Beyond Paradise - General Discussion

[Door County Cherry]

After leaving the tropical paradise of Saint Marie in search of a quieter life, Humphrey Goodman takes up the position of DI in the sleepy Devon town of Shipton Abbott, the home of his fiancée Martha.

[WildPlum]

It wasn't bad, but it wasn't very good, either. I'll probably watch another couple episodes to see if it comes into its own. I'd hoped the first episode would be stronger.

[dgpolo]

If you're going to get married anyway why start IVF before that? I think the heaviness of the ending brings the whole episode down, all the humor feels out of place because of it. Don't know how the next episode will handle it either. Comedy, even slapstick comedy, was basically what Humphrey was known for, I just feel this plot doesn't feel right for him/them. Maybe after the show had established itself? and the characters were solid? Spoiler for Death in Paradise:

Spoiler

Also pretty ironic considering Camille's news on DiP

 

[Prevailing Wind]

I don't understand trying to open a restaurant, a notorious venue for failure, while being pregnant, especially an IVF pregnancy.

From the moment we were first introduced to the perp, I told the cat, "That's the Guy" (in the parlance of Monk.) AND in viewing the security recordings, it was pretty clear there were blind spots. You're gonna have to do better, Show.

[jrlr]

Unimpressed by the first episode.  Why they have to drag in the boring, tired IVF subplot is a mystery to me - more of a mystery than the plot, anyway.  I'll give it a few episodes, but if it doesn't get stronger, it's not going to keep my interest.

[Door County Cherry]

I finally watched this.  For the most part, I liked it until the end.  I loved the scenery.  It had a relatively light-hearted and comedic tone. 

But then at the end, the woman remembers her husband had an affair, Martha has a miscarriage, and they immediately swap to showing the baby-eating witch picture.  I mean...that feels kind of tasteless. 

On 2/26/2023 at 7:21 PM, dgpolo said:

If you're going to get married anyway why start IVF before that?

They referred back to a lot happening back in London.  I suspect there's more to the story there than IVF that may have delayed a wedding.  But I'm guessing they thought they wanted a wedding but given her age, couldn't wait to try to have a baby until after the wedding so they started right away.

[kimaken]

Overall I liked the show. Humphrey was his same bumbling but brilliant self--the parts with him working with his new police crew were good. For me, the weak part was Martha, her mother, and grandmother (or aunt/great-aunt? I don't remember)--if Humphrey and Martha have been together for a long time now (how long ago was he supposed to have served as the DI in Saint Marie?) Martha's family doesn't seem to like him much--they tolerate him because of Martha, but they don't seem to like/care about him because he's so awkward. Also, Martha seeing a good looking guy (realtor) from her past--makes me wonder if there's going to be "trouble beyond paradise".

Still, it was the first episode so hopefully things will get better.

[WildPlum]

On the plus side, no stupid fart jokes in this episode, but I thought this second episode was pretty "meh" as well.

On the relationship front, "I think I will spend all of our savings on a houseboat to surprise the fiancee/wife without discussing it with her at all" is not a promising thing.

On the mystery front, the setup was fairly good - they developed the urgency behind solving the disappearance pretty well.

But:

Spoiler

Why on earth did the father decide to drive the car over the cliff? It didn't just slowly roll off. "I think I will trash my friend's car because I am angry and then blame it on the handbrake". The brakes will stop a car, no matter what state the handbrake is in.

 

[Prevailing Wind]

I've cancelled Britbox, so I'm done.

[Door County Cherry]

1 hour ago, WildPlum said:

On the relationship front, "I think I will spend all of our savings on a houseboat to surprise the fiancee/wife without discussing it with her at all" is not a promising thing.

It is not.  I think I gasped at that.  And we're supposed to root for him?  Especially since they've clearly been spending money on IVF to try and get pregnant and might need that money again.  Plus, a boat isn't the most practical place to raise a young child.  Tiny spaces.  If they lose sight of the toddler, it could fall off the boat and into the water.  

