Der Herr des Waldes

In the past year, a lot has changed for detectives Schürk (Daniel STRÄSSER) and Hölzer (Vladimir BURLAKOV). Schürk's violent father (Torsten MICHAELIS) has woken up from his long-term coma. What can he remember? There's already a new murder case. A beautiful student (Caroline HARTIG, known from FILIP) is murdered in a bizarre way in the forest. Was it a classmate (Aaron HILMER)? Or is the mysterious Waldschrat (Vladimir KORNEEV, also known as the singer) an undiscovered serial killer? And what role does the jovial German teacher (Kai WIESINGER) actually play? There will soon be surprising answers to all these questions, which will also have an enormous impact on the commissioners who are close friends...

Great shots from the Saarland forest frame a grotesque crime story that is quite something. What actually happens when you are fatefully linked to psychopathic personalities? This TATORT gives very unpleasant answers that further develop the underlying theme of toxic masculinity. What is particularly scary is the encounter between two main characters, which marks the first highlight of Schürk and Hölzer's TATORT episodes.

The first broadcast on April 5, 2021 on ARD was watched by 9.25 million television viewers.

Similar to the team's first episode, this one placed a strong focus on the characters' backstories-particularly Adam Schürk (Strässler), who was at the center of attention. The team dynamics once again revealed tensions, but overall, they felt more settled and relaxed than before.

The case itself was fantastic and highly engaging, with a great buildup and solid execution. However, it left a lot of loose ends, some of which simply fizzled out. I really wish they had given at least five more minutes to tying up those details. Because of that, even though the case was technically solved, it still felt somewhat unfinished and lacking closure.