The last episode of the “Unter Verdacht” series on ZDF is a rather quiet crime thriller, but still gives Senta Berger an exit with dignity.
- TV criticism of "Under suspicion: Eva's last course" on ZDF
- Criminal Counselor Eva Prohacek (Senta Berger) is investigating her last case
- German television loses high-profile crime brand
Since 2002, “Unter Verdacht” has been one of the best German crime series. Even the occasional somewhat weaker episodes were still worth watching. After 17 years it is now over, also at the instigation of the leading actress Senta Berger, who has been thinking for a number of years that, given her age (78), the character's credibility would be damaged.
Together with screenwriter Alexander Adolph and director Friedemann Fromm - all three were awarded the Grimme Prize for the opening episode "Covert Game" - as well as producer Mario Krebs, the actress took care of a completely new type of investigator on local television in 2002. "Prime Suspect" (German TV title: "Hot suspicion") served as a model. The British ITV series with Helen Mirren was a prototype in the nineties for various crime series in which women have to assert themselves in a man's world.
TV criticism of "Unter Verdacht" (ZDF): The circle closes
With the decision to make an internal investigator the main character, Krebs & Co. were far ahead of their time not only on television: in 2000 there were only two agencies of this kind in Germany. With the thirtieth film, "Eva last course" , the circle closes, because the script (Stefan Holtz, Florian Iwersen) builds on the first case of crime counselor Eva Prohacek.
At that time she was on the trail of real estate speculation on a large scale. As in many stories in the series, the masterminds were at the top. The special attraction of the farewell film is not least the reunion with some antagonists of earlier investigations; Friedrich von Thun (as head of the waterworks), Helmut Berger (building contractor) and Michael Greiling (brewer owner) played Prohacek's antagonists in "Das Blut der Erde" (2013) and were not too good to appear in short scenes in the final film.
"Under suspicion: Eva's last course", Saturday, March 28, 8:15 p.m., ZDF
The film begins with a flashback: 17 years ago, a woman was burned in her house. Officially, the fire was an accident; even the stubborn Prohacek had to be satisfied with this version. The victim's daughter, Sarah (Julia Franz Richter), was always convinced that her mother had been killed because she did not want to sell her house. That's why she became a police officer; she also investigated. In this way, with the involuntary help of a colleague, she finally came across the alleged murderer, an ex-police officer (Heinz-Josef Braun has already participated in "Covert Play").
TV criticism of "Unter Verdacht" (ZDF): few stylistic features
“Eva's last course” takes 105 minutes exceptionally because the actual storyline is a little awkward to introduce: the colleague Sarah used for purposes was in love with her and shot herself in the head in front of her eyes. Since the Munich police have recently had an above-average number of suicides, the internal investigator who is about to retire should take care of the matter.
As is so often the case in previous cases, her boss straddles the line: Claus Reiter (Gerd Anthoff) was already involved at the time. Over the course of the years together, the superior, along with his companions from the influential association "Opus bavariae" (this association was also the subject of "Welcome to the Club", 2006), was repeatedly guilty, but could always get his head out of the way Pull the noose.
When Sarah is recovered dead from the Isar, Prohacek and her comrade-in-arms and anti-horseman Langner (Rudolf Krause) finally see the chance to clear the hated boss with clear evidence; but then everything turns out differently, and Eva even has to save the life of the old adversary. The flashbacks are in the style of old Technicolor films, but that's the only stylistic feature apart from a few remarkably designed settings.
Melancholy mood in the last episode of "Unter Verdacht" (ZDF) - TV review
Directed by Andreas Herzog, "Eva's last course" is his sixth contribution to "Under suspicion". So far, his films have always been outstanding. In addition to “Blood of the Earth”, he also staged “Lost Security” (2017). In the gripping two-part series, Prohacek's foster son was suspected of being involved in an Islamist bombing of the Oktoberfest. However, the end of the series does not match this quality; The level of tension is completely different this time, especially since the screenplay repeatedly focuses on retirement and the mood becomes correspondingly melancholic.
Sometimes the film overshoots the mark; once Langner bursts into tears in a mixture of farewell pain and frustration that Reiter seems to be getting away again. The scene in which he smashes his keyboard seems too unsubtle, with the "Escape" key jumping off; later he writes his resignation (escape means escape).
TV criticism of "Unter Verdacht" (ZDF): loss for German television
Holtz and Iwersen are an established duo of authors. The two have earned their merits from "Donna Leon" to "Kluftinger" on a variety of crime series; for “Under suspicion” wrote not only “Lost security” but also the depressing youth welfare thriller “Mutterseelenallein”. However, "Eva's last course" suffers from the fact that the crime scene basically only begins after thirty minutes. Then, however, the film reaches the usual level of the series, especially since Senta Berger is worth seeing as always. The extraordinary quality of the series resulted not least from the excellent performance of the trio Berger / Anthoff / Krause. German television loses one of its most prominent crime fiction brands with “Unter Verdacht”.
By Tilmann P. Gangloff
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