This felt like even more of a bummer than the first episode.  Another affair.  And the episode left us with unresolved violence.  Angry or sad, the guy almost killed his whole family.  Are we supposed to believe they worked through this? Is that the "happy ending?"  

[WildPlum]

I briefly thought the way this was going was:

Spoiler

The parents would be dead and Humphrey and Martha, who can't have children, would adopt the two little girls, who had no other family. In the talk with her mother, Martha does not actually express an interest *for herself* in having children.

 

[krankydoodle]

I like Humphrey ok but between him buying the houseboat without first consulting Martha and the fact that his apparent rival is played by Jamie Bamber, there's no way I'm rooting for him.

Also, hasn't it only been a week since Martha rented the space? How did they get the cafe up and running so quickly? She also somehow found time to string up lights on the boat.

I also thought it was stupid that Humphrey didn't notice the car rolling away immediately, and that no one seemed to spot the husband leaving the car beforehand.

I'll probably keep watching, but I'm not loving this so far.

[WildPlum]

Not sure what the definition of "cafe" is in the show, but it doesn't really seem to involve a kitchen or cooking - wine, tea/coffee, cheese and pre-made snacks perhaps?

 

[Door County Cherry]

FYI, once the episode has aired, (in this case streamed on Britbox) spoiler tags should not be used. 

[CalicoKitty]

I think what is bothering me about this new show is how very rude the staff is.  In San Marie they all thought he was a bit strange, but they never were rude to his face.  I can't find any redeeming features in any of the people on his staff.  Even the neighbor with the chickens was over the top rude.  I'm hoping the show improves because I like him as a detective. 

[kimaken]

I'm agreeing with everyone here about the stupidity of having Humphrey buy that houseboat without consulting first with Martha. I think the writers were thinking it's a nice callback to the time in Saint Marie when Humphrey bought that run down "yacht", thus a fond memory for him of that time in his life. BUT, he and Martha have been together long enough now to work better as a team instead of doing such a dumb move.

Humphrey's better in his work life--I haven't noticed that much disrespect except from the woman who's a civilian employee, not one of the coppers, but I gather she's surly with everyone most of the time. The sergeant and the uniformed officer I think are still getting used to Humphrey's quirks and aren't quite sure what to make of him, but I think they'll soon like him well enough. For one thing, he does give out "Well Done" comments and encouragement and doesn't come across as "me boss, you underling--do my bidding" so I think another week or two and the team will start working more cohesively.

Jamie Bamber--yeah, I'd throw Humphrey over for that man!

[dariafan]

I’m tired of the he’s awkward. Many of us are awkward. Tell a story !! And when he bought the boat, I was like dude. You have done this.  And it didn’t work out too well.   He seems to have impulse issues   And the rudeness all around him is ridiculous.   Saint Marie seems to be a booming ( and growing island ) , they could move back and Martha could open a cafe there and Humphrey could learn how to sail 

[Maren]

I've enjoyed the mysteries. It's nice that they aren't murders so far. The first one was really good!!

 

But the personal storyline stuff...not a fan. I hate how Martha is letting her mother treat Humphrey so poorly and that he spent the savings on the boat without even talking to her. Neither move is very respectful of the other person. (I do cut Humphrey a tiny bit of slack cause I'd feel desperate to get away from her mom too lol) it was stupid of Martha to hide Archie is her ex and not even think how that would look to Humphreys. The whole personal stuff is just not doing either character any favor. I'd rather they just focus on the mysteries because at least those are well written!

Edited March 10, 2023 by Maren
Run on paragraph

[wanderingstar]

9 minutes ago, Maren said:

I've enjoyed the mysteries. It's nice that they aren't murders so far. The first one was really good!!

