quick check
“Tatort” repeat from Berlin
Murder without a motive – Karow and Rubin are puzzled
Scene from the “crime scene”: The inspectors Rubin (Meret Becker) and Karow (Mark Waschke) secure the Gendarmenmarkt, where a young student has just been shot.
© rbb/die film gmbh/Volker Roloff / ARD
A student desperately wants to be accepted into an elite association. Would he commit murder for that? The “crime scene” from Berlin, shown as a repeat, poses the question of the perfect crime – and finds few new answers.
- 3 out of 5 points
- Entertaining case without any reference to reality
What’s the matter?
A young woman is shot dead in broad daylight on Berlin’s Gendarmenmarkt. The trail leads to the private Berlin School of Law and to the young student Benjamin Renz (Anton von Lucke). He wants to become a member of an elite student fraternity and has to take all sorts of exams to do so. But would he commit murder for it? Commissioners Nina Rubin (Meret Becker) and Robert Karow (Mark Waschke) come across a video in which Renz gives a lecture on “The Perfect Crime”. Apparently someone is playing a game with the police here. Karow decides to play too – by his own rules.
Why is this “crime scene” worthwhile?
Countless books and films play with the basic idea of this detective story: is it possible to commit a murder where the perpetrator cannot be convicted? A fascinating mind game. “The perfect crime” is the name of this “crime scene” episode and that’s exactly what it’s about.
What bothers?
The whole story is badly constructed and uses many clichés: Here the spoiled rich little Jura boys who, thanks to their fathers’ money, live in a morally free sphere. There is the newcomer Benjamin Renz, who absolutely wants to be included in the elite circle and is willing to do a lot for it. One searches in vain for three-dimensional characters made of flesh and blood in this case.
The commissioners?
During the investigation, Robert Karow comes across an old acquaintance: Richard Liere (Peter Kurth), the extremely wealthy founder of the Berlin School of Law. He once wanted to hire Karow in his company, because the commissioner is a first-class expert on the stock market.
Turn on or off?
Anyone looking for 90 minutes of distraction from Corona and war is well served with this unrealistic “crime scene”.
The “Tatort” episode “The Perfect Crime” was first broadcast on March 15, 2020. ARD repeats the case on Friday, March 18, at 10:15 p.m.
Commissioners Karow and Rubin also investigated in these cases: