Das fleißige Lieschen

The first scenes of the new TATORT from Saarbrücken make it clear that the effects of toxic masculinity will run like a common thread through the upcoming storylines.

Detective Inspector Adam Schürk (Daniel STRÄSSER) returns to his native Saarbrücken after years. His new colleague Leo Hölzer (Vladimir BURLAKOV) is an old friend from his youth with whom he shares a dark secret. The team also includes Esther Baumann (Brigitte URHAUSEN) and Pia Heinrich (Ines Marie WESTERNSTRÖER), but there is enormous tension with them.

Soon there is a murder: the aggressive son (Gabriel RAAB, known from FILIP) of an authoritarian factory owner (Dieter SCHAAD, known from LINDENSTRASSE) is horribly murdered. The investigation soon focuses on the company's dark history. Marie Anne FLIEGEL (BABYLON BERLIN) and finally Marita BREUER (HEIMAT) can be seen in other roles.

In addition to the actual crime plot, the horizontal narrative thread is also becoming increasingly clear: as a child, Adam Schürk was at the mercy of an ultra-brutal father (Torsten MICHAELIS), who has been in a coma since one fateful afternoon 15 years ago...

SAARLÄNDISCHE RUNDFUNK is one of the smallest television stations in the ARD and can therefore only afford one TATORT episode per year. This means that a lot of material has to be packed into each individual episode. More than 10.44 million television viewers wanted to see the successful start of the new investigative team from Saarbrücken on April 13, 2020 on ARD.

A first episode for a team that has only existed since the beginning of the episode is always a bit difficult. The case itself was super exciting-at times somewhat predictable, as you'd expect from Tatort-but ultimately, there was a twist that came a bit out of nowhere. The team and group dynamics, however, were-given the circumstances-a bit chaotic, with a lot of things being hinted at that happened in the background and led the investigators to this point.

If I weren't already biased by the TikTok edits of Leo and Adam, I definitely wouldn't have liked it as much-so thanks to everyone who makes those videos! I guess I'll have to go watch all the other episodes with those two now.