Tatort Der Weg ins Paradies (1970– ) Online

I saw a special about the special effects which would feature in this episode of Tatort (crime scene). That special made me watch this show. Ironically the special effects were the worst part of the episode. The direction, the actors, the plot, everything else was so good. The characters were convincing and well portrayed by their actors. And although I liked all the actors - Ken Duken is always good - Kurtulus deserves a special mention. He really is an interesting leading man. He never overacted, he never fell out of his role, and the dialogue coming out of his mouth never felt stupid. So oft, German actors cannot speak their dialogue convincingly, often because the dialogue is stupid. Here, Kurtulus nails it completely, everything he is given, he pulls off. They should give him roles in features. Given the fact that the conflict between Christians and Jews and Muslims will or could increase in the future, so will/ could the demand for Arab (looking) actors. Well, here is one who is really good. I, for my part, will watch his future work.

This episode sees Cenk infiltrating a radical Muslim group, led by a German convert, which has links to Al Qaida. He takes the role of a real person who has in fact died in a Syrian prison; this person had the beliefs and military experience that would make him useful to the group. He manages to get in with the group but it is clear that while its leader acts as though he trusts him he suspects from the start that Cenk might be a policeman but thinks he can use him anyway. Cenk learns that their target is to be a Hamburg hotel that is hosting an event for families of servicemen on operations in Afghanistan. With the police insisting that he wears a microphone risk of exposure is possible at almost any time.

This was a solid enough episode made more interesting by the fact that Cenk is suspected of being a policeman from the start. This leads the viewer to wonder why he is still brought into the group… something that is explained in the end in a way that makes sense. Mehmet Kurtulus continues to impress as Cenk, especially when we see that the pressure of all the undercover work is starting to get to him. Ken Duken is suitably chilling as Christian Marschall, the convert who leads the group… the scenes where he tests Cenk by asking him to kill a guard dog and when he goes to see a female contact on Cenk's phone to see if he is who he claims are particularly chilling; not because of what happens but because what could happen. The final resolution is good although the explosion looks very much like a special effect rather than a real explosion. Overall another good story with plenty of tension.

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