Deadloch is my favorite murder mystery show in ages.

Hugely enjoyed The Katering Show, which is very funny, so I tried this out on the basis of the creators' involvement, half expecting something along the lines of Touch of Cloth given the marketing.

It turns out to be probably more in the wheelhouse of Fargo though, and I've been pleasantly surprised by how compelling the actual central murder mystery is in practice. The clues and misdirects are really well laid down - 4 eps in, there are still a bunch of suspects I could talk myself into betting on, and the Scandi noir influence is clear without being full on pastiche.

The characters - well, one particular character - are a little broad in the first eps, but they settle down quickly, and the humor pulls back at the right time to pay out the murder plotline. There is some commentary on murder media and coverage, but it’s integrated deftly enough into the rest not to distract, and I really liked that one particular cliché I expected - the dickhead savant detective - was dodged pretty solidly. Dulcie, the lead, is low key and likeable without being dull, and the blur between her personal life and the case feels very plausible for the kind of small town it is (and the stuff about her wife that initially felt like throwaway comic relief might not be after all)

This week's installment was my favorite yet, and if I have any gripes it's that I'm already sorry the show is about half over when Ep 1 and 2 spent so much time introing everyone. I know that's how these shows tend to be structured, but I'm really enjoying how the team feel now they're working together and I can't see how they could make an S2 work.

I'd strongly recommend folks jump in while it's still running rather than binging it all at once, because it is the kind of show that benefits from leaving you hanging for a few days.

Anyhow, give it a shot. I've heard a bunch of people say they had problems searching it on Amazon because it kept offering them Deadlock, but it is worth digging around for, and if the big strokes of ep 1 put you off, it's worth hanging in there.

Submitted June 09, 2023 at 07:02AM by Archamasse https://ift.tt/cY3nTlh