Episode 8

Where did Death in Paradise go? One knows it's off when theme music is changed/"updated". Well, there were some decent seasons. Ben Miller remains the boss. Some may disagree, but I prefer Ardol O'Hanlon to Kris Marshall any day of the week. The episodes worth missing are those when Goodman fawns over Camille, and also when this current DI couldn't keep his mind off Florence. Now, there is neither chemistry nor humor. Where are all the islander extras? Where is the character development? The kid cop is the biggest slacker I've seen in quite awhile. Ralf Little is utterly miserable. Why is he an actor? He's rubbish! Don Warrington seems to have little energy left, or simply couldn't care less. This season's writers know nothing of crime scene evidence. When someone is shot, there is evidence they've been shot where they were standing or sitting. These writers aren't the least bit concerned with that. It's plainly apparent that Death in Paradise, as I've known it, is gone. Should Little appear next season, I won't bother watching. Oh, and I don'tcare about the Commissioner's daughter. What, is she to take over his role? At this stage, who really cares?

Starting to lose the magic this show once had. I don't like the new cast. The cases are not as interesting as when the show started and I don't like the drama they have begun writing in the scripts. I really miss Dwayne, he made the show. The original DI had quirks, but he wasn't whiny and unlikable. The assistant DIs are all the same, French, black, thin females. Can't tell the difference anymore. Marlin is okay, but the chunky short haired lady is not a good fit. I hope this season they make some changes for the better. I'm not as excited as I used to be for a new season. It would also be nice to see some more creativity in the murders. I love the episodes that have the plot intertwined with the customs and traditions of the islands. The last few years have just been blah, I want a new DI. The current one makes my skin crawl a bit.

There were quite a few parts of this episode that didn't stack up. It was totally out of character for Selwyn to sleep with his ex wife, knowing that she was a suspect, although I did like the scenes between them. But the bombshell that he was a father wasn't an exactly subtle way of introducing a new character for the next series.

Unfortunately for the mystery side of things, there was only really one person who could have been the killer, the much repeated fact that the chess pieces were under close scrutiny for much of the time negated many of the suspects being responsible.

My biggest gripe with this episode though is the fact that the completely plausible theory about the 'murdered' dissident still being alive and getting his revenge was dismissed out of hand by the team as being laughable. Why?

In my opinion there's only been one really good episode this season and it has definitely gone downhill since Florence left.

A renowned chess player dies at the table during an important match.

They definitely opted to conclude the series with a low key affair, and this really was low key. It wasn't a bad watch, but for a finale, it was just a bit.... pedestrian.

No denying the presence of Orla Brady, and she did her best to elevate the whole thing, I think the best of this episode were the scenes between her and Selwyn, who's definitely been more present this series, and that's been good. It was nice to learn a little more about the good commissioner's personal life.

There's something just not right about the current setup, and I don't know what it is, Marlon apart, there's just a little bit of sparkle missing, it always came from Camille, Florence, JP and definitely Dwayne, it feels flat somehow.

A few lines resonated about the current situation in The Ukraine regarding Russia, comments about the country's past, and now sadly present.

It's not been the best series, it started off really well, but Florence's moving on has been felt, I think a bit of a shakeup is needed to get it back to where it used to be.

Not bad, but a bit slow, 6/10.

How appropriate that at a time when Russia invaded Ukraine. Here is an episode that references the old sinister ways of the old Soviet Union.

Lucas Rotfeld is a British chess grandmaster who suddenly called it quits in 1987. Now he has come out of retirement to play a game in Saint Marie.

The game has aroused worldwide interest and will be streamed live.

Rotfeld dies during the match. It allows DI Neville to go full steam ahead with the chess puns.

Journalist Maggie Harper interviewed Rotfeld. She has an interest in Rotfeld's activities as a possible informer for the Soviet Union, something that led to the death of a dissident.

Harper also a past with Commissioner Patterson but Neville thinks she is hiding something.

The mystery was enjoyable but it all felt very low key. I noticed that some very different locations of the island was used.