 

But the personal storyline stuff...not a fan. I hate how Martha is letting her mother treat Humphrey so poorly and that he spent the savings on the boat without even talking to her. Neither move is very respectful of the other person. (I do cut Humphrey a tiny bit of slack cause I'd feel desperate to get away from her mom too lol) it was stupid of Martha to hide Archie is her ex and not even think how that would look to Humphreys. The whole personal stuff is just not doing either character any favor. I'd rather they just focus on the mysteries because at least those are well written!

This is where I am right now. The mysteries are solid, and I'm enjoying seeing Humphrey again, but the stuff with Martha feels clumsy and inauthentic. Like they've piled a bunch of conflict onto this couple - the IVF struggles, the awkward living situation, the ex-fiance - presumably to create tension, but I'm not sure that was even necessary. Let us see them happy for a bit, so that when conflict does arise, we know what's at stake.

I am enjoying the scenery porn shots of the English countryside. That was one of my favorite things on DiP, and I love seeing it here as well.

Edited March 10, 2023 by Gillian Rosh

[dgpolo]

Did any of you get to see episode 3 tonight? My daughter and I went to watch a Murdoch ep but saw BP in the beginning of the Continue Watching queue so we watched it. I told my sister and she told a FB group. Several people saw it but now no one can find it. I think someone must've made a mistake and dropped it a day early and now they've pulled it again. I wonder if someone's going to get fired?!

[Door County Cherry]

1 hour ago, dgpolo said:

I wonder if someone's going to get fired?!

I'd hope not. It's not like this is Game of Thrones or The Mandalorian.  

[kimaken]

11 hours ago, dgpolo said:

Did any of you get to see episode 3 tonight?

I saw part of it -- paused the play to do something in another room and when I returned, it was gone!

[wanderingstar]

I was able to watch episode 3, and I really enjoyed it. The mystery of the stolen painting was clever, and this was the first episode where I felt like Humphrey and the team gelled. The story with Martha was also handled better in this episode. I found the scenes where she talked with her mom about her late father touching. 

[WildPlum]

I use Britbox via the Amazon Fire and the episode finally showed up last night. (Britbox really needs to up their app game, as far as functionality and timeliness, but that is a rant for another time.) Interesting that they've spun off of DIP but dropped the murder aspect to mystery - I don't mind that, as I am not a fan of the "grim n gritty" school (Midsommer Murders and Vera are as far as I go in that direction), but I have been pondering why it feels like a great deal of the urgency is missing from the episodes, and I think it is the lower stakes involved.

For instance, this episode, the who- and how-dunnit is mildly interesting, but that's all. The thief was obvious from the beginning and it was more like an episode of the old show Columbo, where you knew who the guilty party was at the beginning and you watched Columbo prove it*

I think the reason is that the village is really too small - a 3 officer police station is not going to have forensics, not going to have a coroner - when they arrest the villain in this piece, it shows police trucks/cars and lots of police uniforms who must have come from the main station, where Humphrey's superior is located. It's my rural Western US bias, but here that means that main station is located 25-100 miles away (further in really rural areas).

I do see Humphrey's boss's point. They don't need a DCI or even really a DS in a village that small and there really isn't enough work for them. Uniform patrol for routine small crime, yes - probably at least 3 officers so that there is someone on duty most of the time. That was why Midsommer worked - Barnaby was stationed in the largest town in the area, with a ton of small villages scattered around it, so he could go to villages with what looked like 20 houses, max, and be there in just a few minutes.

The melodrama aspect was better in this episode, Martha's mother and Martha had some nice moments. The houseboat still annoys me.

Also, Fleur! (The actress Anette Badland plays the coroner, Fleur Perkins, on Midsommer Murders). That accent seemed to come and go, even to my non-British ears, though.

 

 

*I understand there is a spin-off coming called "Mrs. Columbo" with I think Kate Mulgrew in the title role and that there is a series on Paramount+ about a woman (Poker Face?) who has the ability to know when someone is lying and has to prove the guilty party - so Columbo seems to be making a come back, 50 years or so later.

[dgpolo]

3 minutes ago, WildPlum said:

The thief was obvious from the beginning and it was more like an episode of the old show Columbo, where you knew who the guilty party was at the beginning and you watched Columbo prove it*

I've been re-watching Columbo this past week inspired by a tournament on Twitter for Classic Columbo Villains.

However this episode actually gave me very strong vibes of Jonathan Creek who also had a painting disappear from a 'locked room'. I knew, here in BP where it had to be and therefore who it had to be. I also knew that the sheep had to be 'Chekhov's sheep' and would eventually become important to the plot.

[Door County Cherry]

3 hours ago, WildPlum said:

*I understand there is a spin-off coming called "Mrs. Columbo" with I think Kate Mulgrew in the title role and that there is a series on Paramount+ about a woman (Poker Face?) who has the ability to know when someone is lying and has to prove the guilty party - so Columbo seems to be making a come back, 50 years or so later.

Poker Face (very enjoyable series) is on Peacock.  I think Mrs. Colombo is available on Tubi.  

[WildPlum]

Interesting, I thought I'd read the "Mrs Columbo" show was in currently development. Maybe the article was using that as a working title for Poker Face. Which I haven't seen because, for reasons that are not particularly logical, while I will pay for streaming Britbox, Acorn and Great Courses/Wondrium, I will NOT pay for second-tier OTA channels, like NBC, CBS, ABC.

[CarpeFelis]

On 3/9/2023 at 6:13 PM, Maren said:

I hate how Martha is letting her mother treat Humphrey so poorly and that he spent the savings on the boat without even talking to her. Neither move is very respectful of the other person. (I do cut Humphrey a tiny bit of slack cause I'd feel desperate to get away from her mom too lol) it was stupid of Martha to hide Archie is her ex and not even think how that would look to Humphreys. The whole personal stuff is just not doing either character any favor. I'd rather they just focus on the mysteries because at least those are well written!

I also hate how Martha is allowing her mother to treat Humphrey, especially after she overheard her telling someone on the phone that he’d called her a crone, which he hadn’t. It’s painfully clear her mother doesn’t like him. 

I’m also getting tired of so many people in this town being rude! Is this supposed to be a caricature of what people in Devon are generally like to newcomers (just wondering; I have no idea what they’re actually like), or are the writers just way overhyping the “fish out of water” trope?

How was it supposed to work that the car went over the cliff, yet the guy wasn’t actually in it but nobody saw him get out? Are we to assume he jumped out after it went over the edge but before it hit bottom, miraculously unscathed?

[WildPlum]

I think this was the 4th and last episode this last week (which, again, did not show up in my Britbox app at all, I had to use search on Amazon Fire to find the series because the Britbox app does not have a search function, like the Acorn app does). I was pretty sure the cliffhanger series ending would be Humphrey seeing Martha kiss whats-his-name (Archie?) - so it wasn't as bad as it could have been.

But I am finding I really don't like Martha or her mother or the rival love interest or the entire IVF storyline, especially as Martha doesn't seem to actually want children. Although, in Martha's mother's defense, I do not believe that any of the info about IVF or failed pregnancies has been shared with her, so all she knows is that her daughter doesn't seem all that happy with her present circumstances - still, pushing/abetting an old suitor on your married daughter and being rude to your son-in-law is not very nice behavior.

The series just doesn't hold my interest the way Midsommer Murders (with John Barnaby) or Vera does, or even Humphrey's episodes on DIP - although the scenery and the characters, and secondarily, the who-done-it murders, on DIP are the stars. Humphrey's also getting a bit "long in the tooth" to be such a bumbling man child as well.

Although, lol at the duck named Selwyn. I do not think the Commissioner would be flattered to have a waddling duck named after him.

