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: Entire series German language only   CLICK HERE to buy from Box-set: Entire series German language only Always make sure of DVD-compatibility!!!

President of police Pilch (Kurt Weinzierl) orders homicide detective Kottan (Lukas Resetarits) to have an eye on rock star on the decline Robert Weller (Stefan Weber), who has received letters threatening his kidnapping - and then, right under Kottan's nose, he's actually kidnapped after a concert. The kidnappers ask for 2 million Schilling in ransom, something his wife (Maria Bill) is unable to come up with - but it turns out his record company is willing to pay, since with the kidnapping, Weller's sales are soaring again. Kottan and colleagues Schremser (Walter Davy) and Schrammel (Curt A. Tichy) follow the record company's lawyer (András Gönzcöl) to the handover point, to learn this was just a ruse and the handover had already happened - and Weller's found, very much alive, in due time. Kottan is pulled off the case, having pretty much failed on every level, but then he figures it out: Weller has never actually been kidnapped, it was only a ruse to a) give his career a second boost, and b) collect the ransom money from the record company. Kottan confronts Weller with that knowledge, but promises to keep mum if he'll ensure that Kottan will win a talent contest he's an judge at - with Kottan's only competition being president of police Pilch ...

A running gag in this episode is Kottan's arch enemy Horrak (Ernst Konarek) trying (and failing) to kill Kottan.

Now to have Stefan Weber of the notorious Viennese shock-rock band Drahdiwaberl as a guest star is of course a stroke of genius - but unfortunately not all that much is made of Weber's appearance, with Weber's anti-establishment on-stage persona remaining pretty much under-exploited. Instead the episode bets on its by now tried and true formula of interrupting the episode for irreverent yet repetitive gags ever so often, with more emphasis than usual put on lip-synching old songs this time around. Due to decent pacing and some actually funny skits (and despite the extended lip-synch battle at the end) this is one of the livelier episodes of the series' later days, but a far cry from past glory when by now over-used jokes still seemed fresh.

On a side note, Lukas Resetarits recorded the single Lonely with Drahdiwaberl the following year, which led to (moderate) mainstream acceptance of the group, including some airplay on national radio.

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 Kottan ermittelt - Entführung at the amazons ...   amazon.com   amazon.co.uk   amazon.de Looking for imports? Find Kottan ermittelt - Entführung here ...   eThaiCD.com Your shop for all things Thai

Thanks for watching !!!