MovieChat Forums > The Missing (2014) Discussion > Herr Herz (Spoiler S2 E8 finale)

Herr Herz (Spoiler S2 E8 finale)

posted 7 years ago by CobblersAwls
11 replies | jump to latest

Could just see that final scene between Mr. and Mrs. Herz coming...

When he was walking out of the prison and we saw her waiting there, I thought, he's going to look at her and simply turn away and go.

She believed he was guilty. She showed him that in previous scenes. So, the trust is gone. He cannot return to someone who thought him capable of that crime.

It was a moving epilogue to everybody else's ending--even though nobody we saw got a "happy" ending, at least some people had some restoration of life possible like Gemma, Alice, Matthew and Mr. and Mrs. Baptiste and Sophie's dad.

But for the woman who was at the heart of the Iraq story and all that fall out, she was not to have any kind of restoration. The ripple effect of her actions of which she is keenly aware is something she will always have to live with.

Nor was Mr. Herz getting anything but his freedom from incarceration in prison
--the truly innocent victim in this story.

He was to me the most tragic figure. His life has been ruined, he's lost his wife, probably his business.

And no matter how much he is vindicated, everybody will know he was a guy who spent time in prison for involvement with a minor girl and that will just stick to him the way people think about those things.

Very moving scene with Herz.

[–] ljones86-768-598858 7 years ago

But for the woman who was at the heart of the Iraq story and all that fall out, she was not to have any kind of restoration. The ripple effect of her actions of which she is keenly aware is something she will always have to live with.

I'm not quite sure what you are referring to. Was it her inaction in sending out a team to look for Gettrick? She herself admitted she was not the right person to be put in charge (that she was too young, too inexperienced and perhaps too messed up emotionally to be making the decisions). Granted, she should have followed procedure, but she can't be held responsible for Gettrick (and Reed's) paedophilia. If Gettrick hadn't been found in bed with a 13 year old girl, the father of the girl would not have been torturing him in the cellar in the first place.

Or maybe you're referring to something else?

I do agree with you about Herr Herz (who really touched my heart)! He always looked so innocent and his sad eyes conveyed the hopelessness he felt when his own wife thought him guilty. Not a big character in series 2 but one that will stay with me.

[–] aitchy168 7 years ago

Henry Reed was a Paedophile?!! Really?! Where are you getting that from or have I missed something?!

[–] pingu_fsjb 7 years ago

Only Gettrick was, Stone may have had sex with local women, certainly Reed wasn't from what I took things to be.

[–] aitchy168 7 years ago

Yes you were led to believe all three were paedophiles but only Garricks was in the end.

[–] aitchy168 7 years ago

Sorry Gettricks

[–] ljones86-768-598858 7 years ago

I think Stone was involved with more than just consorting with local women.

Gettrick blackmailed Stone into helping him get medical aid for Sophie due to a recording he had of a conversation they had had regarding what they got up to with 'girls' in Iraq. He also had a recording of a three way conversation he, Reed and Stone had regarding the house fire in Iraq (this was to get Reed to help with Sophie's medical problem). I really don't think Stone would have got involved in covering up such a serious crime, including giving a false DNA result if all Gettrick had on him was that he had been a womaniser 25 years ago.

Also, Stone was a widower so didn't have the worry of explaining any infidelity to his wife should he not go along with his plans, so what was his incentive to keep the recording secret? Even his own daughter was growing suspicious as to how much he was involved in Gettrick's predilections for young girls.

[–] Korios 7 years ago

What Gettrick had on Stone was the 9-year old girl being burnt alive incident, nothing else. They also talked about that, do you really find it unimportant? Why would Gettrick only blackmail Reed with the "house fire" and not Stone? I don't get your reasoning.. Why would Stone be in any way in the clear about that?
The "girls" of Stone that were mentioned were not implied to be minor and in case were irrelevant to the blackmail. So no, we have no evidence or even any hints that Stone was a paedophile.

Fanboy : a person who does not think while watching.

[–] ljones86-768-598858 7 years ago

Sorry, I meant Stone!

[–] CobblersAwls 7 years ago

I was not suggesting that Mrs. Herz did not have valid reasons for what happened in Iraq.

But she herself was clearly suffering from what happened and her role, whatever it was, was in the events that night in Iraq. She will find it difficult to have peace from all of that. Good people rarely blame others for what happens; she was troubled back in Iraq but she came off as a good person later, who takes things to heart.

And when I said she will get no restoration, I meant that she still sees herself as having a role in what happened that night in Iraq no matter how many factors there were. And of course she now lives with the idea that she believed her beloved husband would have done those things to the girls--for which he has rejected her.

She's got two things now to reconcile with. No peace for her for awhile if ever.

[–] sethman-50117 7 years ago

Agree OP. Nobody believed the poor bastard. Even the way his wife coldly handed in the camera BEFORE she talked to him. Great wife.

There is no way he could have forgiven her after that betrayal

[–] Korios 7 years ago

I completely agree, Herr Hertz's tragedy was largely overlooked. I really hope he gets a nice fat financial compensation for all the time he spent wrongly in prison. And, of course, a complete strike from his record, not just his conviction but even his arrest and charge.

Regarding his "involvement with a minor girl" that might stick with him, I think his best action would be to be "hostile" about it and write a book or something, perhaps along with a journalist who covered the kidnappings, detailing what he went through. Because the media might forget, but the internet and some people never do. Not in order to benefit from it but to completely clear his name. Put his story in front of the rumours. The more he remained secretive and private about it the more people would start talking and conjuring crazy theories.

Fanboy : a person who does not think while watching.