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feng_shui_houseI've been trying to recreate an Art Deco design for several days now, and in between resting my hands I've been watching Midsomer Murders on TubiTV. I'd never heard of them, and got hooked into binge watching.
They were all excellent UP UNTIL the 18th one, season 4 episode 5'Dark Autumn'.
The first few I thought were the best- based on novels. Then they went to screenplays, and were still very good, but occasionally played a little less 'Fair Play'. The Mystery Writers Guild? back with Dorothy Sayers, I believe, felt a mystery should give the readers a feeling at the end, that they had all the clues to reasonably solve it themselves. I suspect they also felt the characters as well as the plot should make sense.
There were leaps with no basis, so many.
The victims were INCREDIBLY stupid- the first one had no warning, but after that, while KNOWING there is a maniac decapitating people etc, people kept walking alone in deserted areas, or even better at night in deserted areas, or in a dark closed shop etc etc. They NEVER did make any attempt to fight back or run or even put their arms up defensively. Heck one of them stood there and let the killer take his walking stick and beat him to death with it.
They gave a very attractive young policewoman a large speaking part. Normally standard officers are just'yes sir, I found this evidence, sir' so I thought maybe she’s the murderer having decided adulterers are criminals and should be executed to keep her town safe. That might have actually made some SENSE,especially considering scene where she and the Chief Inspector say there hasn't been ANY even petty crime in the town in 20 years. Also it was SO OBVIOUS she'd been one of the many many many women this guy was sexing up. I don't know how he'd have time for anything else judging by how many women (mostly wives) he was 'entertaining'.
The main detective picks up the most absurdly tiny bits of information that just happen to fit into the plot- people hear music playing before several of the murders, one person said it was ‘old times’ so he looks at old records he has, and asks the pub where the big band record that he’d seen before went. (why does 'old times' mean big band/1950s, and why does he sort through his own collection?).
The policewoman says they can’t use a mobile investigation unit (a trailer they used in a LOT of investigations) because the locals won’t come near it. So SHE tells them to use this long disused community dance hall. And only ONE person ever DOES come to this dance hall set up with a few tables/chairs and a couple pinboards with photos of the murder victims.A man who picked up some bloody paper comes- which the police SHOULD have already found, since it was scattered all over the murder area- but he's important because he reminisces about how the old community dance hall from the 1950s used to be such a great place. And the chief inspector listens politely to him ramble on about something totally unrelated to the murders- BUT IS IT! *dramatic music* Pretty obvious by now they're setting up a deserted building for the convenience of the murderer.)
The detective finally got a little suspicious of one guy (mostly because the husbands whose wives were cheating on them got killed too, so he was running out of easy suspects). His friend/landlady? Tells them the guy used to phone his girl ’Tammy’ and other people sneered at ‘Tammy’ being an old fashioned name. She lets them into his room and he has a few old movie posters and a manual typewriter and a hand writen manuscript (he had to hand write instead of using the typewriter so he'd have an excuse for killing the secretary he tried to hire who refused to use the manual typewriter or accept his gift of a 1950's dress- everyone's got COMPUTERS and printers in this show). Landlady suddenly is all, oh, gosh, Tammy never called him, he always called her, and complained that she lived in London and he never got to see her.
So NATURALLY, they know they should run to the community dance hall because..um. They think oh, music? And the one guy said it was popular in the 50's!
The policewoman got a vague phone call message, so of course, she had gone alone, without telling anyone, at night, to the deserted empty dance hall. She unlocks the door, immediately drops the keys on a desk (why? why not keep them) and wanders around in the dark for several minutes calling for the young police officer who liked her and would have NO reason for playing stupid games. She got a TINY bit mildly concerned when the keys disappeared, then she wandered some more. There’s 50's music suddenly playing (people had SAID they heard music before the murders) So natually, unarmed, alone, in the dark she follows the music and stands there for several minutes watch a guy acting like he’s hallucinating dancing with someone who isn’t there.
Finally she turns off the music and is all 'that's enough' STILL not wary. He pulls out this huge sharp billhook (the very obvious murder weapon that's already killed several people) and she moves finally. Not really fast, and right in FRONT of him tries to pick up the phone (could have tried that at any time before but no, wait until the guy with the huge knife is inches away).Then she somehow pushes him off with barely a nudge and runs into a room. Shuts and locks the door and stands there, staring at the door. Doesn’t look for anything to defend herself with, until AFTER he’s using the billhook to smash the door, so what does she do? Picks up a CHAIR and smashes at the billhook as it’s coming through the door, thereby wrecking the door even more.
At this point the other detectives show up and easily shove the murderer against a door so he gives up immediately and they sit him down at a table and has to tell the audience everything because otherwise no one will know what the heck happened?
