quick check
“Tatort” repeat from Cologne
On, on and on: Roeland Wiesnekker as the furious avenger of the night
The Cologne “Tatort” commissioners Max Ballauf (Klaus J. Behrendt, l) and Freddy Schenk (Dietmar Bär, r) question the patrolman Frank Lorenz (Roeland Wiesnekker), who was present at a fatal accident.
© WDR/Martin Valentin Menke / ARD
A traffic fatality is actually not a case for the Cologne murder commission. But a brave patrolman sees deeper entanglements – and finally gets the “crime scene” commissioners Ballauf and Schenk to start investigations.
- 3 out of 5 points
- A well thought out case that’s constructed a bit too see-through.
What’s the matter?
Bad evening for the patrolman Frank Lorenz (Roeland Wiesnekker): When trying to evade traffic control, a young man runs in front of the train. Lorenz states that the man was pursued by Russians. This would be a case for Homicide. And indeed, Max Ballauf (Klaus J. Behrendt) and Freddy Schenk (Dietmar Bär) come across some inconsistencies: when the inspectors want to deliver the news of the death, the dead man’s twin brother flushes his drug stash down the toilet. Did the brothers mess with the Russian mafia – as the patrolman suspects?
Why is this “crime scene” worthwhile?
Roeland Wiesnekker once again delivers a brilliant performance. He plays an exaggerated patrolman who, as a fearless avenger of the night, takes up the fight against crime against all odds. Who literally wades through dirt and puke to maintain law and order. He pushes aside all the psychological stress that he accumulates in his job with the help of the Oliver Kahn motto “Keep going, keep going”. In doing so, he sometimes goes beyond borders – until at some point it is no longer clear what is delusion and what is reality.
What bothers?
As well as this “Tatort” episode is thought: Unfortunately, as a viewer, you quickly find out what’s going wrong here and how things really are connected.
The commissioners?
Freddy Schenk is happy to meet his old colleague Frank Lorenz, for whom he is just “Schenky”. But the camaraderie of the two gets on Max Ballauf’s nerves. After all, he investigates on his own and behind the backs of his colleagues.
Turn on or off?
Even if this episode isn’t completely convincing: Roeland Wiesnekker’s furious performance alone is worth tuning in to.
The “Tatort” episode “Next, always further” was first broadcast on January 6, 2019. ARD repeats this case on Friday, September 2 at 10:15 p.m.