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Derrick - Schock
episode 20
West Germany 1976
produced by Claus Legal, Hans Peter Renfranz, Helmut Ringelmann for Telenova/ZDF
directed by Alfred Vohrer
starring Horst Tappert, Fritz Wepper, Johanna von Koczian, Christine Wodetzky, Vadim Glowna, Karin Baal, Jürgen Draeger, Dirk Galuba, Günther Stoll, Gerhard Bormann, Jan Hendriks, Konrad Georg, Dieter Eppler, Jörg Matthias Förster, Alexander Hertel, Michel Jacot, Laurence Bien, Fritz Pauli
written by Herbert Reinecker, music by Rolf Kühn, title theme by Les Humphries
TV-series Derrick, Harry Klein
review by Mike Haberfelner
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When he tries to steal a fancy car, Recke (Vadim Glowna) is surprised
by the car's owner, doctor Schöller (Dieter Eppler), and when the two get
into a fight, Recke shoots Schöller dead, then makes an escape. Thing is,
Schöller's son Ralf (Jörg Matthias Förster) has seen everything, but is
in such a state of shock that he can't be questioned - much to the dismay
of investigating inspector Derrick (Horst Tappert) and his assistant Harry Klein
(Fritz Wepper). But Derrick has an idea who might be behind everything,
shady nightclub owner Lusseck (Dirk Galuba), whom he has previously had a
brush with as Lusseck has had his hands in "exporting" stolen
cars. So Derrick puts his pressure on Lusseck, but Lusseck plays it cool.
Recke meanwhile almost loses it, so much so that his wife (Karin Baal)
soon shows initiative and tells their son Heinz (Alexander Hertel), who's
roughly Ralf's age, to drive over to his place and befriend the boy to
find out what he knows. Lusseck in the meantime reckons it's best to
eliminate Ralf and sends over his hitman Kerrak. Of course, in a case of
mistaken identity, Kerrak kills Heinz instead of Ralf. Meanwhile doctor
Schöller's girlfriend Helga (Christine Wodetzky) tries to identify
Schöller's killer at a line-up, and Recke sticks out like a sore thumb -
but as she has witnessed the crime only from afar, she can't be sure. It's
only later that Recke finds out that his son has been killed by Lusseck's
assassin, and now he gives himself up to Derrick and volunteers to help
Derrick to bring down Lusseck's whole operation - which leads to a
shoot-out in Lusseck's secret garage, where ultimately Recke redeems
himself taking a lethal bullet meant for Derrick ... Johanna von Koczian
plays Derrick's psychologist girlfriend, a role that she has previously
played a few episodes back in the episode Pfandhaus. That said, she
or her character would never return to the series. What really
works in this episode it the remorseful killer, as played by Vadim Glowna,
as not only is the character interesting and relatable in his fallability,
Glowna also gives a compelling performance. And the scene where he's
confronted with his own, murdered son sure packs a punch. That said, as a
whole the thing seems just awefully constructed, with the characters'
actions, reactions and dialogue often feeling just unnatural. It's still
worth a look for Glowna's performance, or of course for nostalgia's sake,
but it's not very good crime TV.
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