It is September 1929, approximately four months since the resolution of the case of the Sorokin gold. Gereon has grown distant from Helga after a troubling revelation. Greta faces charges for her role in the assassination of Councilor Benda. The Armenian's friend and business partner, Walter Weintraub is released from prison. Dr Ullrich, the police forensic analyst, takes his fingerprints as part of the Berlin police's new directory. Charlotte takes her forensics examination as a new Assistant Detective.
In Babelsberg, the famous actress Betty Winter is killed by a falling spotlight while filming a scene for a film being funded by The Armenian. Gereon and his team are assigned to investigate.
Tropes:
- Boom, Headshot!: The first thing we see is a man shooting himself in the head, probably due to the Crash of 1929.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: How Alfred Nyssen thinks of himself as a "manic-depressive". Indeed, he becomes this in fact as he is the only character to foresee the imminent 1929 stock market crash (The Great Depression).
- Chekhov's Gun: Weintraub's switchblade
- Chekhov's Skill: Minutiae
- He-Man Woman Hater: Dr Ullrich judges Charlotte for her forensics examination by much harsher standards than her male colleagues, and even goes out of his way to embarrass her regarding an obscure subject.
- How We Got Here: This episode's cold open shows Gereon stumbling around a building, in the middle of an anxiety attack, while all around him the catastrophic effects of the Crash of 1929 unfold, including people committing suicide.
- Historical Domain Character: Gennat, the Homicide chief, was a real person and a famous investigator in his day. While he only made cameo appearances in the second season, he plays a much larger role in the third.
- Troubled Production: In-universe. The film being funded by The Armenian's criminal syndicate has been plagued by multiple mysterious "accidents", the most recent being Betty Winter's death.
- Two Scenes, One Dialogue: A variation. Charlotte explains the systematic steps of examining a crime scene and conducting an investigation for her forensics examination, intercut with Gereon carrying out those same steps while investigating the murder of Betty Winter
