Gabriele Krestan

A notorious criminal is committed to a psychiatric ward pending a determination of his sanity. With the help of a young woman, one of his theft victims who has fallen in love with him, he manages to escape. He wants to build a middle-class future with her, but she tries to persuade him to pull off one last big heist.

Markus is a handsome and respectable architect who has a secret: he is a pedophile. Despite feeling disgust of himself, Markus can't help but feel attracted to young boys. When he thinks he won't be able to suppress his deepest feelings, he decides to isolate himself.

KAFKA'S THE BURROW tells the story of a man's "metamorphosis" (as Kafka would put it) in a rapidly changing and increasingly isolated world. A man, who has seemingly achieved everything, ensconces himself in his burrow, a fortress-like apartment complex. But no matter how hard he tries to keep the outside world at a distance, he gets more and more entangled in his own web of fear and paranoia: those outside know he is there, they want him, they want his wealth, and they are inevitably going to get him ...

Diziye konu olan olaylarda hep tanıdık temalar hakim. Almanya’da gündelik yaşamı etkileyen ya da geçmişte etkilemiş olan her konu, dizide ele alınıyor ya da alındı: Almanya’nın birleşmesi, terör, organ ticareti, küreselleşme, ırkçılık, uyuşturucu kullanımı, çevre skandalları, çocuk istismarı, işsizlik, sanayi suçları, yaşlı bakımıyla ilgili sorunlar, ya da eş bulma hizmetleri. Gerçek yaşamdakinden farklı olarak, toplumsal ayrılıklar “Tatort”ta her zaman çözülmese de, cinayetin faili her zaman bulunuyor ve pazar akşamı herkes yatağına huzur içinde gidiyor. Edebiyatbilimci Jochen Vogel’in sözleriyle “Tatort, Alman toplumunu anlatan bir roman.”