In a flashback to two weeks earlier, just after Dr Ullrich discovered a key breakthrough but was rudely dismissed by Gennat, Ullrich visits the offices of the beverage supplier for the film shoot. He reveals that he knows they, the Gozstony brothers, are behind the murder of Betty Winter, because Felix Krempin was killed by a weapon registered to them, confiscated in a raid some time ago. Instead of outing their guilt, Ullrich blackmails them into continuing the killings until the case becomes a media sensation that can glorify the forensics department.
The surgery on Charlotte's sister's eye backfires, rendering her almost entirely blind.
Benda's widow meets with Wendt, and turns over her husband's encoded journal over to him. The journal implicates Zoergiebel, the Chief of police, in directly ordering the ''Blutmai'' massacre. Wendt uses this to blackmail Zoergiebel into resigning.
Charlotte discovers that the evidence implicating Weintraub is impossible, if not planted. Dr Ullrich acts impulsively.
The evidence implicating the conservative camarilla travels from Marie-Luise Seegers, to Frau Behnke, to Gereon. Gereon calls Graef to analyze the microfilm at the police headquarters.
Gereon, Charlotte, Gennat, and Graef carry out a final confrontation with Dr Ullrich.
Tropes:
- Adaptation Deviation: In the novel adapted by this season, Gereon is the one dying of an insulin overdose who Charlotte is rushing to save. The situation is flipped in this adaptation.
- Call-Back: One of the two men responsible for Betty Winter's death and the various other acts of sabotage plaguing the film shoot is the Hungarian gangster who The Armenian fed his own brother's tongue as "octopus" in the first episode of the series. The other is said brother.
- Chekhov's Skill:
- Minutiae finally fires in this episode.
- Also Helga being a former nurse, thus knowing how to perform a gastric lavage.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Ullrich stabs his assistant, Weishaupt, in the neck with the Phantom's knife, and he slowly chokes to death on his own blood while Ullrich watches.
- Damsel in Distress: Charlotte is rendered unconscious by Ullrich, who also injects her with an insulin overdose and hides her away. Gereon has to race against the clock to save her life.
- Dead Man's Switch: Ullrich threatens to expose the Goztony brothers with the evidence version of this in order to prevent them from simply killing him outright. Later, when exposed, he also rigs a makeshift device that would hang Gennat if Gereon and the others interfere with his delusional summation.
- A Father to His Men: Stennes expresses extreme disapproval at Wendt viewing his men, Pechtmann and Kessler, as disposable.
- Glad-to-Be-Alive Sex: Helga and Nyssen
- Interrupted Suicide:
- Nyssen attempts suicide by overdosing on sleeping pills, but his life is saved by Helga finding him and pumping his stomach.
- Upon Gereon announcing that he found and saved Charlotte, Ullrich tries to shoot himself, but Gereon is quick enough to intervene, and the shot misses.
- Previously on…: This episode's recap focuses particularly on the various slights Gennat has dealt to Ullrich during this season.
- Rage Breaking Point: Or in this case, murder-inducing. Ullrich blackmails the Gozstony brothers into continuing the murders simply because Gennat was rude to him for interrupting an important meeting.
- Relationship Upgrade: Helga and Nyssen
- The Reveal: The killers/saboteurs sought to enact revenge upon The Armenian for past transgressions, but were blackmailed by Ullrich to continue killing.
- Sanity Slippage: Ullrich completely loses it when exposed and cornered, imagining giving a lecture regarding both his forensic findings and crimes to a crowd of adoring reporters.
- Spotting the Thread: Charlotte observes that the Phantom had been wearing gloves, and thus leaving a print on the knife would have been extremely unlikely. She also discovers that the print in question is reversed from what it should be, suggesting to her that the evidence has been forged.
- Straw Misogynist: Boehm claims he disapproves of women on the force because they bring dramatic incidents into the workplace.
- The Summation: Ullrich summarizes the events of the murders and his attempts at misdirection to an empty lecture hall he delusionally believes is full of adoring reporters.
- Villainous Breakdown: Ullrich's instinctive response when Charlotte notices that the forged fingerprints were reversed is to attack her. Within a short time, he's killed Weishaupt, tried to kill Gereon, Charlotte and Gennat, and collapsed into complete hallucinating insanity.
- Vomit Indiscretion Shot: Helga induces Nyssen to vomit in order to save his life from a suicidal overdose.
