Tatort 1187: Das Herz der Schlange (3 Stars)

It's been a long time since I watched "Tatort". I missed the last 186 episodes, but I felt tempted to check another episode today. It's the third episode starring the detectives Leo Hölzer and Adam Schürk.

The episode starts with a woman being found dead in a luxurious apartment. Curiously, the safe is open, but the cash, more than 50,000 Euros, hasn't been removed. Were the thieves looking for something else? The mystery is uncovered as the story continues.

Secondly, Adam's father is found dead, while Adam himself has disappeared. Adam is the main suspect in the murder, so he gives himself up after a few days. This creates a dilemma for Leo. They're not just colleagues, they're childhood friends, so he refuses to believe that Adam is guilty.

The only thing that connects the two murders is that someone spied on both of them. An unknown man has hacked security cameras in both houses. He's recorded both murders.

I'll stop there. It's a confusing story. I can understand the problem. After 1186 episodes the screenwriters feel the need to write something new. The plot stretches credibility. If a science fiction film is difficult to believe, I accept it, but a detective story should be straight forward.

Another problem is the episode's sound quality. It's not the recording quality itself, it's because the characters speak unclearly. Some are worse than others. In a big budget television series the viewer expects more.

"Tatort" is Germany's most expensive TV series, probably the world's most expensive. The individual episodes usually cost about two million Euros each, but some episodes cost as much as six million Euros. The exact money spent is unknown, because the records for the early episodes have been lost, but it's estimated that the complete cost so far is over two billion Euros. After 51 years the series shows no sign of coming to an end, so the price is steadily rising, year by year.