 

[dgpolo]

12 minutes ago, WildPlum said:

Although, in Martha's mother's defense, I do not believe that any of the info about IVF or failed pregnancies has been shared with her, so all she knows is that her daughter doesn't seem all that happy with her present circumstances - still, pushing/abetting an old suitor on your married daughter and being rude to your son-in-law is not very nice behavior.

I think actually that her Mom was told about the IVF after the last miscarriage, I'll have to watch again. And they are not married yet, I had brought up before that I thought they would've waited until after they were married to start IVF, I think I would've wanted to wait but...

So there was finally a dead body but it still wasn't, exactly, murder.

The wire grid they use as their evidence board seems very awkward to use, even the paper the use on Dip is better (since you can write on it)

And I think there will be 2 more episodes.

Edited March 19, 2023 by dgpolo
add info

[LakeGal]

I do not like Martha's mother.  She needs to stay out of her daughter's business.  

[Door County Cherry]

This mish mash of very personal strife and cases isn't quite gelling for me.  

But the theme song?  I absolutely love it! 

[Maren]

I really do like the crime stories. I like the Sergeant and the beat cop kid, but the obnoxiousness of the secretary lady is wearing on me. She was really hateful to the cop kid and his having to ride the bike 10 miles (20 round trip!). 

The personal stuff is truly weak tho. I mean, the IVF/miscarriage is enough drama, they really had to add an ex fiance who clearly wants Martha back to the mix? Too much soapy drama and I'm not a fan. I wish they'd drop all that. 

As to the mystery this week, we had a dead body but no murder! I like that they aren't making another English quaint village a mecca of murders lol. I hope the brother gets off. I call PTSD! Lol

[wanderingstar]

Quote

The personal stuff is truly weak tho. I mean, the IVF/miscarriage is enough drama, they really had to add an ex fiance who clearly wants Martha back to the mix? Too much soapy drama and I'm not a fan. I wish they'd drop all that. 

I'm not opposed to the inclusion of the characters' personal lives, but it's just been handled very badly on this show. DiP did a much better job with these types of stories. JP and Rosie's relationship is a good example. He met her on a case, and they started dating. But we only got glimpses and mentions of their relationship. The mysteries were still the main focus of the show.

Martha's cafe, the IVF, the ex-fiance - I'm just not interested in any of it.

I did enjoy the mystery in this latest episode. At least those seem to be improving.

 

 

[sadtvjunkie]

How many episodes are there? I've seen 4. Will there be more? I want to cancel Britbox.

[Door County Cherry]

36 minutes ago, sadtvjunkie said:

How many episodes are there? I've seen 4. Will there be more? I want to cancel Britbox.

6 I believe. 

[WildPlum]

I saw an interview with the actor who plays Archie  and he mentioned there are 6 episodes and

Spoiler

"plenty more to come for Archie and Humphrey's tense relationship."

 

[CarpeFelis]

Martha and Humphrey, you freaking idiots. Have you never heard of adoption? I think Martha only said she doesn’t want children because she doesn’t want to suffer through any more rounds of IVF. That said, I don’t really like Martha much so he’s better off without her.

[wanderingstar]

17 minutes ago, CarpeFelis said:

Martha and Humphrey, you freaking idiots. Have you never heard of adoption? I think Martha only said she doesn’t want children because she doesn’t want to suffer through any more rounds of IVF. That said, I don’t really like Martha much so he’s better off without her.

I'm starting to feel this way as well. If this gets a second season, I'd like to see Humphrey on his own, away from Martha and her mother. I find Archie deeply irritating.

Solid mystery, although I did guess the culprit early on. And I guess Simon Harrison is destined to play assholes in perpetuity.

[mellyf]

I came on here to see if others were as annoyed by the baby storyline as me. At this point, my hope is that Sally Bretton only wants to do one season, and this is how she's being written out, although of course then we would have a heartbroken Humphrey.  I like the dynamic of the other characters in the police station. Even the secretary (?) has grown on me the last episode or two. And the village is gorgeous. 

