Hallmark Mysteries: Mysterious Small Town Hijinks Ensue - General Discussion

[Seelouis]

I liked the new Aurora Teagarden, particularly how the whole club was working together. Good chemistry there. But like all these Hallmark movies, they leave plot holes open. Why did the contractor lie about his alibi and why did he recognize the couple in the photo?  Did the son in law have a consulting business and if so, why no website? And what was he saying on the phone about the father in law finding something out?

[lizzbert]

Why did the contractor lie about his alibi and why did he recognize the couple in the photo?  Did the son in law have a consulting business and if so, why no website? And what was he saying on the phone about the father in law finding something out?

I've got it! The contractor and the son-in-law were having a secret affair, ha ha. 🙂 The consulting business was a ruse.

[mikeb]

In the latest Aurora Teagarden movie, I found it funny at one point Aurora said something like 'time for a Real Murders club meeting' and it ended up just being her, Nick, Sally, Phillip, and Davis.  I agree there were a lot of loose ends never explained about the other suspects.  Also the sub-plot of having Phillip doing some work at police station went nowhere.

There was also a big deal early on about the killer knowing where to find extension core used, but there is no way the killer could have known.

[dalek]

Lillian was awesome in the most recent Aurora Teagarden movie.  And I loved that they trapped the murderer in the rolling shelves.  I thought the green shirt/sweater Ro was wearing at the end was hideous.  Loved the color, but the frills killed it for me.

[MerBearHou]

I finally got to see the new Aurora Teagarden movie tonight and really enjoyed it.  Sally is my favorite of all of the characters — her personality is delightful and Lexa Doig is very funny in such subtle ways.  Lillian was great and I’m glad they utilized her a bit more.  Loved how surprised and touched she was to be a reader at Aurora’s wedding.  Agreed with the posters above about how everyone seemed to have meatier parts this time.  I may be in the minority but I think Nick/Niall is a big old sappy bore.  His frequent lame-o puppy-dog stares at Aurora and frequent “I just want to talk about marrying you” and his inserting psychology tidbits a bit too often would drive me NUTS.  But I enjoyed the story, the twists and the sting.

Edited March 18, 2021 by MerBearHou

[Dixie Sugarbaker]

If Hallmark decides to another another murder mystery series, I hope they consider a series with Kimberly Sustad and Paul Campbell. They are one of my favorite Hallmark duos and I could see them in a wise-cracking, witty, His Girl Friday type of murder mystery movie.

[Miss Bones]

On 3/16/2021 at 8:22 PM, dalek said:

Lillian was awesome in the most recent Aurora Teagarden movie.  And I loved that they trapped the murderer in the rolling shelves.  I thought the green shirt/sweater Ro was wearing at the end was hideous.  Loved the color, but the frills killed it for me.

Ugh it was so ugly!  The frills reminded me of romaine lettuce.

On 3/17/2021 at 10:26 PM, MerBearHou said:

I finally got to see the new Aurora Teagarden movie tonight and really enjoyed it.  Sally is my favorite of all of the characters — her personality is delightful and Lexa Doig is very funny in such subtle ways.  Lillian was great and I’m glad they utilized her a bit more.  Loved how surprised and touched she was to be a reader at Aurora’s wedding.  Agreed with the posters above about how everyone seemed to have meatier parts this time.  I may be in the minority but I think Nick/Niall is a big old sappy bore.  His frequent lame-o puppy-dog stares at Aurora and frequent “I just want to talk about marrying you” and his inserting psychology tidbits a bit too often would drive me NUTS.  But I enjoyed the story, the twists and the sting.

He is a big dull dud!  I preferred Martin, even though they always seemed to have put so much makeup on the actor, and I found it as distracting as Ro’s bad wigs! 

[roctavia]

Excited for the new Mystery 101 tonight.... Love that cast and the storylines seem to make more sense and not a woman with a job completely unrelated to crime/mystery just keeps stumbling upon dead bodies.... 

And this time the lead won't have to hide behind purses and big coats 😛

[KAOS Agent]

20 minutes ago, roctavia said:

And this time the lead won't have to hide behind purses and big coats

I like watching the last Mystery 101 just to laugh at the lengths they went to to cover her pregnancy. Their extensive use of ponchos was inspired.

[LuvMyShows]

Aargh, had a tv mishap and missed the first 18 minutes of the Mystery 101, right up until the explosion.  Can someone tell me what I missed?

[Irlandesa]

42 minutes ago, LuvMyShows said:

Aargh, had a tv mishap and missed the first 18 minutes of the Mystery 101, right up until the explosion.  Can someone tell me what I missed?

They started with the explosion (which I hate--they didn't need to "hook us." )  Then they flashed back about a day before. Travis was in Chicago getting read to testify against a serial killer called The Wolfman."  He's at the FBI and runs into his ex-wife.  He testifies against the killer but then the killer escapes leaving a possible threat against Travis.

