If you’ve been watching the German crime drama Luna and Sophie—known as SOKO Potsdam back in its homeland—you know it’s basically the TV equivalent of comfort food. It’s got that picturesque Potsdam backdrop, a duo that actually likes each other, and cases that don't usually leave you needing a night light. But lately, fans are hitting a wall. You tune in for Season 4 or look ahead to Season 5, and suddenly, the people on your screen aren't the people you started this journey with.
The Luna and Sophie cast has undergone a series of shifts so massive they eventually had to change the show's international title. It’s jarring. One minute you’re watching Luna Kunath and Sophie Pohlmann navigate their polar-opposite lives, and the next, you're looking at a completely different squad. Honestly, keeping track of who is still in the precinct and who "got promoted" to another city is a full-time job.
The Original Duo: Caroline Erikson and Katrin Jaehne
For the first three seasons, the show lived and breathed through the chemistry of Caroline Erikson (Luna) and Katrin Jaehne (Sophie).
Luna was the single, sporty, somewhat impulsive one who lived on a houseboat. Sophie was the grounded, married mother trying to balance a family with the chaos of the Potsdam murder commission. It worked. Caroline Erikson brought this specific energy to Luna—assertive and fast, but with a streak of naivety that occasionally got her into hot water. Katrin Jaehne’s Sophie was the anchor.
But then, the departures started.
Katrin Jaehne was the first major pillar to exit. She left the series after 33 episodes. If you're watching the international version on PBS or Walter Presents, this is where the "Sophie" part of Luna and Sophie technically ends, even if the title stuck around for a bit longer out of pure brand recognition.
The Great Season 4 Shake-up
Season 4 is where things get truly chaotic for the "Luna and Sophie cast" purists. Katrin Jaehne was already gone, replaced by Anja Pahl, who plays Tamara Meurer. Tamara is great—she’s a chief inspector with a different, perhaps more hardened edge—but she isn't Sophie.
Then, just four episodes into Season 4, the show took a hatchet to the rest of the original lineup. Omar El-Saeidi (who played David Grünbaum) and Hendrik von Bültzingslöwen (the quirky Christoph Westermann) both exited the show in the same breath. The writers handled it with the classic "simultaneous promotion" trope. It’s the easiest way to write someone out without killing them, but for the viewers, it felt like the precinct was suddenly empty.
Who is left in the Potsdam Precinct?
While the revolving door of inspectors keeps spinning, there are a few familiar faces that have actually stuck it out.
- Michael Lott as Bernhard Henschel: The boss. He’s the Criminal Council (Kriminalrat) and has been the steady hand since the very first episode in 2018. He provides that much-needed continuity when the lead detectives are changing every other year.
- Yung Ngo as Thomas Brandner: The forensics expert. Thomas is easily a fan favorite. Yung Ngo plays him with a precision that makes the lab scenes actually interesting rather than just exposition dumps.
- Bernd Stegemann as Werner Vense: The medical examiner. You can’t have a SOKO show without a reliable coroner, and Stegemann has stayed in the morgue since day one.
The New Blood
By the time the show transitions into what Walter Presents calls Partners in Crime: Potsdam Homicide (which is effectively Season 5 and beyond), the roster looks completely different:
📖 Related: Death of Leonard Nimoy: The Truth About His Final Days and That Iconic Goodbye
- Agnes Decker joined as Pauline Hobrecht. She stepped into the vacuum left by the earlier departures and brought a fresh, high-energy dynamic to the lead roles.
- Skandar Amini plays Samir Amari. He filled the gap left by David and Christoph, moving into the detective inspector role.
Why the show changed its name
You might notice that on streaming platforms like PBS Passport or Apple TV, the branding gets confusing. It starts as Luna and Sophie, but eventually, the name Luna has to go because Caroline Erikson also departed after 45 episodes.
When your show is named after two specific people and neither of them is in the show anymore, you have a marketing problem. This is why the title Partners in Crime: Potsdam Homicide was introduced for the later seasons. It’s the same show, same production vibe, same boss, but a brand-new generation of detectives.
Is it still worth watching?
Honestly, it depends on what you're there for. If you were only watching for the specific friendship between Erikson and Jaehne, the later seasons might feel like a "ship of Theseus" situation—is it even the same show if all the parts have been replaced?
However, the core appeal of the SOKO franchise (of which this is a part) is the setting and the procedural style. Potsdam is a character in its own right. The move to a more ensemble-based cast with Anja Pahl and Agnes Decker actually breathes some new life into the format. It stops the personal drama from getting stale.
Actionable Next Steps for Fans:
- Check the Episode Count: If you are looking for the original cast, stick to Seasons 1 through 3. Season 4 is the "transition" year where you lose the bulk of the original team.
- Look for SOKO Potsdam: If you’ve run out of episodes on your local streamer, search for the original German title. Sometimes European platforms have the newer seasons (Season 5 and 6) under the original name before they get translated and re-titled for US/UK audiences.
- Watch for Tamara: Give Anja Pahl a chance. Most viewers find that once they get over the "She's not Sophie" hump, her chemistry with the remaining cast is actually quite sharp and brings a different humor to the show.
The Luna and Sophie cast might be a bit of a moving target, but the show remains one of the more "bingeable" international procedurals out there. Just don't get too attached to anyone's desk—in Potsdam, a promotion is always just one episode away.