Treibjagd (2017) - Elevated number of victims and plot holes - 5/10 (01/01/19)

Ein starkes Team is a German television series that has been around for two and a half decades already. It convinces with its authentic characters and settings in and around Berlin that show the capital's advantages and flaws authentically. Like so many other German crime series these days, this one also suffers from weak plots, slow pace and endless repetition.

Treibjagd is one of the better episodes however. It shows how a Russian crime syndicate tracks down the key witness of a double murder who is about to give his testimony. The movie convinces with a steadier pace than usual. The story has a few twists and turns that aren't particularly surprising but always entertaining. The body count in this episode is particularly high, including one suicide and the murder of a minor which are very rarely seen on German television. The main actors and actresses are solid as usual and even add a few humorous scenes to make the grim story easier to digest here and there.

This episode though suffers from a terrible plot. Without revealing too much, there are three characters working in important positions who are all suffering from a serious addiction to medication which feels more like a running joke than a serious issue at that point. Several characters act quite stupidly like the police officers who constantly put themselves in overtly dangerous situations and let the key witness escape in unintentionally amusing slapstick moments. The worst performance in this episode comes from Elisabeth Baulitz who plays the protagonist's wife who always reacts unexplainably slowly and stupidly. To only give one specific example, she asks her courageous son to hand a gun back to a criminal instead of attempting to flee or call the police.

In the end, Treibjagd is one of the better episodes of contemporary German crime series thanks to an entertaining story, steady pace and high body count. The plot still has mediocre elements and some characters act particularly strangely. Treibjagd offers ninety minutes of solid entertainment but fails to leave a deeper impression.