Meanwhile, back in Garrison, we discover that Travis's old partner, Claire, got a job in Hawaii and he has a new one.  Amy's student who was seeing her plans to go visit her.  Amy is also hiring a new Dean of Students.

Amy and Travis were going to get together for dinner when the explosion happened. 

[LuvMyShows]

I thought the Mystery 101 was pretty good.  It was weird with that IT guy being a killer, basically tacked on at the end.  And why would Amy, a professor, have been tasked with hiring a new dean of students...and apparently have been the only one to make the actual final hiring decision?  I did notice that when Amy called her dad because Travis was in the hospital, the dad had a nice roaring fire going in the fireplace, and then when Amy mentioned about the hospital, the dad got his stuff together to leave immediately...leaving a roaring fire in the fireplace unattended, which is a big no-no!

43 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

They started with the explosion (which I hate--they didn't need to "hook us." )  Then they flashed back about a day before....

Thanks so much!

[Seelouis]

26 minutes ago, LuvMyShows said:

I thought the Mystery 101 was pretty good.  It was weird with that IT guy being a killer, basically tacked on at the end.  And why would Amy, a professor, have been tasked with hiring a new dean of students...and apparently have been the only one to make the actual final hiring decision?

You missed a few other things in the 1st 18 minutes that answer some of these questions. The original head of the hiring committee was in a skiing accident so the university president asked Amy to take over. There was also a scene at an alumni gathering where Tabby and Joe were together and clearly in love. 

[LuvMyShows]

1 minute ago, Seelouis said:

You missed a few other things in the 1st 18 minutes that answer some of these questions. The original head of the hiring committee was in a skiing accident so the university president asked Amy to take over. There was also a scene at an alumni gathering where Tabby and Joe were together and clearly in love. 

That at least explains plot-wise why Amy was tasked, but it still makes no actual sense, especially her having the sole final decision.  It still seems weird to have had so little about the Tabby/Joe plot during most of the movie, then shoehorn it in at the very end.

[Irlandesa]

16 minutes ago, LuvMyShows said:

It was weird with that IT guy being a killer, basically tacked on at the end.

I pegged him as guilty of something pretty close to the beginning but it was solidified when he came to work on her computer. Nothing good comes from a surprise "gotta work on your computer" visit or email.  But it was a stupid subplot.  Why, if not being alone mattered so much, wouldn't the IT guy stay at the current school where both he and his girlfriend could be high ups? 

And Amy might be on a committee to hire the Dean of Students but she would definitely not be the sole decider. That's not usually how university hiring works.  If it did come down to one person hiring the Dean of Students, it'd be whoever the Dean reports to making that decision.  Barring that, it'd be their boss.  If their boss were indisposed, the position would go unfilled until they were ready to hire.  It's not uncommon for those positions to remain unfilled for months.

It was kind of interesting that this movie didn't really have one mystery but a couple with the house blowing up, the body in the wall, the red herring wolfman and the IT guy. 

 

[roctavia]

I liked the new mystery, it changed things up a bit by having multiple actual mysteries going on at the same time and the big threat turning out not to be a big threat. 

The IT guy was definitely suspicious, especially once he showed up in her office and took her other computer. But I actually didn't mind that they kind of dropped it, since I was waiting for him to come back into the story on the other mysteries and was pleasantly surprised when he didn't.  The misdirect with the shooting was a bit predictable since there was still time left in the movie and you know they were setting up a twist, but I didn't hate it. 

The IT guy was definitely deranged if he was ready to tamper with emails and murder just so his girlfriend would come with him into a new opportunity instead of discussing options like an adult 

I don't think she made the final "final" decision on the hiring, but as the head of the committee who did the interviews, I think she sent an email to the rest of the board with her recommendation that they hire Tabby and then it would go from there, which left a place for him to tamper with the message... except that she would know it wasn't what she sent. Kind of a dumb plan, but people are dumb.

I wasn't sure what to expect with the relationship stuff. I like that they kissed and clearly have feelings for each other and clearly want to be dating.... but I was afraid they were going to be like the Murder She Baked and suddenly be engaged after not even being obviously "dating", so in some ways I'm glad to see progress, but I also don't need them to get married right away.... just be together and solve some mysteries! 

[Clawdette]

I was on pins and needles wondering if they were going to follow through with Chekov’s salt. Thank goodness there was resolution! BWAH!

[GaT]

I hate when I guess who the bad guy is as soon as I see him. I just kept waiting for IT guy to be unmasked.

On the other hand, I thought for sure the ex wife FBI agent was helping the wolfman guy get away.

