Murder in a Small Town

Review: Murder in a Small Town - A Missed Opportunity

I wanted Murder in a Small Town to be a great series. The premise had so much potential-a gripping murder mystery set in a quiet town where nothing ever happens, until it does. But after watching it, I couldn't help but feel that the writers missed a crucial opportunity to make this show truly engaging.

The biggest flaw? The pacing and believability of the murders. Instead of crafting a season-long, intricate mystery that keeps viewers hooked, the show opts for a new murder every other week. The result? A small town with an absurdly high crime rate that completely undermines the show's realism. How can we be invested in a "small-town murder mystery" when bodies are dropping at an unnatural rate? It starts feeling more like Murder, She Wrote on steroids rather than a compelling, believable drama.

What Murder in a Small Town should have done is build a single, well-developed murder case over the entire season. This would have allowed for deeper character development, better suspense, and a more immersive storytelling experience. Imagine the tension of slowly uncovering layers of a mystery, the red herrings, the twists, and the final shocking reveal-all building to something truly satisfying. Instead, we get a new case wrapped up every other episode, which makes it hard to care about any of them.

The show has potential, and it could be so much better. The writers need to step back and rethink their approach. A great mystery isn't just about the number of dead bodies-it's about making the audience care about solving the crime. Hopefully, they course-correct in the future, because there's a great show hidden somewhere in here.

I liked it as I like the hallmark mysteries and this reminded me of one of those - a romance battling with a murder to be the top story. The sets even reminded me of hallmark movies - very folksy. No, it's not going to be a critic darling show, one that gets the attention of the critics, but I like murder mysteries of all kinds so if you do too, you might like this. It has the vibes of a small town, if the small town was Cabot Cove. I find pilots to not always be the best and I do think there are things that can be improved but will let the first few episodes cook to give them a chance to develop.

I don't give any real consideration to the notion that "sleepy" when it comes to TV and movies means "boring". Yes there's a small town slow moving vibe to the pilot but what's wrong with that? American TV and films are often frenetic and loud. That also doesn't mean "exciting" or even good. I never pass up a slow moving film, it's gotta brew so the nuances rise to the top. I'm certainly happy to give this one some time. A nice blend of Canadian actors and a somewhat typical plot but I'm intrigued. The Sutherland progeny, well he has the perfect demeanor for this. I knew he was related just from the voice. If you like sleepy at its finest, check out the Jesse Stone films with Selleck. Those are the gold standard.

I found this show going down the rabbit hole on hulu because of sonething I watched. I absolutely loved the oddity of first episode which had a great storyline. I'm loving the non traditional sorta handsome, awkward sad sac in turmoil main character. Crazy thing is that all I'm seeing is his dad Donald. He looks like him, sounds like him, walks, talks, entire demeanor is his dad...t's kinda freaky! I'm in episode 3, and its getting a little boring but I'm committed.im not sure how I feel about the love interest, seems awkward but may grow on ne. Time will definately tell since I'm only 3 episodes in.

Big city detective moves across the country and becomes chief of police in a small Oceanside town with a small number of interesting subordinates under his command. . Doesn't this make anyone else think of Jesse Stone amd Paradise. I loved all of those Selleck movies, and hope this effort pans out as successful. It seems to have all the makings and so far I am enjoying this show very much. If the writers can come up with the necessary intriguing stories, I expect this series will be successful. Makes me wonder if those writers, as well as all the actors, are watching all those Jesse Stone movies.

I can think of worse things they might do.