It’s crackling in the fictional Essener Steinkamp cosmos: with Nick Lippmann (played by Raphael Kalkowski) and Luca Perez (Orlando Lenzen), the Cologne-shot RTL weekday-evening series “All That Counts” — known in German as Alles was zählt — is currently putting a new queer love story in the spotlight. In episode 5033, which airs on RTL on Wednesday and which paying subscribers can already stream on RTL+, the two first grow physically closer.
A recent survey from the widely followed Instagram channel awz_seite now shows just how strong the audience’s interest in the couple is—and how important visible queer storylines remain in Germany’s pre-prime-time lineup.
View this post on Instagram
Instagram
|
At the heart of the current storyline is a classic conflict: While Luca is confident about his feelings and openly pursues the closeness, Nick is visibly more reluctant. He is tormented mainly by the fear of how others in his circle might react to the relationship — especially the question of how his father Dragan will respond to the two growing closer, which in turn injects significant tension into the show’s dramaturgy.
Dragan, played by Florian Thunemann, explained to the Südwest Presse that his character has no issue with his son’s homosexuality or bisexuality. “Dragan is anything but homophobic,” the actor made clear. “I think Dragan is a little worried he might catch heat in this boxing world.”
Genuine on-screen chemistry from the actors
Despite Nick’s hesitation, the sparks appear to have flown. Under the fan-page post, numerous fans voiced their enthusiasm for the dynamic between the two roles. The praise centers on the actors’ convincing chemistry: many viewers specifically hope that the characters will be granted a lasting partnership — especially given that both characters are firmly part of the main cast, meaning the romance wouldn’t just be a short-lived sidebar. Some voices were skeptical, arguing the plot felt too formulaic or pointing to Nick’s past attraction to women.
Beyond the flood of positive reactions and heart emojis, the comment section also revealed the flip side of online visibility: there have been repeated demeaning remarks aimed at homosexual relationships and the characters’ sexual orientation.
The fan-page operators responded with an explicit reminder of netiquette and announced they would consistently remove queer-phobic content. They drew a clear line between dramaturgical critique and discrimination: while anyone is free to find the storyline weak, belittling someone for their sexual orientation has no place.
According to the fan page, among the 251 regular main and supporting characters in the soap’s 20-year history, 13 were not heterosexual. That’s roughly five percent.
“Alles was zählt” airs on weekdays after the main news program at 7:05 p.m. on RTL.
