Overview
- ARD schedules the Ballauf/Schenk case for Sunday at 20:15, with the episode available afterward in the ARD-Mediathek.
- A rehearsal at the Cologne Opera is shattered by the discovery of props worker Elli Zander shot and theatrically arranged, with a missing prop firearm and countertenor David Deycks initially unaccounted for.
- The story leans into backstage intrigue with a masked figure haunting service corridors and further crimes heightening the tension.
- Filming moved between the actual opera house and interim venues in Deutz after the long-delayed renovation forced late script and location changes.
- Haydn’s oratorio frames the production with performances by the Cologne opera chorus, as critics praise the atmosphere but question the case’s punch and draw comparisons to Munich’s recent theatre-set Tatort.