An entrepreneur invites his family to discuss his will. But death is faster. Florian Martens is handicapped this time as a TV commissioner. Because he had an accident in real life.
Berlin – There he comes hobbling on crutches, Commissioner Otto Garber. And stands by his colleagues – in the horse racing betting shop. A special kind of company outing. “Well, Otto, horse racing and horse riding are not the same thing, right?”, His colleague Sebastian Klöckner pointedly alludes to his handicap.
“I didn’t ride, I sat in the sulky and I want to see you when a trotter like that hits you when you’re not 50 centimeters behind,” Otto grumbles back.
What looks so skilfully played in the new episode of the ZDF crime thriller “Ein starkes Team” (“Die on probation”, Saturday, 8:15 pm) is real. Because actor Florian Martens actually had to limp his way through the shooting as Otto Garber with a torn ligament. In real life it wasn’t a horse, but a root that the 62-year-old had stepped on unhappily before shooting began, but the mishap was enough for six weeks on crutches. It was shot anyway.
The fact that Martens had to turn with crutches was no problem for him. “I was able to sit more, which was okay with me because I’m a very comfortable person,” said the actor in an interview with the German press agency. “I even shot a chase – even though I couldn’t walk. Without getting out of the car. I can also play while sitting. I don’t always have to have action. “
But there is still plenty of action in this episode, because there are two murders to solve at the same time. Otto Garber and Linett Wachow (Stefanie Stappenbeck) discover many secrets within the Paulsen family. It quickly becomes clear that the killer is to be sought in the closest circle, because the common motive of greed can be found in each of the children. Son Jens (Jan Krauter) was passed over when the family business was awarded and instead daughter Sabine (Lisa Marie Janke) was given consideration – the daughter of his wife Erika (Leslie Malton) from his first marriage. And Lukas (Theo Trebs), the baby boy, has to struggle with his drug addiction and debts with the dealer.
What do you do with your savings later? Who should inherit? Inspired by the case of the Paulsen family, the Berlin commissioners think about it over beer and schnapps. The Martens issue does not affect private life. “With me there is nothing to clarify. If I give up the cutlery at some point, my children will inherit – that’s it. “
This is a lot more tricky with the upscale entrepreneurs. Then a young man is found dead near the family mansion who turns out to be the illegitimate son of the patriarch. But widow Erika also had an extramarital slip with consequences, but it was almost 40 years ago. And as a homeless person who turns out to be Bernhard Paulsen’s (Peter Meinhardt) ex-business partner, you don’t have to be a commissioner to understand what connects Erika, Bernhard, son Jens and this man.
That’s quite a lot of plot that has to be worked through in one and a half hours of a capital city thriller. Not just for the commissioners – also for the audience. But it is the wonderful Leslie Malton as a stoically hypothermic widow who brings calm to the film – on this wild ride through secrets and entanglements.
Incidentally, the motif of horse racing is no coincidence. Florian Martens is also a passionate fan in real life. “The horse racing track has been my second home for almost 50 years – and so has the trotting track. I’ve been betting since I was a schoolboy, ”said the 62-year-old. “It’s not an addiction, it’s just fun,” says the actor. “The thrill is when you place bets and then win, then everything is round.” Things don’t go that smoothly for the person who is finally convicted and taken away by the police. “I had to protect my family,” the statement said. It is not always greed that kills people – or leads them to the betting shop. dpa
