Tatort (TV Series) Borowski und der Engel (2013) User Reviews

Inspector Borowski – Borowski and the Angel

[Tweekums · 8/10 · 5 December 2016]

A this episode opens the elderly patient of carer Sabrina Dobisch dies; she covers him before sitting down to watch television with his cat. The animal scratches her so she puts it into a bag then goes outside and deliberately releases it in front of an oncoming car. It swerves and crashes into a pedestrian who was coming out of a flower shop. Sabrina rushes over and pulls the woman from her vehicle before trying to help the pedestrian, who dies. Afterwards she is hailed as a heroine and says that the man's final words were 'She wants to kill me'. The police are suspicious but when they find a gun in the car they have to investigate the possibility. As the story progresses Sabrina's story becomes more and more elaborate as she goes on to tell the dead man's wealthy parents that she was secretly seeing their son when it happened.

This was a solid episode although I would have preferred it if we hadn't seen Sabrina cause the crash as it meant that the viewer knew she was lying from the start… it did however mean that we could observe how her initial lie snowballed into something more dangerous as she tries to protect her reputation as an 'Angel'. Lavinia Wilson does a fine job as Sabrina making the character believable even when her stories become more and more far-fetched. Some humour is provided by Borowski's boss, Roland, who manages to shoot himself in the foot while handling a pistol! Overall an entertaining story; we may know what happened from the start but the end still manages to include a slight twist.

These comments are based on watching the episode in German with English subtitles.

Oh what tangled web we weave...

[thursdaysrecords · 8/10 · 28 July 2018]

This is a solid Borowski Tatort Episode, with even more than the usual amount of red herrings, twists and turns. The story may be a bit too fantastic (there cannot possibly be this many coincidences), but somehow the viewer will remain entertained throughout the feature length show.

An attractive young woman, Sabrina, feels life has cheated her. Unattached and lonely, she works as a home care aid to elderly people and frequently complains about not being appreciated. Almost immediately the viewer understands that Sabrina lacks empathy and compassion, when she responds to a commotion outside of her apartment. Looking out the window she sees how a pedestrian grieves over the loss of her small dog, who was hit by a car. The driver is very upset and tries to comfort the woman whose pet just died. Immediately after seeing this from afar, Sabrina mocks the situation by mimicking the woman's cries for her dead dog. This scene sets the stage for what follows, as Sabrina develops into a full-fledged ice cold angel of death.

A series of unfortunate events follow, the sheer number of which may seem rather far fetched, but it all ties together perfectly. With each new story twist, our "Angel" (the cause of all of the suffering) is caught in ever-new lies to cover her tracks. - As part of the "formula" for the Tatort Kiel with Borowski and Brandt, Borowski again seeks companionship with a suspect in the murder case he is assigned to solve. Borowski is divorced with an estranged teenage daughter, and has obvious relationship issues. His unprofessional behavior dating persons of interest in his murder investigations must be a part of his character description, however it makes me lose respect for him as a crime solver. Once he may get a pass, but if this is a "running joke", I fail to see the humor in it.

This is still a fun roller-coaster ride and will leave the viewer satisfied when it finally comes to a stop. Look for a small role played by the 1960s/70s heart throb Horst Jansson, who at the peak of his career starred in the popular 1970s TV series "Salto Mortale" and "Der Bastian".