Zurich – In their third “crime scene”, the Zurich detectives are confronted with a bizarre artist, a money-hungry gallery owner, a cosmetic surgeon and a swimming instructor with dementia. The exciting case “Schattenkinder” (Sunday, March 13, 8:15 p.m. in the first) also reveals a very personal secret of the duo’s junior partner.

The investigators Isabelle Grandjean (Anna Pieri Zuercher) and Tessa Ott (Carol Schuler) had a hard time with each other in the first two episodes from Zurich, but are now finding each other.

“Something deep begins to connect the two,” says actress Zürcher of the German Press Agency. “Isabelle is the perfectionist, Tessa is more wild and punky, but when they both bring their strengths together, they can push their limits as a team. Then they are like a superhero with two heads.”

The case begins with a body being found. In a factory hall, the plastic surgeon Beat Gessner (Imanuel Humm), who was lured there, discovers his son Max (Vincent

Furrer), early 20s, hanging from the ceiling as if staged. The investigators found that the dead man had a shaved head and tattooed not only on his face but also on the cornea of ​​his eyes – an unspeakably painful procedure. A camera lives in the hall.

The trail leads to the artist Kyomi (Sarah Hostettler), who markets Max and two other young people as art objects. The young people are devoted to her like a cult leader.

“We need to connect with the pain,” Kyomi lectures. “A wound has to be seen to heal.” As it turns out, Max was abused by his swimming instructor as a boy. The other two also come from broken family backgrounds.

Treating child abuse in an entertainment format like a detective story requires sensitivity, says Zürcher, who comes from francophone Switzerland and speaks any French in real life, just like in her role. “Yes, it can be distressing,” she said. “As actors, we are the mediators of a difficult topic here. That’s why the concentration on the set is particularly high, higher than in a comedy.”

The successful cosmetic surgeon is not the only one who is shady, he couldn’t cope with his unstable son and doesn’t tell the whole truth. What is the role of the gallery owner who wants to make money with video installations by tattooed young people? And what drives the artist who seems to have a hypnotic effect not only on young people?

Commissioner Tessa Ott also seems to fall under her spell. She wonders what the point of disfiguring young people like this. “If I no longer recognize myself in the mirror, will that free me from myself?” she muses in one scene. “Then you need glasses,” is Grandjean’s succinct answer. In the course of the investigation, she gets to know one of the darkest sides of Ott’s life. The two-headed superhero finally uncovers unexpected family ties, and although she cannot prevent a spectacular fire scene in the end, she can save other victims from death.

Swiss “Tatort” thrillers tend to have a hard time with the public. “This opinion has become so ingrained that Swiss “Tatort” are supposedly not good, but that’s not fair,” says Zürcher. “We can keep up with the others.”