Der Ranger - Paradies Heimat: Zeit der Wahrheit (2020)

Pilot and fire spotter Maik Zerrlinger reports to Jonas a plume of smoke he spotted while flying over the area. Thanks to his report, something worse is prevented. After landing, Maik’s brother Kevin asks him to make another flight to transport something from Poland—a job that would pay well—but Maik initially refuses because he wants to look after his wife, Sarah, who has cancer. She tells him that there is an alternative to another round of chemotherapy: a medication, although it has not yet been approved and is not covered by health insurance. When Maik learns that the medication costs thirty thousand euros, he calls his brother to ask how much the transport flight would pay and makes him assure him that there is nothing illegal about it. On the return flight, Maik gets into trouble, and Jonas Waldeck happens to see him make an emergency landing in a clearing. Fortunately, Maik is only slightly injured, but getting the plane out proves difficult. Since a helicopter will not be available for another two days, Jonas and Kai set up a fire watch. Karl Nollau invites Monika Waldeck to dinner, and they spend the night together. The next morning, Monika is no longer sure whether she did the right thing. Jonas argues with Emilia because her ex-boyfriend Moritz has offered her a job in Greifswald. Jonas is quite jealous, while Emilia tells him that she has the feeling his sister-in-law Rike wants something from him. But Rike has butterflies in her stomach because she really likes Manuel, the wood supplier. Lukas comes home with a black eye after getting into a fight with a classmate who called a girl Lukas likes a slut. Since his mother cannot get through to him, she asks Jonas to talk to him. While Frieda, the team’s new ranger, is on watch by the plane, she fails to notice a marten gnawing through a fuel hose. When Jonas arrives at the crash site the next morning, he smells something and finds the leak. He calls the fire brigade to pump out the fuel. A short circuit occurs, and the plane explodes. Jonas manages to get to safety just in time. The resulting fire, however, damages a large part of the forest, in the very area where Karl Nollau wanted to build his treehouse hotel. He hears about it immediately and then goes to Rike and Monika to tell them that the land swap is now off, since he can no longer build there. When Rike suggests that he could build somewhere else, he counters that it would cost an additional hundred thousand euros, which they would have to cover. Jonas is furious when he hears about it and suspects that Nollau is doing everything on purpose. Monika does not know how to act, because she is now caught between Karl and her children. A visit to the bank does not help Rike and Jonas either; they are unable to get the money. Jonas learns that Maik and Kevin keep hanging around in the woods near the crash site, apparently searching for something. He goes looking himself and finds a suitcase. Kevin insists on getting the suitcase back, but Maik comes to his senses and helps Jonas. At home, Jonas opens the suitcase with help from Lukas’s technical skills. Inside is a Madonna statue that was reported stolen in Poland a few days earlier. Jonas takes it to the police, and Kevin takes all the blame to protect his brother. As a reward, the person who found it receives twenty thousand euros from the Polish police. Jonas gives the money to Sarah so she can buy the medication. After various back-and-forth discussions, Karl Nollau concludes that fifty thousand euros would be enough after all, and offers to make the amount available to the Waldecks as an interest-free loan. That clears the way for the land swap, and Monika is proud of Karl. Jonas shows Emilia the pair of white-tailed eagles that have settled in the park. He agrees that she should take the job in Greifswald, and that they should be like the eagles, who remain faithful to their partners for life.