolition charges but smuggles out explosives to be used as improvised grenades. The need for arms is resolved through one of the episode's most poignant subplots, involving the German supply soldier Johann (a beautifully understated Slobodan Perović). Nicknamed "Johann the Cow" for his habit of delivering milk to local children, Johann is a portrait of war-weariness and simple humanity. Faced with the impending retreat and unable to bear leaving the community he has come to love, he decides to desert. In exchange for civilian clothes, he agrees to smuggle weapons into the plant for the resistance workers. This narrative strand is emotionally effective but veers into sentimentality, framing a German soldier's defection not as a political or moral awakening, but as a familial attachment, softening the harsh reality of collaboration and conflict.

The execution of the raid is, without doubt, a well-crafted set-piece. The silent elimination of sentries, the tense infiltration, and the eventual eruption of combat are edited with a crisp pace. The workers' uprising adds a populist dimension, and the climax—where Španac and Pavle commandeer a locomotive to overrun the final German positions—is a genuinely spectacular and cinematic moment. The raising of the red flag over the secured plant provides the requisite ideological and emotional victory. Yet, herein lies the core criticism of Elektrana: it adheres too comfortably to a formulaic triumph. The episode possesses a strange "feel-good" aura, a celebratory vibe that at times makes it resemble a festive special more than a gritty wartime thriller. The stakes, while nominally high, never feel perilously personal, as the overarching narrative of imminent liberation acts as a safety net.

This celebratory tone is amplified by deliberate, and somewhat distracting, fan service. The most obvious nod to the audience is the formal confirmation of the romantic relationship between the iconic characters Tihi and Marija. In a scene before the raid, Marija pointedly tells Prle to take particular care of Tihi. Later, Tihi meets with their commander Stana and requests that Marija be withdrawn from all activities, as her work will be over in days anyway. Stana's smiling response, "I'll be the maid of honour," is a direct, winking confirmation to the viewers, delighting the more romantically-inclined fans but feeling tonally disjointed from the life-or-death mission at hand.

Further casting choices reinforce this sense of a series pausing to celebrate itself and its cultural context. The appearance of Ljubiša Samardžić, one of Yugoslav cinema's biggest stars, as the wisecracking Španac injects star power and easy camaraderie but little narrative necessity. Similarly, the cameo by Jovan Janićijević—immensely popular from the comedy series Muzikanti—as the grandfather of a little girl, serves primarily to anchor Johann's sentimental subplot. The scene where the girl persuades Johann to risk returning to his post to retrieve a cake for her is saccharine to the point of absurdity, ending on an "extremely happy and upbeat note" that belongs to a different genre. Even the reappearance of Žarko Radić, who played the doomed Boban in the prequel series Otpisani, here as the worker Paja who also dies, feels like a nostalgic callback rather than an organic plot point.

The most tragically resonant piece of casting is Slobodan Perović as Johann. A renowned actor famous for roles like the unfortunate photographer in the classic film Three, Perović brings a profound depth of sadness and dignity to his deserter. The performance is moving in its own right, but knowledge of the actor's death just months after the episode's premiere casts a melancholy, unintended shadow over his scenes, elevating them above the surrounding levity.

In the end, Elektrana is an entertaining, professionally executed episode of television. Its action sequences are thrilling, its production values high for its time, and it successfully advances the series' overarching liberation narrative. However, it ultimately functions as a narrative "filler." The absence of a compelling villain like Major Krieger leaves a vacuum filled by generic German soldiers and sentimental subplots. By leaning heavily into celebratory fan service, romantic confirmation, and star cameos, it chooses camaraderie and nostalgia over sustained tension and moral complexity. At the precise historical moment depicting the chaotic, brutal endgame of an occupation, Elektrana offers a surprisingly comforting, almost festive, interlude.

RATING: 6/10 (++)

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