sgw555

It's like they combined Kimmy Schmidt with a Wes Anderson movie. You might not always be in the mood for it, but when you are, it's perfect. Also, if you (like me) are a podcast geek, you will love some of the references (like how the successful podcaster says her line and then goes into a Squarespace ad - I kept waiting for someone to say they 'put the pub in public radio').

Anyway, highly recommended.

By the middle of episode 3, I kept picturing this conversation in my head:

The writer, director and producers are in the room.

"Guys, they've approved us but they want 4 episodes and we only have enough material for 3," says the writer.

"Well, just write some more stuff in there!" responds the producer.

"Are you kidding?" the writer replies. "I've already explored every tangential diversity-related subplot I can think of and we've already got 12 minutes of reaction shots in every episode. I've got nothing left, man."

"Don't worry," says the director. "If we add 15 minutes of drone shots set to slow, brooding music to each episode, we can definitely get 4 episodes out of this. Everyone will think it's an insightful commentary on the amorality of psychologically-based crime and they will DEFINITELY pick up a second season."

And that's exactly what they did. My recommendation is to watch this while doing housework, because there's so much filler you don't really have to give it your full attention.

I tend to watch formulaic British/Australian murder mysteries (Midsomer Murders, My Life is Murder, Death in Paradise, etc) at night when I'm cleaning the house, so when this turned up on AcornTV I tried it, with relatively low expectations.

But by the middle of the second episode I was totally hooked. Whatever combination of writing/acting/chemistry is happening between the two main characters is fantastic and somehow totally different from the usual stuff in this vein. Instead of the usual unrequited love/stupid flirting + goofy sidekicks that plagues series like Agatha Raisin, these two seem like a real couple who genuinely like each other in a totally non-dramatic way.

Not sure why anyone's criticizing the premise (that crime-scene cleaners would do detective work) since it's no more unrealistic than 3 novelist aunts (like Queens of Mystery) or gardeners (Rosemary & Thyme). Heck, after 22 years, pretty much everyone in Midsomer has been murdered and no one seems to notice that.

Anyway, my only regret is that this only has 13 episodes and now it's too old to be revived.

Definitely recommended.