He was writing a book about his mother. She committed suicide when he was 8 and she was 40, but the book is about her when she was 20/21, because she lost her looks and so it's got to be about when she was beautiful. She was 'forced' to be a 'dance hall hostess/prostitute' to support him, using the name 'Tammy'. And again, she lost her looks. I guess dying was ok, but she should have died beautifully? And WHY did he wait so many years to write the book- it wasn't a lot of pages, maybe enough for a short story. Was there a reason he suddenly snapped and went around killing people? (We don't get one)
So he went around killing adulterers (because they weren't nice to women? But this was so well known, for so many years it wasn't like people suddenly discovered it) and any women he decided was 'Tammy', who refused his gifts, or liked other men even as just friends, and the publisher who refused to help him get his book published, etc. And the policewoman was going to be another Tammy, but the young police officer smiled at her and tried to give her a gift, so obviously she's... I don't know...
And of course they thought they were so clever- at the first adulter's funeral there was a wreath with no name, but a quote from a famous poem, 'We'll go no more a roving', which the older detective noticed. VERY OBVIOUS noticing, but nothing said or done.
Younger detective tried to romance policewoman, but she turned him down for some vague, 'bad relationship in the past, almost gave up my job' (which didn't stop her from fooling around with the village adulterer, but I guess that didn't count?), and wouldn't take the gift he had for her.
We get to see the gift at the end as he hands it to older detective- it's a new volume of poetry, including the 'We'll go no more a roving' that young detective had noticed in her home and a bookmark on that page in a really old, tattered book.
WOW, so gosh, what was obvious from the first- she had an affair with the first murder victim, who apparently slept with every woman in the village.
Oh, and also- the murdered publisher mentioned buying a desk that used to belong to a famous author- he bought it from one of the other victims- a guy who got squished by an antique desk pushed off a top shelf in his shop after the murdered lured him there with a bogus phone call, and a 50's big band record playing. The detective had noticed that it was a 78 and apparently he KNEW there weren't any old records like that there (the place was SO CLUTTERED there could have been a ELEPHANT hiding, much less an old vinyl record.)
Anyway, the *important* part was that the antique furniture dealer sold publisher the desk that murderer wanted (maybe he thought owning a famous author's desk would make his book magically get published?) SO additional reasons for killing both of them!
*sigh*
They were all excellent UP UNTIL the 18th one, season 4 episode 5'Dark Autumn'.
The first few I thought were the best- based on novels. Then they went to screenplays, and were still very good, but occasionally played a little less 'Fair Play'. The Mystery Writers Guild? back with Dorothy Sayers, I believe, felt a mystery should give the readers a feeling at the end, that they had all the clues to reasonably solve it themselves. I suspect they also felt the characters as well as the plot should make sense.
There were leaps with no basis, so many.
The victims were INCREDIBLY stupid- the first one had no warning, but after that, while KNOWING there is a maniac decapitating people etc, people kept walking alone in deserted areas, or even better at night in deserted areas, or in a dark closed shop etc etc. They NEVER did make any attempt to fight back or run or even put their arms up defensively. Heck one of them stood there and let the killer take his walking stick and beat him to death with it.
They gave a very attractive young policewoman a large speaking part. Normally standard officers are just'yes sir, I found this evidence, sir' so I thought maybe she’s the murderer having decided adulterers are criminals and should be executed to keep her town safe. That might have actually made some SENSE,especially considering scene where she and the Chief Inspector say there hasn't been ANY even petty crime in the town in 20 years. Also it was SO OBVIOUS she'd been one of the many many many women this guy was sexing up. I don't know how he'd have time for anything else judging by how many women (mostly wives) he was 'entertaining'.
The main detective picks up the most absurdly tiny bits of information that just happen to fit into the plot- people hear music playing before several of the murders, one person said it was ‘old times’ so he looks at old records he has, and asks the pub where the big band record that he’d seen before went. (why does 'old times' mean big band/1950s, and why does he sort through his own collection?).
The policewoman says they can’t use a mobile investigation unit (a trailer they used in a LOT of investigations) because the locals won’t come near it. So SHE tells them to use this long disused community dance hall. And only ONE person ever DOES come to this dance hall set up with a few tables/chairs and a couple pinboards with photos of the murder victims.A man who picked up some bloody paper comes- which the police SHOULD have already found, since it was scattered all over the murder area- but he's important because he reminisces about how the old community dance hall from the 1950s used to be such a great place. And the chief inspector listens politely to him ramble on about something totally unrelated to the murders- BUT IS IT! *dramatic music* Pretty obvious by now they're setting up a deserted building for the convenience of the murderer.)
