Tatort: Borowski – The Philosophical, Moral And Legal Conundrums of Good and Evil in a Dystopian World

Beloved cynic, Hauptkommissar Klaus Borowski returns for a sixth season; yet unlike past seasons that were populated by oddball, disconcerting and complicated characters committing a plethora of crimes and murders defying logic, Borowski’s mettle is really tested by even more horrific crimes and criminals. All the while, he is supported by numerous partners including Mila Sahin (Almila Bagriacik) – the latest in a long line beginning with Zainalow (Mehdi Moinzadeh) and police criminologist, Frieda Jung (Maren Eggert), his ex- fiancée.

Borowski’s dogged determination and prickly personality enable him to find the perpetrators among a rogues’ gallery of killers — whose gruesome acts   are sometimes pre-meditated, while others are random. Some are out of greed, and others are out of revenge; some are out of passion, and others satisfy a sociopathic impulse. Regardless of why they do what they do, the viewers will be riveted by it all.

In the first season, we learn that Borowski was transferred from Schleswieg-Holstein to Hanover and finally to Kiel. This densely-populated city and former Danish village is located north of Hamburg on the southwestern shore of the Baltic Sea, where it hosts the Annual Kiel Week – the biggest sailing event in Europe. The cinematographer conveys the natural beauty of Kiel’s panoramic seaport — an important transportation hub and oceanic research center as well as a prominent high-tech shipbuilding center. This is where Klaus Borowski lives and works; yet the city’s majestic skyline and surrounding waters do not offer him any respite from crime.

Season after season, the writers, producers, directors and editors ramp up the psychologically-deviant perpetrators, as each episode illustrates Borowski’s patient and scrupulous methods that lead him closer to solving the cases. His sole identity is of a cop—focused, defiant and determined as illustrated by his off-the-cuff remark at a crime scene: “Politiker wuerden die besste abgeben. Sie haben ein dickes Fehl, wenig kontakt zu ihre Gefuehle und an der Vertrauten Umgang mit der Unwahrheit.” (“Politicians make the best murderers. They have thick skin, are barely in touch with their feelings and are familiar with lying.”)

Actor Axel Milberg, a native of Kiel, portrays Borowski’s flair for the absurd, setting the stage for his character’s larger transformation which had been quietly underway for years as he goes from sloppy cop to suit-and-tie detective. The outstanding supporting cast enables Milberg to portray his on-screen persona with affection and deliberation.

Season 6, episode three presents a prison re-enactment of Friedrich Schiller’s 1781 drama, “Die Rauber” (“The Robbers”). The drama’s central conflict of sibling rivalry is personified by the older, charismatic Karl and his younger, villainous brother Franz, respectively represented by Klaus and Kai.

The play’s highly-charged, emotional language and physical violence shed light on the moral essence of personal liberty vis-a-vis the legal consequences of good and evil within us all as the source of the psychology of power. Like their dramatic counterparts, Kai is evil but displays unexpected moments of goodness towards his girlfriend, Teresa, and Klaus.

Screenwriter — Sascha Arango, director — Ilker Catak and producers –- Kerstin Ramke and Sabine Timmermann use Schiller’s drama as a portal into Kai’s mind providing the rationale for his sociopathic behavior. The constant fluctuations of the dynamics of power culminate in a spectacular climax as each scene unfolds with a menacing pitch catapulting our hero and villain to the surprising – yet, oddly satisfying – crescendo.