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Reviews
Midsomer Murders: Drawing Dead (2018)
Comic books murder(s).
Whew! What a relief! Finally a descent episode which is much more better than the two previous ones. Moreover, the last episode written by Jeff Povey (Last Man Out) was a disaster, but this time he invented a very tricky plot with an astounding twist in the end! Bravo!
First of all, it is the entourage that charms at once. Comic book festival, freaky people dressed as comic characters, attractions, stylish amusements - what a nice background for a breath-taking story! The comics theme is perfectly represented here, and the level of the comics is not so low, by the way. It's not Marvel or DC, of course, but nonetheless the comics we see in this episode are pretty decent. It was absolutely hilarious how Barnaby and Winter were represented as comics characters in the final scene! Loved it immensly!
The level of the acting is decent too. Every character is a personality with his or her own story, these are not stock characters we can see here but people with their own wishes, fears, intentions.
The story is very entertaining and asorbing too. Though towards the end it starts dawning on you who the culprit is, still the plot is intricate enough and has its twists. This episode closer to the classic Midsomer films than the two previous ones, that is for sure. I like the most the episodes where the murders are connected with something that happened in the past, where there are dark secrets and everything actually is not as it looks at first sight. And, finally, the first murder took place not in the opening scenes!
There is only one minor observation to make - it's highly doubtful that the robbery and murder cases are investigated by the same people. I presume that the break-ins and the murders usually are investigated by different police departments, aren't they??
Nevertheless, this is a highly enjoyable episode which will please greatly every Midsomer fan!
Midsomer Murders: The Ghost of Causton Abbey (2018)
Fresh blood for Midsomer.
It is highly pleasant to note that some welcome changes have taken place concerning our favourite and much loved series "Midsomer Murders". It is not only the new character that has been introduced - we have finally seen new names among the script writers. This fact encourages us to believe that the traditional plot scheme will be abandoned and new impressive plot twists will be found.
The first episode of the Season 20 inspires hopes. First of all, we get acquainted with a new pathologist Fleur Perkins who really makes much of an impression. She might not be liked by fans because she contrasts sharply with any other pathologist we've seen throughout the series both in appearance and character. Hopefully she will fit in the team.
Another surprise - the victim is not killed in the opening scene! Someone gets killed though right in the beginning, but it is not the victim whose death will be investigated, which marks a certain break with a traditional scheme when the main murder took place in the first scene. There was nothing bad about it, but I sometimes feel nostalgia for earlier episodes when there was some plot development before the murder was committed and the audience got to know the victim better. In the latest seasons the first victim was always killed right in the beginning and we knew from less to nothing about her/him.
As for this paticular episode, it was not so great as expected. First of all, it should have been titled "The Curse of Causton Abbey", not the "Ghost" because we see practically nothing of the Ghost except for a couple of mentions. Second thing - as it sometimes happens in Midsomer, the murders might be very loosely connected with the major subject of the episode, like it is in this one. Neither the curse legend nor the beer are eventually of any importance for the final plot twist. It is sad that both the brewery and the story of the killed monk serve merely as a background and bear no importance. The motive for the killings was too far-fetched and not especially convincing. There is only one good thing to mention - for the first time for many years we can see something similar to a collusion and the murder acts not on his own, but this plot line does not follow to its logical end either. Repeated introductions of interracial marriages can surely be regarded as a fad. In addition to this we will witness a gay relationship between two black guys - nothing against it, but this story line does not see any logical development either and is abandoned very quickly which makes think that it was introduced as a tribute paid to modern fashion. Sometimes it becomes clear that the plot is a little bit contrived, artificial, and even preposterous. Many characters are very quickly forgotten, some story lines are loose. Hopefully next episodes will be far more better that this one. Still, it was great pleasure to watch - anyway, it is the first episode of the new jubilee Season 20!
Midsomer Murders: The Dagger Club (2015)
A classic Midsomer Murders episode.
The new Season 17 of my most favorite series Midsomer Murders contains only 4 episodes - what a disappointment for a real fan of the series. I hoped that there would be at least 6 new episodes - but no, only 4, and that's really disappointing. But there is one good thing - the start was pretty good, they started with a classic episode of Midsomer which contains everything we like about the series - bizarre murders with a roulette, a whole gaggle of suspects, red herrings everywhere, and all these twists and turns that make Midsomer Murders so special. This electric roulette stuff might not be so logical but it pretty sure is very ingenious and elaborate. The episode also contains a certain degree of drama which also makes it really good. The plot is very well built, logical, keeps the viewers electrified, and of course brilliant unmasking of the killer in the end (certainly the killer turns out to be the person whom you would have never thought to be capable of such a terrible thing as murder). All in all it's a perfect start for the new season, considering the fact the further episodes are going to be extremely dull and boring. This episode is the only from the whole series that I would like to watch later once again.
Midsomer Murders: The Sicilian Defence (2013)
They wanted to disappoint their fans once again - and they did it!
