THE PALACE - Eps 5

THE PALACE - Eps 5

In the Pankow apartment house, the grandparents, the mother and her daughters all get together. Rosa tells her view of that time. She describes how Roland sent her an escape agent who wanted to take her and Chris through the sewage system to West Berlin and from there by plane to Bavaria. An unbelievable proposal that Rosa rejected.
Rosa is overjoyed to finally be reunited with both daughters. The grandfather begs Chris and Marlene never to exchange passports again. The two promise him that they won’t.

Chris learns from Marlene what has happened in her absence. Both that Georg had to leave the country forever and is now never allowed to enter the GDR again - and that Chris has lost her solo position because Marlene behaved strangely and started a fight.
There also is trouble at the Friedrichtstadt-Palast. The government is intervening because they give many millions each year to the Palace and a revue titled "Dream Visions" is being staged there - under the choreography of a star from the West. They accuse the director and the Palace of moving away from the principles of the socialist state and the ideals of the working class. They threaten to stop the rehearsals.

In Bamberg, Marlene says goodbye to her family and moves to West Berlin to live near her mother and sister. With her West German passport, she can travel back and forth between East and West Berlin as she pleases.

Chris is fighting for her solo position. Bettina Wilke has already danced her way into Steven Williams' heart: the choreographer and the young dancer have begun an affair. Bettina is in love and hopes that Williams will take her to England and that she can make a career in the West.

A delegation from the Ministry of Culture comes to the Palace to stop the rehearsals. But the ensemble sticks together and puts on a performance that the comrades cannot help but love. Chris, in particular, takes the opportunity to show off her skills. Gritting their teeth, the comrades give the green light. Chris has finally convinced Williams. She gets her solo dance back, so she will dance together with Bettina as the star of the show. The two competitors now work together.

Marlene meets Georg in West Berlin. He does not yet feel at home in the West, so she tries to console him. Marlene tells Chris about Georg’s misery. Chris immediately decides to go to West Berlin with Marlene's passport to meet Georg there. Marlene will take care of Lilia in East Berlin.

Again, Chris crosses the border with Marlene's passport. Georg is waiting for her filled with joy. It doesn't take long before they finally confess their feelings to each other, having held them back for years. While Chris and Georg experience their first night together in West Berlin, Marlene and Alexander, Lilia's father, get to know each other in East Berlin.

That night, the artistic director of the Friedrichstadt-Palast, who held a protective hand over the ensemble and the house for decades, dies. An era comes to an end.