Commissioner Rex (character)

Childhood

About childhood Rex tells a special two-part edition of "Baby Rex - a four-legged detective." According to this film, Rex is the son of a famous shepherd named Athos. Its owners, breeders by the name of Antonius, receive many offers to sell the puppy, but they prefer to keep it. Criminals steal a puppy, and he finds himself with a boy Benny, who recently lost his father. The owners find Rex but agree to leave the puppy with Benny. Rex later finds out the criminal who prepared his abduction and, together with Benny, helps the police arrest him. A dog named Rhett Butler, who became the second Rex in the series, as a puppy, took part in the filming of a film about little Rex. ^[one]

Rex and Moser

At the time the series began, Rex worked in the police with his master Michael. They go to the next crime scene in the city center. A skirmish ensues between Michael and the criminal. Master Rex, wounded in the heart, dies right at the scene. The following days Rex spends in a deep depression. He refuses to eat and drink. The dog is interested in the commissioner of the criminal police, Richard Moser, who is investigating the case where the criminal appears, from whose hand Michael died. Rex runs away from the nursery. Moser knows where to find him: he catches Rex in the cemetery and tries to console the dog. They become friends. At the same time, his wife leaves Moser, taking all the furniture with her. Rex helps Richard to endure difficult times, and he takes the place of the deceased owner. The dog begins to live on Moroccanergasse 80. Richard needs to pay for the apartment, but he has little money and he is looking for new housing. Rex finds a house near Vienna at Purkersdorf, Waldstrasse 8. The landlord first objects to the dog, but when Rex saves the house from the danger of fire, he agrees to rent the house to Moser.

The appearance of a new member of the team did not bother Moser’s colleague, Peter Hellerer, but provoked protests from Ernst Stockinger - he was panicky afraid of dogs.

In 1996, Stockinger asked for a transfer to Salzburg . The first case without Stockinger is complicated and confusing. Rex rescues Christian Beck, who becomes the inspector of the criminal police and the new colleague of Richard and Peter (series "Deadly Racing").

Two years later, in 1998, the team was investigating the serial killings of women. During the investigation, Richard met with the psychologist Patricia Neunhold. The killer chooses her next victim and kidnaps her. Richard himself hoped to stop the maniac. But he makes a serious mistake, and eventually dies from a bullet fired by a killer in his heart (series “The Death of Moser”). Actor Tobias Moretti , who played the role of Moser, could hardly endure filming, as he was allergic to dog hair. This was one of the reasons that prompted him to leave the series ^[2] .

Rex and Brandtner

Rex is depressed again. Beck and Hellerer are trying to distract him from gloomy thoughts. At the same time, a new commissar, Alexander Brandtner, played by actor Gideon Burkhard, enters the team. Prior to joining the killing department, Alex worked in the quick reaction squad with his dog Arco. But as a result of one of the tasks, Arco dies in the explosion. Alex is transferred to the murder department. He no longer wants to work with dogs. Rex, in turn, does not want to go to work, eat and sleep. And one day, when Beck once again came on duty with Rex, Alex wanted to get to know the dog better. And so begins the friendship between Alex and Rex.

Time passes and Hellerer leaves the team. He inherited a restaurant, and at the request of his mother he needs to manage it. Hallerer is being replaced by a new person from the theft department - Fritz Kunz. In season 7, Brandtner and Beck disappear. As the creators of the series explained: "Burkhard and Weixelbraun did not want to continue the contracts." Although Burkhard stated the opposite in his interview: "Hayek and Moser did not consider it necessary to renew my contract."

Rex and Hoffman

After a while, new people come to the team. The commissioner is Mark Hoffman (actor Alexander Pshill ). The first woman in the team, Nicky Herzog ( Elke Winkens ), was appointed to the position of inspector. Pschill successfully got along with the dog who played the role of Rex; I even had to make sure that he did not overfeed the animal ^[3] .

Rex and Fabbri

2008 is coming. Rex has long been dismissed, but constantly escapes from the nursery to the commissariat, where Kuntz, who has become a major, looks after him. Italian commissioner Lorenzo Fabbri, who arrived in Vienna on business, becomes attached to Rex and takes him with him to Rome . Rex quickly gets used to the new owner, but at first refuses to eat, because in Rome there are no sausage rolls so loved by Rex, but soon he still gets used to Roman sausages. Rex and Fabbri have unraveled a lot of complicated cases, but at the beginning of season 14, Fabbri dies, having exploded in a car in front of Rex.

Rex and Rivera

Already in the next series, the eccentric David Rivera is appointed to the commissar's place. Rex at this time again becomes depressed and begins to run from everyone. However, David did not want to take him at first, because his grandfather, the dog breeder, told him, "The owner can have many dogs, but the dog has only one owner." However, later he still decides to make friends with Rex, and soon he succeeds. They make up an excellent team that has revealed dozens of cases.

Rex and Terzani

In season 16, Rivera disappears from the action, like Brandtner, and Rex lives with his partner Alberto Monterosso. However, during the next case, he was wounded, and from death he was saved by Commissioner Marco Terzani, who was appointed to Rivera's place. He immediately imbued with sympathy for Rex and takes it to himself. He remains the owner of Rex to this day.

Rex and Mitterer

At the end of season 16, the creators planned to transfer the action from Rome to Merano , and in a special episode “Ice Age”, Rex’s new commander became Merano Police Commissioner Andreas Mitterer. He has been a widow relatively recently and is still depressed. However, he quickly managed to get along with Rex, and their joint business was closed successfully. The absence of Marco was explained by the fact that he worked with Interpol, and this allowed him to return to action in the next season.

The role of Rex was played by six dogs ^[4] :

• Santo von House Ziegelmeier (1994-1997), unofficial nickname - Bij ^[1] ;
• Sokko von House Ziegelmeier (1994-1997);
• Rhett Butler (1997-2004);
• Henry (2007-2010);
• Nick (2010-2012);
• Aki (2013 - present );

Santo and Sokko were raised by the well-known trainer from the USA, Teresa Ann Miller, who professionally prepares animals for filming ^[2] . Dogs had to perform complex tricks: for example, in the series screen saver, Rex jumps out the window, breaking the glass. The number was made after lengthy preparation: mica was inserted into the frame, which, breaking, did not harm the dog ^[2] .

The Russian newspaper Kommersant, in one of its ratings, named Commissioner Rex one of the most famous dogs in the world ^[5] . The name "Commissioner Rex" has become a household name for a service dog, especially a German shepherd ^{[6] [7] [8]} .

Dog handlers note that the image of Rex in the film is an artistic fiction: service dogs cannot make decisions on their own, make logical conclusions - they simply follow the orders of the owners ^{[9] [10]} . In the series, Rex performs a variety of tasks, while real service dogs, as a rule, are trained for one thing ^[11] .

• Fedunina O. V. The investigation is conducted by Commissioner Rex: the image of a service dog in a police series // Bestiary in literature and art: Sat. Articles / Scientific. ed. O. L. Dovgy, comp. A. L. Lvov. - M .: Intrada, 2012 .-- S. 134-140. - 183 p. - ISBN 978-5-8125-1750-2 .

• http://en.komissarrex.wikia.com