Thought I was going to give it the big ol' miss tonight after the run of rum Tatorts (with the exception of last week) but since I was going to have to sit up waiting for my teenager's call for a ride anyways, I decided to go for it. And I was again pleasant surprised. Again, a full immersion into another world. And: a beautiful, attractive world, this time in the countryside. Where in Germany? I don't know. My summaries would be stronger if I knew. Actually, I think it is Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. The commissioner was Lena Odensky (wasn't there a children's book author by that name in the 1930s?) and her sidekick Krauss. Additionally, there is the ordinary, bland, police assistant who was so charmingly dancing by himself in the last episode (Oct., about wolves).
There was some back story with the commissioner; her ex wanted to move back in with her and their baby daughter, for convenience only. It was never explored, only reflected in one of the possible motives, a jealous ex sharing communal life with the new couple.
The German element was that one of the main characters, the lover of the murdered man, the ex of another man, and the mistress (?) of another man in the convent was not pretty. Not conventionally pretty. Actually, deformed with a too-prominent jaw. It kept hitting me anew, how this woman actually could not work in American TV yet she was playing the love interest here. German TV actors have gotten a lot more conventionally attractive in the last few years. It used to be I couldn't turn on a program without my jaw dropping at the really ugly people they had presenting the news and starring in shows. Lookism has reached these shores, too, however...
For some reason I freely enjoyed looking at the beautiful German countryside portrayed in this episode. It reminded me of the very short time that I was 'just' a tourist, before I started comparing everything to Oregon and constantly weighing up its merits -- is it as beautiful as home? Is it better? Is it worth it to change? Will I regret living here? It really struck me how I cannot just enjoy being in Germany; I'm always comparing it to the unlived life back 'home'. How happy I would be if I could ditch that habit. Does anyone else know what I am talking about?
There was some back story with the commissioner; her ex wanted to move back in with her and their baby daughter, for convenience only. It was never explored, only reflected in one of the possible motives, a jealous ex sharing communal life with the new couple.
The German element was that one of the main characters, the lover of the murdered man, the ex of another man, and the mistress (?) of another man in the convent was not pretty. Not conventionally pretty. Actually, deformed with a too-prominent jaw. It kept hitting me anew, how this woman actually could not work in American TV yet she was playing the love interest here. German TV actors have gotten a lot more conventionally attractive in the last few years. It used to be I couldn't turn on a program without my jaw dropping at the really ugly people they had presenting the news and starring in shows. Lookism has reached these shores, too, however...
For some reason I freely enjoyed looking at the beautiful German countryside portrayed in this episode. It reminded me of the very short time that I was 'just' a tourist, before I started comparing everything to Oregon and constantly weighing up its merits -- is it as beautiful as home? Is it better? Is it worth it to change? Will I regret living here? It really struck me how I cannot just enjoy being in Germany; I'm always comparing it to the unlived life back 'home'. How happy I would be if I could ditch that habit. Does anyone else know what I am talking about?