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Der Kommissar - Eine Grenzüberschreitung
episode 95
West Germany 1975
produced by Helmut Ringelmann for Neue Münchner Fernsehproduktion/ZDF
directed by Michael Braun
starring Erik Ode, Reinhard Glemnitz, Günther Schramm, Elmar Wepper, Helma Seitz, Dieter Schidor, Bernd Herzsprung, Christian Reiner, Ekkehardt Belle, Andrea L'Arronge, Herbert Herrmann, Wolfgang Müller, Elisabeth Wiedemann, Inge Birkmann, Dieter Borsche, Claus Biederstaedt, Eva Ingeborg Scholz, Erland Erlandsen, Sepp Wäsche, Lisa Helwig, Klaus Abramowsky, Roman Frosch, Gerd Potyka, Tobias Ringelmann, Walter Gross
written by Herbert Reinecker, series created by Helmut Ringelmann, Herbert Reinecker, title theme by Herbert Jarczyk
TV-series Der Kommissar
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Young Ralf (Oliver Ringelmann) has been kidnapped, and his rather well
off parents (Eva Ingeborg Scholz, Erland Erlandsen) have already agreed to
pay a healthy ransom - when suddenly he's found alive and well before any
money has been paid, obviously abandoned by his kidnappers. The boy is
questioned and claims one of the kidnappers was Toni Kerk (Wolfgang
Müller), the family's caretaker's (Sepp Wäsche) son. The police dash to
Toni's apartment but he's not in. Thing is, when they leave again they
find Toni's dead body right in front of the building, apparently dropped
there while they were inside. Now it's murder, and that's a case for inspector Keller (Erik Ode) and his team (Günther
Schramm, Reinhard Glemnitz, Elmar Wepper), and they're quick to question
Toni's landlady (Lisa Helwig), who is quick to tell them the names of
Toni's close friends (Dieter Schidor, Bernd Herzsprung, Christian Reiner,
Ekkehardt Belle, Andrea L'Arronge, Herbert Herrmann), who seem to hang out
with one another all of the time. They're soon rounded up, but at first
nothing can be pinned on them as they serve as one another's alibi - which
of course doesn't prove they're guilty in any way. However, it's when
Keller and company interview their parents that it turns out their alibis
have holes, and rather gaping one's too. And when it's found out that one
of these parents (Claus Biederstaedt) has a shed in the countryside, it's
only a matter of time before Keller brings the boy there and the boy
identifies it as his holding place. So all the youngsters are arrested,
and it doesn't long before they break. And the story goes thus, after Ralf
has recognized Toni they sent him out with the boy to shoot him dead, but
Toni just couldn't kill the boy and instead released him. And then one of
the youngsters (Christian Reiner) and shot Toni dead, just so his
super-strict father (Dieter Borsche) wouldn't find out.
One of the staler episodes of Der Kommissar as
it's less based oin deductive thinking as a good whodunnit ought to be,
and more of a mere series of interviews that basically lead to one clue
after the next in a very straightforward way. The problem with this is
though that the characters all act very unnaturally (a problem shared with
many Herbert Reinecker-written crime shows), and stilted dialogue (another
Reinecker trademark) doesn't help in bringing realism to the proceedings.
So the motives for both the kidnapping and the murder are at best murky -
and that's not even talking about why the youngsters dropped Toni's body
on his own doorstep somewhere in Munich and thus risk getting caught
rather than maybe burying him in the countryside, or something to that
end. Frankly this element seems to be thrown in merely to get the story
going, a story that ultimately peters out a tad too quickly. Some
nostalgic fun still mind you, but there are better and also
(unintentionally) funnier entries into the series out there.
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