Kommissar Thiel wants to go on a holiday trip to Dakar, but he misses the plane. Soon after, there's a murder (and one of his colleagues is ill), so he has to stay in Münster. The owner of an undertaker's establishment has been killed, and there are two suspects at first: the owner's brother and a young goth who illegally takes photos of corpses. Later they find out that there probably has been a second murder: an MD's wife died, and there are some clues that she didn't die of natural causes. Her husband is the suspect in that case, and if it really was murder, it would be connected to the other case, so the MD becomes a suspect in that case, too. Who is the murderer?
There's also a subplot that involves Professor Boerne; there's a congress of an international association of forensic experts in Münster. Boerne organizes it and wants to win the election for president of the association. (Of course he also plays a part in the main plot.)
I liked this episode, but there were some points that aren't good in my opinion. I think that sometimes there are too many facts and clues presented in too short a time; it's a bit difficult to keep track of it all. And there are too many coincidences: Lucy is the MD's daughter, and (by way of coincidence) she also knows the young goth. Professor Arnold has a connection to the case of the dead wife, and, coincidentally, she is in Münster for the congress. There is at least one more (rather unlikely) coincidence. So I didn't like the plot very much. But I have the impression that this was meant to be a comedy thriller (not a pure crime film) in which the comedy element is more important than the thriller element, so the plot is not the most important part of the story (and I have seen worse in this series). The comedy element is well done in my opinion. There were some jokes that are corny, for example when Boerne says he has slipped on a piece of soap, and some of the quarrels between Thiel and Boerne were overdone. But there were lots of jokes that I liked, for example the ones about the politically correct terms for minorities, or what Nadeshda says when she talks on the phone with an Austrian colleague. Plus I liked the actors, especially Liefers as Boerne.
All in all, an enjoyable episode in my opinion, not more, and not less. I think if you liked the previous episodes with Thiel and Boerne you will probably like this one, too.
There's also a subplot that involves Professor Boerne; there's a congress of an international association of forensic experts in Münster. Boerne organizes it and wants to win the election for president of the association. (Of course he also plays a part in the main plot.)
I liked this episode, but there were some points that aren't good in my opinion. I think that sometimes there are too many facts and clues presented in too short a time; it's a bit difficult to keep track of it all. And there are too many coincidences: Lucy is the MD's daughter, and (by way of coincidence) she also knows the young goth. Professor Arnold has a connection to the case of the dead wife, and, coincidentally, she is in Münster for the congress. There is at least one more (rather unlikely) coincidence. So I didn't like the plot very much. But I have the impression that this was meant to be a comedy thriller (not a pure crime film) in which the comedy element is more important than the thriller element, so the plot is not the most important part of the story (and I have seen worse in this series). The comedy element is well done in my opinion. There were some jokes that are corny, for example when Boerne says he has slipped on a piece of soap, and some of the quarrels between Thiel and Boerne were overdone. But there were lots of jokes that I liked, for example the ones about the politically correct terms for minorities, or what Nadeshda says when she talks on the phone with an Austrian colleague. Plus I liked the actors, especially Liefers as Boerne.
All in all, an enjoyable episode in my opinion, not more, and not less. I think if you liked the previous episodes with Thiel and Boerne you will probably like this one, too.
