“Tatort” from Stuttgart
The Innocent Avenger
Scene from the Stuttgart “crime scene”: Oliver Manlik (Barnaby Metschurat) was wrongly imprisoned, now he is looking for satisfaction. But would he commit murder for it? The inspectors Lannert (Richy Müller) and Bootz (Felix Klare) keep an eye on him.
© SWR/Benoît Linder / ARD
He was imprisoned for more than three years for corruption. Now Oliver Manlik is out for compensation. Also for revenge? The “crime scene” from Stuttgart, which is scheduled to be repeated, is also a business thriller.
- 4 out of 5 points
- Strong case from Stuttgart with an outstanding Barnaby Metschurat
What’s the matter?
He was imprisoned in the United States for almost four years for corruption. His company had made him a scapegoat and left him hanging. Now Oliver Manlik (Barnaby Metschurat) is back in Germany – and demands a hefty compensation from his boss. However, he coldly rejects his former employee. Shortly thereafter, the company’s HR manager is found dead in the woods. And an assassination attempt is made on the boss. The Stuttgart investigators Thorsten Lannert (Richy Müller) and Sebastian Bootz (Felix Klare) immediately suspect Manlik. But would he really commit murder?
The background
The background to this case is the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or FCPA for short. The US law serves to combat global Corruption – and is also used against people and companies outside America: Against companies whose securities are registered in the USA. The use case also occurs when credit cards from an American bank or the servers of a US company were used in a corrupt act.
The case is reminiscent of VW engineer Oliver Schmidt, who was arrested in Miami in 2017 for involvement in the emissions scandal and then sentenced to seven years in prison. VW then fired its employees. Schmidt, on the other hand, claims that he did not act of his own accord and sees himself as a pawn sacrifice.
Why is this “crime scene” worthwhile?
How does it feel when you have been made a scapegoat by your employer and have been in prison for more than three years? When you have lost everything after your release: wife, family and work – and nobody wants to hear anything about reparations. Barnaby Metschurat succeeds in convincingly portraying what goes on in such a man – and how love, anger and revengefulness wrestle with each other. His acting alone is worth tuning in to.
What bothers?
With all the praise for the strong case: Why the family completely hangs Oliver Manlik, who has been declared a scapegoat by his company, and breaks off all contact after his release from prison, is not entirely clear. Even if the man – as the film suggests – has made mistakes in the past: It is not entirely understandable that the wife and son accept the sad fate of the once beloved family member without any empathy.
The commissioners?
Anyone who is interested in private banter and details from the life of the investigators is out of place here: This “crime scene” is all about the criminal case. It’s exciting enough.
Turn on or off?
“The World’s Wage” is definitely one of the better episodes of the crime series. Turn on.
This “Tatort” episode was first broadcast on November 1, 2020. ARD repeats the case on Sunday, August 6th at 8:15 p.m.
Detectives Lannert and Bootz also investigated these cases: