Death and Other Details

Today is February 6, 2024, and I just finally quit watching this series in the middle of the extremely boring 5th episode. I have to admit that I really enjoyed the series in the beginning. The first two episodes are quite exciting and stylish, but that's about it. The whole concept is stillborn, the characters are uninteresting and anonymous, the acting is unremarkable, the writing is boring for such a pre-designed genre as a huis-clos whodunit. The luxury yacht setting is embarrassingly déjà vu, and all the characters look like plastic models from a home-deco ad. There is no sense of class struggle, which ultimately seems to be the theme of the story, as everyone looks like they could be having mai-tais on Wall Street during lunch. What's interesting about shows like The White Lotus or movies like Triangle of Sadness and Saltburn is how the creators are aware that everyone looks good as a statement, and because it's either that or the highway in such deluxe hangouts. This murder mystery seems to be ambivalent about a recognizable way to present the characters and totally unaware of a better way to do it. In the end, the whole story development is substandard and very unambitious. Kudos to the lovely Violett Beane as Imogene, witty and perpetually well-coiffed.

Imogene Scott (Violett Beane) is a guest of her rich best friend Anna Collier (Lauren Patten) on an oceanliner. As a child, Imogene lost her mother in a car bombing and celebrated private investigator Rufus Cotesworth (Mandy Patinkin) failed to solve the case. She was raised by the Collier family. While on the ocean cruise, Anna is in negotiations with the Chun family for a corporate takeover. Imogene is shocked that Chuns have hired Cotesworth. She is further annoyed by Anna's loser brother Tripp's entitled investor Keith. She plays a prank on him who later turns up murdered.

This is part Agatha Christie and part White Lotus. It is nowhere near as good as the best of either. It does have some fun with the mixture. It is pretty good for most of its run until the show gets to the season's big reveal. That reveal presents me with some problems. This really should be a limited series, but it seems to have left the closing open-ended. I hope that there is no second season.

Rating: 5.75 out of 10.

"Death and Other Details" aims to be a clever locked-room mystery set aboard a luxury cruise liner but quickly loses steam with an increasingly unbelievable plot and unsatisfying conclusion. Mandy Patinkin does his best as eccentric detective Rufus Cotesworth but is underserved by the messy writing.

The more significant issue is Violett Beane as suspect-turned-sidekick Imogene Scott. While Beane has done OK work on shows like "The Flash" and "God Friended Me", here she struggles to make Imogene either likeable or believable. For a character meant to be brilliant, her choices defy logic. And despite the show's attempts at sultry intrigue, Beane's lack of chemistry with her co-stars makes Imogene the least compelling (or sexy) young female lead in this type of glossy mystery series.

"Death and Other Details" has a polished look you'd expect from the genre, but not even the glamorous setting can make up for the lacklustre plotting and central performances.

What starts as a mildly intriguing mystery soon becomes absurd, wasting a decent supporting cast on dead-end twists. Diehard fans of TV whodunits may find it passable, but this series is ultimately dead on arrival.

Such a dissapoitment.

I wanted to like this show. I love murder mysteries and I wanted something to fill the between-seasons void of Only Murders in the Building. Unfortunately, Death and Other Details is not it. For starters, the protagonist is a selfish, self-centred, privileged brat who you find yourself rooting against. It's so blatant that even the other characters call her out on it. The amateur writing is evident in the dialogue that often contradicts that of the characters. What also destroys the potential of this series is the constant repetition of scenes. Flashbacks are one thing, but they often show you large chunks of the same scene two or three times and sometimes in the same episode. At eight episodes in, I find myself hoping the villain just murders them all and calls it a day. It is clear that they tried to make this show clever, but it's poorly executed and sloppy. There are some great actors in the series (Mandy Patinkin, Rahul Kohli, Linda Emond, Karoline), it's just a shame that their talent is wasted on this sinking ship.

It is quite obvious that this is meant to be a highbred of white lotus and only murders. And that is completely fine with me. Because in the two episodes I've seen it all seems to be paying off.

The visual style goes along way in helping this voyage be a pleasure cruise. Our story seems to take place in present day, Although the costume design and art direction say otherwise. The acting is top notch and the writing is so far good enough to keep the viewer engaged.

The story as it goes is about an unlikeable person being murdered. So we are never really meant to care about the victim. We are just here for the ride.