[CalicoKitty]

Am I the only one that cheered when Sophie broke the engagement?  I thought her character was cute, and she was a good match, for Humphrey on  Death in Paradise.  I do not like her character on this show, and I would like to see him happy with someone else.  The mysteries are good, and I hope there will be more episodes--just without Sophie.  Maybe Simon can make her happy, but I hope Humphrey moves on.

Edited to add:  I was expecting Humphrey and Sophie to solve mysteries together, and for Sophie to be more excited and involved with his work.  The show is going a direction that I did not expect.  It makes me feel that Sophie's character is really not adding anything to the show.  

[wanderingstar]

Decent finale. Solid mystery and a cameo from the Saint Marie contingent (Humphrey has now met two of his successors - Neville and before that, Jack).

Humphrey and Archie fighting was just so silly. The only thing I liked about it was Kelby telling them to break it up. I laughed when he said, "Don't make me take out my baton!"

I guess it's fine that Martha and Humphrey reunited(?) I'm still not into their story, but I do hope that if this gets a second season, this is the last we see of Archie. He's just an annoying character, and I say that as someone who generally likes Jamie Bamber.

[HollyG]

I really hate the baby/IVF storyline. I fast forward through it now and all of the Archie scenes too. I hope it's discontinued if there is a 2nd season. 

[Door County Cherry]

Did the St. Marie scenes feel like they were green screened to anyone else? 

[wanderingstar]

5 minutes ago, Door County Cherry said:

Did the St. Marie scenes feel like they were green screened to anyone else? 

I was wondering about this. It definitely looked like they weren't actually on Saint Marie (Guadeloupe)

Edited April 2, 2023 by Gillian Rosh

[Genus]

On 3/27/2023 at 8:27 PM, CalicoKitty said:

Am I the only one that cheered when Sophie broke the engagement?  I thought her character was cute, and she was a good match, for Humphrey on  Death in Paradise.  I do not like her character on this show, and I would like to see him happy with someone else.  The mysteries are good, and I hope there will be more episodes--just without Sophie.  Maybe Simon can make her happy, but I hope Humphrey moves on.

Edited to add:  I was expecting Humphrey and Sophie to solve mysteries together, and for Sophie to be more excited and involved with his work.  The show is going a direction that I did not expect.  It makes me feel that Sophie's character is really not adding anything to the show.  

Whose Sophie? Don't you mean Martha? 

[abbyzenn]

I didn't care for the first two episodes.  Of all the detectives Death in Paradise has had Humphrey was my least favorite and in those episodes I was reminded of why I didn't care for him.  However being currently laid up in a skilled nursing facility after an auto accident in January there is a dearth of shows to watch so I continued to watch this and it seemed to get a bit better.  The mysteries were okay and the police staff grew on me.  The least interesting and enjoyable part if the Humphrey-Martha interaction.   I will say the final episode left me with a smile on my face.  It was a clever and unexpected ending to have the Death in Paradise crowd.

[CalicoKitty]

9 hours ago, Genus said:

Whose Sophie? Don't you mean Martha? 

Oops.  Thanks for the correction.

[WildPlum]

Well THAT was an expensive reconciliation. "Hey, let's just book last minute flights to the Caribbean, how expensive could it be?" I think it might say something about your relationship that it only really works on a tropical island where there is a lot of rum.

 

Overall, I give the series a 2 out of 5. Some of the mysteries were good, the stationhouse staff grew on me over the episodes, liked the setting. Really, really disliked the personal storylines around Humphrey, Martha, IVF, her mother, Archie. Humphrey was my second-favorite DI on DIP so it took a lot to make me dislike him (for the most part) on this show.

Edited April 2, 2023 by WildPlum

[dariafan]

19 hours ago, Gillian Rosh said:

I was wondering about this. It definitely looked like they weren't actually on Saint Marie (Guadeloupe)

So green screened I thought it was a dream sequence   But i did love the use of the death in paradise theme at the end