The Murders

I was so looking forward to this new Canadian series!! Sadly I have to agree this is dull and boring. Police crime and Canada are like ... well what can one say ... they just go together. What has happened to shows like Cold Case and Rookie Blue and Da Vinci's 2 series that all ran multiple seasons? So sorry Murder you just don't measure up with plot or actors. The location, Vancouver is the only stand out with this show!

Reading the numerous pretentious quasi-critics among these reviews is more sad than funny. I like Canadian-style writing, particularly in their crime dramas, but I don't confuse them with the US/Hollywood spawn. Canada isn't the US, regardless of what that might or may not mean to the shallow US market, US-Canada are different societies, actually, as another form of diversity. As British drama varies from its US counterpart, Canada has its own style, and different isn't really a basis for better or worse, actually. Some of the best drama streaming on the internet is Canadian...with less chaff among the wheat than the US TV/movie market. It's often more entertaining with less neurosis than British or US counterparts. "The Murders" is quite good within its boundaries. Vancouver, BC, isn't Toronto, or Los Angeles, or New Orleans, which is not a good or bad thing...it's Vancouver and that works for this crime drama.

This is a great cop drama. While it seems all of you want it to start with a boom, the best TV shows start with a slow burn. The first 8 episodes are creating characters we come to know. As we begin to understand what drives all of them, we have a chance to see where it can go. I watch more TV than is healthy, and this is a great new drama. I guess it seems only the critics have time to post here. This show is great, the characters are multi-layered giving them room to grow, have hardships, and relationships. This reminds me of the Walking Dead which started as a totally low budget show that it appeared only I knew about.

Kate Jameson (Jessica Lucas) is a rookie homicide detective following her respected late father's footsteps. Her mother is running for mayor. On her first day, she loses her gun which is used in a murder. Her corrupt partner directs her in a cover up as they track down the killer. She is conflicted morally about setting up the drug addict killer which ends up with the shoot-out deaths of both her partner and the killer. She gets away scot free but she is forever haunted by the ethically compromised start to her career.

Starting with the title, there is a blandness to this show. The Canadian production is somewhat bland. Lucas is a bit light to do a serious cop procedural. It does start with an intriguing first day for her but it's a slow downhill slide from there. There just isn't anything outstanding in this bland police procedural.

The Murders was never going to be exceptional but it does have a decent cast and its crime drama credentials "could" have amounted to something.

I say "could" because its cloyingly pretentious, preachy, overstated political correctness rob it of much of its entertainment value.

The result is an often tiresome, tepid affair, that's a marginal watch at best. 5/10 from me.