The crime thriller also addresses the common prejudices against female police officers in what is supposed to be a man’s job.
Man’s job? No, Gorniak (Karin Hanczewski) goes first. Schnabel (Martin Brambach) follows.
Steffen Junghans / MDR
Chief Detective Schnabel (Martin Brambach) is once again the last to find out about the new case. Excited, he storms into the Dresden headquarters. Why wasn’t he informed long ago? The investigators Gorniak (Karin Hanczewski) and Winkler (Cornelia Gröschel) didn’t want to spoil their boss’s baptism of his great-niece. “Family is horror,” he replies annoyed, “be glad you don’t have one anymore.”
Schnabel is particularly upset because it involves the murder of a police officer: a colleague from the surrounding area was shot during a traffic stop on the open road, and his partner is in mortal danger in the hospital. The perpetrator is on the run and the search is ongoing.
Private entanglements
Chief Inspector Winkler was the first to arrive at the scene and treated the seriously injured man. She had an appointment nearby. A coincidence? Two other colleagues from the same office were also on site at the time of the shooting. Instead of holding their position from cover, the two women rushed away in the company car in a panic. Is that just a strange detail?
When it turned out that Winkler had an appointment with the later shooter that morning, things got tricky. Private entanglements are always bad when it comes to murder investigations. A year ago, the Dresden team had to solve a crime in which Winkler’s late brother Martin indirectly played a role.
This time the situation is even more complicated: Martin, who was also a police officer, worked at the same station as the colleagues who were now attacked nine years ago. Then he died in a raid. He may have fallen victim to an internal plot. At least that’s what the fugitive claims, who allegedly wanted to pass secret information to Winkler and lost his nerve during the traffic stop.
Despite the obvious bias, the commissioner stays on the case. She says nothing to Chief Inspector Schnabel. Instead, she goes to her father to look for answers, but he is stubborn. His awkward behavior fits this Dresden “crime scene” (screenplay: Christoph Busche, director: Jano Ben Chaabane). Things are slowing down at every corner – and Schnabel’s blood pressure is rising.
The guard is in the church
The mood is testy. Nervousness is spreading among the perpetrators and the investigators. Everywhere there is cover-up, suppression, retouching and lies. While Winkler single-handedly investigates the background to her brother’s death, Gorniak and Schnabel research possible connections to a long-standing series of burglaries. But all traces lead back to the affected provincial guard, which is still headed today by Martin’s former superior (Andreas Lust).
The fact that the small office is housed in an old village church provides some nice side effects. As the bell rings in the bell tower, a policewoman shoots and screams her anger out. This case is also about the common prejudices against women in what is supposed to be a man’s job. As always, Winkler and Gorniak counter this with competence and objectivity, that is their strength.
The greatest burden lies on Schnabel’s narrow shoulders. He maintains the team spirit and loyalty of his profession. Martin Brambach plays the thin-skinned professional with the usual cynical dryness and a deep affection for his character. He has the best sentences and is a pleasure to watch. Even if all the excitement falls apart in the end. The system is corrupt, police officers are human. And sometimes even with family you feel damn alone.
“Tatort” from Dresden: “Under Fire”. Sunday, 8:05 p.m. / 8:15 p.m., SRF 1 / ARD.
