''How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)'' is a German

coming-of-age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can ...

dark humor Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, or gallows humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discus ...

crime In ordinary language, a crime is an unlawful act punishable by a State (polity), state or other authority. The term ''crime'' does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition,Farmer, Lindsay: "Crime, definit ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aer ...

series co-created by Philipp Käßbohrer and Matthias Murmann. The first season, consisting of six episodes, was released on 31 May 2019, on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

. The series stars Maximilian Mundt,

Anna Lena Klenke Lena Klenke (born 25 December 1995) is a German actress. She is best known for her role as Lisa Novak in the 2019 Netflix series ''How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)''. Early life Klenke was educated at Carl-von-Ossietzky-Gymnasium and at Free ...

, Danilo Kamperidis, Damian Hardung, Luna Baptiste Schaller, Leonie Wesselow and

Bjarne Mädel Bjarne Mädel (born 12 March 1968) is a German actor based in Berlin. Biography Born in Hamburg, Mädel graduated from the Burggymnasium in Friedberg in der Wetterau. He studied theater studies and literature at the University of Erlangen and ...

. The second season premiered on Netflix on 21 July 2020. On 28 July 2020, Netflix renewed the series for a third season. It premiered on July 27, 2021. On 12 August 2022, for dwdl.de, creators Matthias Murmann and Philipp Käßbohrer said in an interview that Netflix gave the green light for a fourth season.

Overview

''How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)'' is set in fictional Rinseln,

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and told from the perspective of high-school outcast and nerd Moritz Zimmermann. The series follows Moritz and his friend Lenny Sander attempting to rekindle Moritz's love for ex-girlfriend Lisa Novak, through selling ecstasy online. Starting off as a small time business, it quickly spirals out of control and Moritz and Lenny learn to deal with the consequences of large scale drug trafficking. The series is inspired by a true story that took place in

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as wel ...

in 2015. Maximilian Schmidt, the inspiration for the television series, was sentenced to seven years in prison.

Cast and characters

* Maximilian Mundt as Moritz Zimmerman, a nerdy high school student and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of MyDrugs. His desire for power and control from MyDrugs causes as many failures for the group as successes. He acts as the narrator throughout the series, telling his story from within prison. *

as Lisa Novak, Moritz's ex-girlfriend. Her liking for ecstasy is the main catalyst in Moritz's plans to take her back. * Danilo Kamperidis as Lenny Sander, Moritz's best friend. An adept hacker and video game junkie, he becomes the CTO of MyDrugs. He is a wheelchair user as a result of

osteosarcoma An osteosarcoma (OS) or osteogenic sarcoma (OGS) (or simply bone cancer) is a cancerous tumor in a bone. Specifically, it is an aggressive malignant neoplasm that arises from primitive transformed cells of mesenchymal origin (and thus a sarcoma) a ...

. * Damian Hardung as Daniel Riffert, Lisa's presumptive boyfriend and typical high-school jock. Whilst a rival to Moritz early on, he later becomes a partner in MyDrugs. * Luna Baptiste Schaller as Gerda Schwerdfeger, one of Lisa's friends at school, who takes a liking to Moritz. * Leonie Wesselow as Fritzi Neuhaus, another one of Lisa's friends. *

as Jakob 'Buba' Otto (season 1), a small-time drug dealer who is the main source of ecstasy in Rinseln. He owns a local farm which is the centre of the Albanian gang present in Rinseln. He is the primary antagonist for Season 1. * Roland Riebeling as Jens Zimmermann, Moritz's father and a police officer. He is part of the investigation in stopping the drug situation in Rinseln and later on, MyDrugs. * Jolina Amely Trinks as Marie Zimmermann, Moritz's younger sister. The more social of the Zimmermann family, she has a moderate size following on Instagram. She is also an avid horse rider, riding at the stables owned by the Albanian gang. *

Jonathan Frakes Jonathan Scott Frakes (born August 19, 1952) is an American actor and director. He is best known for his portrayal of Commander William Riker in the television series '' Star Trek: The Next Generation'' and subsequent films and series. Frakes als ...

as Himself, reprising his part as host of the show '' Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction'' * Lena Urzendowsky as Milena 'Kira' Bechtholz (season 2–), Lenny's online girlfriend. In Season 2, she becomes part of Lenny's life and becomes infatuated with MyDrugs. * Maren Kroymann as Doro Otto (season 2-), Buba's mother and leader of the Albanian gang. * Langston Uibel as Joseph Kammerlander (season 3) * Erik Range, AKA

Gronkh Erik Range, also called Gronkh (born 10 April 1977 in Braunschweig, Germany), is a German YouTube personality, computer games developer, computer and video game journalist, musician and entrepreneur. Range marketed games through the company P ...

, as himself, a YouTuber in Season 3 Episode 3, playing Animal Crossing.

Episodes

Season 1 (2019)

Season 2 (2020)

Season 3 (2021)

Production

Development

On 25 October 2018, it was announced that Netflix had given the production a series order for a six-episode first season. The series is created by Philipp Käßbohrer and Matthias Murmann who will be credited as executive producers. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of bildundtonfabrik. On July 9, 2019, the series was renewed by Netflix for a second season, which was released on 21 July 2020. On 28 July 2020, Netflix renewed the series for a third season, which premiered on 27 July 2021. On 12 August 2022, for dwdl.de, creators Matthias Murmann and Philipp Käßbohrer announced that Netflix gave the green light for a fourth season.

Casting

Alongside the series order announcement, it was confirmed that Maximilian Mundt,

, Danilo Kamperidis, Damian Hardung, Luna Baptiste Schaller, Leonie Wesselow and Bjarne Mädel would star in the series. In June 2020, Lena Urzendowsky was cast in the role of Kira on the second season. On 28 July 2020, Langston Uibel was announced to have joined the third season's new main cast.

Filming

On 17 December 2018, Netflix announced that filming for the first season was completed. Principal photography for the second season took place on location in

Bonn The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr r ...

, Germany in 2019. Filming for the third season took place on location in

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

, Germany in 2020.

Premiere

On 6 April 2019, the series held its official premiere with the screening of the first two episodes at the Cannes International Series Festival in

Cannes Cannes ( , , ; oc, Canas) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions I ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

Release

Marketing

On 6 April 2019, the teaser trailer for the series was released. On 17 May 2019, the official trailer for the series was released by Netflix. On 23 June 2020, the official trailer for the second season was released. On 6 July 2021, the official trailer for the third season was released.

Spin-offs

On August 3, 2022, Netflix released ''Buba'', a spin-off film for the character of the same name.

References

External links

* * {{Netflix original series 2010s comedy-drama television series 2010s German television series 2010s black comedy television series 2010s high school television series 2019 German television series debuts 2020s comedy-drama television series 2020s German television series 2020s high school television series 2020s black comedy television series Cultural depictions of chemists German comedy-drama television series German-language Netflix original programming Grimme-Preis for fiction winners Television series about teenagers Television series about illegal drug trade Television shows set in North Rhine-Westphalia