It's probably the worst episode of the whole season. The chess theme was brilliant of course, but alas - another perfect opportunity wasted for nothing! The first thing that repulses - the nauseating melodramatic touch that goes right through the whole episode. Some inconsistent love story of two youngsters eloping, then one of them loses her memory and recovers exactly one year after... Seems to be a bad love novel. There was little suspense and thrill in this episode, very little logic too. The motive - to prevent exposing by a meticulous writer the truth about some blood relationship - seems to be repetitive since it has already been employed just in the previous episode! The solution is quite predictable, no surprise at all. And I don't even mention some bizarre things like snow-white teeth of Finn who had been held imprisoned in some kind of a basement for a whole year - who brushed his teeth, I wonder?? There are many such particulars that really are annoying. I stopped the film 10 minutes before it ended and, totally uninterested, deleted the file - without any regret. If the MM team continues to use such terrible scripts for further episodes then we can say farewell to good old Midsomer.
Midsomer Murders: The Dark Rider (2012)
The masterpiece of the 15th season.
A really good classical MM episode! Aitkens did again a terrific job! The scripts written by him are always unique and unexpectedly twisted. Though this episode reminds of the first Aitkens' script "The vixen's run" (family secrets and so on), still it remains genuine and fresh. The idea of a horseman without a head is just brilliant and was fulfilled in a very convincing, unobtrusive way. Twin-brothers, one of whom gets killed and another one is doomed by the Headless Horsemen - another good idea of Aitkens. The allusions to the English Civil War are also to be mentioned here. And of course - the family feud between the DeQuettevilled and the Fleetwoods - the favourite artifice of Aitkens who presented us once again a real masterpiece that is certainly worth seeing twice. Aitkens managed to create the atmosphere of suspense and mystery evolving around an ancient family ghost, at the same time it all doesn't seem to be the raving of a madman, the plot is built very logically, no loose end or unexplained tricks, you fully enjoy an intellectual battle with the suspense master like Aitkens. And of course the biggest surprise awaits you in the end since the identity of the culprit is absolutely unexpected, though the motives are quite understandable and comprehensible. In one word, Aitkens did it again. It seems that he is the only script writer who saves the series nowadays.
Midsomer Murders: Murder of Innocence (2012)
Not worth seeing twice, you won't remember anyway who is who.
A very unusual episode in many ways. First of all, the characters you have already got used to start behaving in an unusual way. John Barnaby turns out to be a complacent and arrogant man which he wasn't in the last series. Sergeant Jones is in the middle of a relationship (?) with a girl from the fire brigade. And what is happening to Barnaby's wife? Why does she keep on changing her hobbies and passions from one episode to another? Second thing, the number of secondary characters is so big that you can hardly remember who is who. Some characters pop up without even being shown at all like some woman barrister who got burned (or do I get things mixed up? Whatever). The characters get killed very easily, without any plan or any certain scheme, just for the sake of the elimination. Nevertheless there is almost no-one to suspect! All remaining characters are so uninteresting and pallid that you don't even expect them to turn out as culprits. But the identity of the killer is another "pleasant" surprise. Not only had he been barely shown before, he is the personal acquaintance of Mrs. Barnaby. What a striking coincidence! Though totally unusual this episode might be, it is totally far-fetched and unconvincing that you start yawning on the 10th minute.
Midsomer Murders: Written in the Stars (2012)
Another possibility of a good plot wasted.
It is quite understandable that every good show tends to a decline with time since the authors start running out of ideas. Something similar happens to those who create MM films. It obviously becomes more and more difficult to invent new motives for killings. Standard motives like hate, love, greed or revenge can't satisfy any more since they have been employed in MM plenty of times, so the authors of the script put very much effort to exercise in their fantasy to invent something unusual and surprise the audience. But this time they exceeded any-one's expectations. A bunch of amateur astronomer's killed in a brutal way in order to keep in secret the information about a newly discovered planet. I presume that such a twisted plot belongs to a science fiction movie than to a good MM episode. Starting watching the film you expect to find some intrigue based on sinister divination, grim future-telling or mysterious incantations, instead you will have to deal with a plumber and an alcoholic who consider themselves great scientists and get killed in succession because of some distant planet. The total disappointment that you will experience after watching this episode has certainly been written in the stars long ago.
Midsomer Murders: Death and the Divas (2013)
It could have been better.
As it has been already remarked in other reviews, you expect much from this film since the idea seems to be quite fruitful. The theme of horror movies has not been explored in MM yet and one could have expected something quite spectacular. While watching the film you start getting the feeling that you have been deceived once again. A seemingly unique plot turns into something rather boring and inconsistent. The ending is the most disappointing thing: the identity of the culprit was obvious long ago, the motive is far-fetched, the moral ("it's all about a family") too intrusive. Where is the old good Midsomer, I asked myself upon finishing this particular piece.