The Russian four-part Series "Azazel" is an adaptation of Boris Akunin’s first book about the adventures of Erast Fandorin. In this film, the celebrated detective appears as a young low-ranking official—an naive idealist dreaming of the glory of a great sleuth. By force of circumstance, Erast gets the chance to demonstrate his remarkable deductive abilities when he encounters the case of a mysterious suicide, and shortly afterward nearly dies himself. Guided more by intuition than by rational logic, Fandorin picks up the trail of the mysterious international organization "Azazel," whose members will stop at nothing in pursuit of their ambitious goals. Erast is forced to grope his way forward, mistaken about some allies and finding new ones. The young man finds himself under the command of the eccentric State Councillor Brilling, falls in love with the beautiful Elizaveta, follows the trail of the dazzling Amalia Bezhetskaya, and meets the prim Lady Esther, owner of an elite boarding school for gifted children. All of them become important elements in Fandorin’s development as an outstanding detective, and his first case has a spot for both valor and tragedy.
