The Murders - General Discussion

[Danielg342]

A CityTV original. Starring Jessica Lucas (Gotham).

Episode 01.01, "The Long Black Veil"

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Rookie homicide detective Kate Jameson faces dire consequences when her service weapon is stolen.

Edited March 27, 2019 by Danielg342

[Danielg342]

Episode 01.01, "The Long Black Veil"

I wanted to dive into this because I saw Jessica Lucas in Gotham and I loved her in it, so I was excited she got her first starring gig, because she deserves it.

She just deserves better than this.

I'm not sure there's much to say about this episode other than there's little to separate this show from the other cookie-cutter, paint-by-the numbers police procedurals you see all over TV.

You have your usual tough-talking, poorly developed homicide squad.

Lucas' character, Kate Jameson, follows the beyond well worn cliche of "being the woman who tries to prove she belongs in 'the boys club'."

The officers- except our "golden protagonist"- are all shady characters who are not above less than honourable tactics.

The case itself was a tired retread- man cheats on wife, gets murdered. There were some attempts at twists, but even that (murder dressed up as suicide) has been, um, done to death.

Oh, and the case was resolved with another tired cliche- "The Butler Did It". Well, OK, it was the head of security at a hotel the trysts took place at, but the effect was still the same- we never really got to know him and the show seemed to stick him in there so it can claim they're "shocking", so it's really almost like our murder victim was felled by a piece of furniture.

What's worse is that there really was no attempt at nuance or depth by at least trying to put their own spin on the old tropes...they really just went through the motions and played them very, very, very straight. Boringly so, I'll add.

The only redeeming factor was Lochlyn Munro, who played Jameson's partner, Mike Huntley, for this episode. Huntley reminded me a lot of another Gotham character, Harvey Bullock, and his portrayer, Donal Logue, who played many of the same beats. Like Bullock, Huntley is also a jaded, grizzled cop whose modus operandi is "do what you have to do". What elevates Huntley, like what elevated Bullock, is that Huntley has a fondness for the protagonist, wanting them to succeed and fiercely protects them. Yeah, Huntley may have played a shady trick by planting a gun- but he knew the alternative (Jameson admitting she was careless with her gun, causing it to get stolen and used in a shooting) would likely bury Jameson for good, so he did what he had to do to protect her.

Jameson, of course, repays him by trying to undo what he did, causing him to get shot and likely killed...because Jameson's "too good" to allow that shadiness to pass, only for her to learn "the hard lesson" that she should have just stuck to her, um, other guns.

Predictable, really, and emblematic of what's wrong with this show...killing any chance I'll have of watching it again.

[LakeGal]

I watched it.  I didn't mind it.  I will watch again next week.  It did keep my interest.  

[CarpeFelis]

Just watched the first episode on Acorn and I have to say, the guy who keeps needling her and telling everyone he knows that she isn’t qualified to be a detective is a major jerk but he’s also 100% correct IMO. She behaved like a complete dumbass. First, not knowing any better than to leave her gun unattended in the car?! What is she, braindead? And then later, after Mike plants the fake evidence in the shooter’s apartment, she goes there - alone(!!!) - without backup and without telling anyone where she’s going - and shines a flashlight around in front of a window where anyone on the street could see it, apparently including the shooter, who managed to sneak up on her. WTF was she thinking, going there? Is she really such a girl scout she can’t let the guy WHOSE FREAKIN’ FINGERPRINTS WERE ON THE MURDER WEAPON be caught just because the evidence was switched to keep her out of trouble? Geez, if you have such a guilty conscience, then FFS turn in your badge and admit you were the one responsible for your gun being stolen by someone who then killed someone with it.

I might watch another episode to see if this gets any better, but if she keeps pulling these dumb stunts I’m out.