Crime scene: the good and the bad: Hannelore Elsner in one of her last roles

Hannelore Elsner (1942-2019, "Everything for Sugar") can be seen in one of her last roles in "Tatort: ​​Die Guten und Bösen" (April 19, 8:15 p.m., the first). In addition to Margarita Broich (59) and Wolfram Koch (born 1962) as the Frankfurt investigative team Janneke and Brix, she plays the former commissioner Elsa Bronski, who is tracking down old cases in the basement of the Presidium.

What is the thriller about?

After a night of drinking, Anna Janneke (Margarita Broich) and Paul Brix (Wolfram Koch) are summoned to a crime scene with a hangover: a man was apparently tortured and murdered in a lonely forest hut. To her astonishment, police chief Ansgar Matzerath (Peter Lohmeyer) confesses at the crime scene. He claims to have killed the man because he kidnapped and raped his wife seven years ago. He does not value mitigating circumstances and demands a severe punishment for himself.

Complicated by extensive renovation work in the commissariat and parallel coaching sessions, the commissioners begin their interrogation. Is Matzerath really the culprit? Is the victim really the rapist of his wife? What does the long-retired Commissioner Elsa Bronski (Hannelore Elsner) know, who worked on the case at the time but did not solve it. Piece by piece, Janneke, Brix and crime assistant Jonas (Isaak Dentler) put the puzzle pieces together and come up with new questions that affect their own work and their self-image as police officers …

Is it worth turning on?

Yes. Because unlike in Elsner's last film "Long Live the Queen", which airs on April 29, the late actress shows herself in the "crime scene" from the delicate, vulnerable and thoughtful side. With this and with her fascinating voice, she brings a lot of depth to an already rather unusual thriller in her few scenes. When episode protagonist Peter Lohmeyer (58) takes her in his arms at some point, it should touch some viewers.

An impressively unobtrusive and not divinely kick-off to the two farewell films. Elsner died on April 21, 2019 at the age of 76 in a Munich hospital.

But it is not only worthwhile for fans of the artist to switch on. Apart from that, this thriller deals with interesting philosophical questions about the good and the bad in the context of police work. Sometimes serious, sometimes funny, sometimes bizarre, sometimes even poetically, the filmmakers and protagonists deal with moral and legal values, vigilante justice, protection of perpetrators, victims and relatives and the like. Only the mini party at the beginning seems bad. But those who zap away miss something …