Available on DVD! To buy, click on link(s) below and help keep this site afloat (commissions earned)   CLICK HERE to buy from Box-set: episodes 74-97 German language only   CLICK HERE to buy from V.O.D. episodes 88-97 German language only Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!

Anita Reese (Alexandra Marischka) is murdered in the home of her (soon-to-be-divorced) husband Georg's (Bruno Dietrich) home, and at first glance it looks like a murder with robbery, as whoever killed her was apparently looking for something when being caught by her and ... Thing is, the house was full of people, there was Anita's stepmother (Maria Becker), her retarded son Hans (Thomas Frisch) and Hans's nurse Ms. Harich (Angelika Zielcke). And once inspector Keller (Erik Ode) and his team (Günther Schramm, Reinhard Glemnitz, Elmar Wepper) start investigating, they soon find out that Anita is owed DM one million due to an idiotic pre-nup, enough money to wreck the family business, which is run by Georg and his brother Berthold (Detlev Eckstein). So there's the motive for the crime, and while Georg's alibi is airtight, Berthold's sure isn't, so Mrs. Reese does what any loving mother would do, to save her two sons she blames everything on the third one who isn't quite right in the head - and she even pays Ms. Harich a small fortune just to play ball. Thing is, her money leaves a paper trail, and based on that and his sheer refusal to accept Hans as the killer - it was Berthold by the way, with the acceptance of the whole family -, Keller has the whole family arrested.

Screenwriter Herbert Reinecker's almost uncanny ability to write stilted and actually unnatural dialogue is in full swing here, maybe also because this episode's far-fetchedness pretty much demands it - for better or worse (mostly worse). This though is of course part of the (somewhat nostalgic) charm of Der Kommissar, and for all its narrative shortcomings (and there are many), this is one of the better entries into the series, as it's elegantly directed, getting the most out of its location, using interesing angles and bold editing choices. Still, not great TV, but pretty entertaining at least.

review © by Mike Haberfelner

 

Feeling lucky? Want to search any of my partnershops yourself for more, better results? (commissions earned)

The links below will take you just there!!!

Find Der Kommissar - Ein Mord nach der Uhr at the amazons ...   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.de Looking for imports? Find Der Kommissar - Ein Mord nach der Uhr here ...   eThaiCD.com Your shop for all things Thai

Thanks for watching !!!