The detective finally got a little suspicious of one guy (mostly because the husbands whose wives were cheating on them got killed too, so he was running out of easy suspects). His friend/landlady? Tells them the guy used to phone his girl ’Tammy’ and other people sneered at ‘Tammy’ being an old fashioned name. She lets them into his room and he has a few old movie posters and a manual typewriter and a hand writen manuscript (he had to hand write instead of using the typewriter so he'd have an excuse for killing the secretary he tried to hire who refused to use the manual typewriter or accept his gift of a 1950's dress- everyone's got COMPUTERS and printers in this show). Landlady suddenly is all, oh, gosh, Tammy never called him, he always called her, and complained that she lived in London and he never got to see her.
So NATURALLY, they know they should run to the community dance hall because..um. They think oh, music? And the one guy said it was popular in the 50's!
The policewoman got a vague phone call message, so of course, she had gone alone, without telling anyone, at night, to the deserted empty dance hall. She unlocks the door, immediately drops the keys on a desk (why? why not keep them) and wanders around in the dark for several minutes calling for the young police officer who liked her and would have NO reason for playing stupid games. She got a TINY bit mildly concerned when the keys disappeared, then she wandered some more. There’s 50's music suddenly playing (people had SAID they heard music before the murders) So natually, unarmed, alone, in the dark she follows the music and stands there for several minutes watch a guy acting like he’s hallucinating dancing with someone who isn’t there.
Finally she turns off the music and is all 'that's enough' STILL not wary. He pulls out this huge sharp billhook (the very obvious murder weapon that's already killed several people) and she moves finally. Not really fast, and right in FRONT of him tries to pick up the phone (could have tried that at any time before but no, wait until the guy with the huge knife is inches away).Then she somehow pushes him off with barely a nudge and runs into a room. Shuts and locks the door and stands there, staring at the door. Doesn’t look for anything to defend herself with, until AFTER he’s using the billhook to smash the door, so what does she do? Picks up a CHAIR and smashes at the billhook as it’s coming through the door, thereby wrecking the door even more.
At this point the other detectives show up and easily shove the murderer against a door so he gives up immediately and they sit him down at a table and has to tell the audience everything because otherwise no one will know what the heck happened?
He was writing a book about his mother. She committed suicide when he was 8 and she was 40, but the book is about her when she was 20/21, because she lost her looks and so it's got to be about when she was beautiful. She was 'forced' to be a 'dance hall hostess/prostitute' to support him, using the name 'Tammy'. And again, she lost her looks. I guess dying was ok, but she should have died beautifully? And WHY did he wait so many years to write the book- it wasn't a lot of pages, maybe enough for a short story. Was there a reason he suddenly snapped and went around killing people? (We don't get one)
So he went around killing adulterers (because they weren't nice to women? But this was so well known, for so many years it wasn't like people suddenly discovered it) and any women he decided was 'Tammy', who refused his gifts, or liked other men even as just friends, and the publisher who refused to help him get his book published, etc. And the policewoman was going to be another Tammy, but the young police officer smiled at her and tried to give her a gift, so obviously she's... I don't know...
And of course they thought they were so clever- at the first adulter's funeral there was a wreath with no name, but a quote from a famous poem, 'We'll go no more a roving', which the older detective noticed. VERY OBVIOUS noticing, but nothing said or done.
Younger detective tried to romance policewoman, but she turned him down for some vague, 'bad relationship in the past, almost gave up my job' (which didn't stop her from fooling around with the village adulterer, but I guess that didn't count?), and wouldn't take the gift he had for her.
We get to see the gift at the end as he hands it to older detective- it's a new volume of poetry, including the 'We'll go no more a roving' that young detective had noticed in her home and a bookmark on that page in a really old, tattered book.
WOW, so gosh, what was obvious from the first- she had an affair with the first murder victim, who apparently slept with every woman in the village.
Oh, and also- the murdered publisher mentioned buying a desk that used to belong to a famous author- he bought it from one of the other victims- a guy who got squished by an antique desk pushed off a top shelf in his shop after the murdered lured him there with a bogus phone call, and a 50's big band record playing. The detective had noticed that it was a 78 and apparently he KNEW there weren't any old records like that there (the place was SO CLUTTERED there could have been a ELEPHANT hiding, much less an old vinyl record.)
Anyway, the *important* part was that the antique furniture dealer sold publisher the desk that murderer wanted (maybe he thought owning a famous author's desk would make his book magically get published?) SO additional reasons for killing both of them!
*sigh*
no subject
Date: 2026-01-26 06:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2026-01-26 06:50 pm (UTC)