[freddi]

So glad I found this thread!   I really enjoy Jill Wagner in these Mystery 101 dramas.  I knew as soon as the IT guy offered to take away her computer for a few days (to "replace" it) that this would turn into something.  No academic hands over a computer for a few days. 

Had we really seen Amy's house previously?  This was many steps up (in every sense) from what I remembered.  What a gorgeous home and setting.  

That was sure a *bunch* of coincidences related to the explosion house.  So many family secrets across different families!

And if you have been waiting to kiss someone for (weeks?  months?), maybe ignore that cell phone?  I guess the good news for us is that the next mystery is set to be filmed -- I saw on some social media that they are heading to Vancouver to start filming #7 on April 1.  

Completely agree that the final hiring would not have been up to Amy, but that whole subplot was ridiculous.  A six-day search?  A faculty committee that would go along with that?  Not having someone else on the committee take over?  And the "interview" with the ultimate choice was not exactly an interview, but just a plot point to reveal that the high school computer teacher did not teach chemistry.  That was a very bad lie, by the way, in a small town where everyone knows who teaches what at the high school.  

And now I want a white ceramic salt pig.  

[Seelouis]

7 hours ago, Clawdette said:

I was on pins and needles wondering if they were going to follow through with Chekov’s salt. Thank goodness there was resolution! BWAH!

Ha!  I actually said “Chekhov’s salt pig” out loud as soon as her dad gave it to her. 

Edited March 22, 2021 by Seelouis

[freddi]

I was very surprised that Amy said her mother had died only two years previously.  Back in the book convention plot (#3), I had the impression that the mother had passed away a few years previous to that date; and in that episode, Amy's dad certainly was enjoying his romance (with the killer!).    And I thought that at least two years have gone by since we first saw Elmhurst College?  I'll pay more attention to what they say about Amy's mother the next time the book convention episode is rerun.  

8 hours ago, Clawdette said:

I was on pins and needles wondering if they were going to follow through with Chekov’s salt. Thank goodness there was resolution! BWAH!

"Chekov's salt."  Great!  

[WhyAmIHere]

On 3/20/2021 at 10:23 PM, Dixie Sugarbaker said:

If Hallmark decides to another another murder mystery series, I hope they consider a series with Kimberly Sustad and Paul Campbell. They are one of my favorite Hallmark duos and I could see them in a wise-cracking, witty, His Girl Friday type of murder mystery movie.

I second this!  It's a tossup whether Kimberly Sustad & Paul Campbell or Jill Wagner & Kris Polaha are my favorite pairing on Hallmark.   I like these pairings so much that I prefer not to see them paired with anybody else.  I think that was my main problem with Jill Wagner's Christmas movie in 2020.  Her chemistry with anyone other than Polaha just doesn't compare. 

I really enjoyed the new Mystery 101.  The chemistry between the leads is strong enough that I can hand wave all the implausible plot points.  I figured the IT guy was shady when he took off with her laptop.  I'm glad to hear they are filming another one soon.  

[Irlandesa]

I was reading about the summer movies coming to Hallmark and there was news about the mystery movies as well

It looks like Holly Robinson Peete is getting a new love interest in the Morning Show Mysteries. I'm glad because I did not think she and Rick Fox worked very well.

https://www.etonline.com/hallmark-reveals-summer-nights-schedule-and-6-more-original-movies-exclusive-162675

Quote

Morning Show Mysteries: Murder Ever After
Starring: Holly Robinson Peete and Colin Lawrence
Premieres: Sunday, May 23 
Following a shocking find in an old friend’s basement, TV host Billie Blessings (Robinson Peete) works with new-to-town detective Tyrell Hunter (Lawrence) to unearth a dark secret that threatens to unravel the lives of the most powerful people in her city.

 

Edited March 23, 2021 by Irlandesa

[LuvMyShows]

9 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

It looks like Holly Robinson Peete is getting a new love interest in the Morning Show Mysteries. I'm glad because I did not think she and Rick Fox worked very well.

Not just that she and Rick had no chemistry, but he is so wooden in his acting.

[LuvMyShows]

On 3/22/2021 at 1:25 AM, Clawdette said:

I was on pins and needles wondering if they were going to follow through with Chekov’s salt. Thank goodness there was resolution! BWAH!

I dunno what this is about...can somebody explain?

[Irlandesa]

28 minutes ago, LuvMyShows said:

I dunno what this is about...can somebody explain?

Earlier in the movie, Amy was given a salt pig as a gift by her dad. It was a somewhat random gift so some viewers (myself included) wondered when the salt pig would "go off" according to the Chekhov's gun philosophy that everything introduced should contribute to the plot. When Joe was attacking her, she grabbed the salt pig, full of salt, and threw it at him.  So not only was the object something he had to duck but salt was thrown in his face.  And the random gift suddenly had a purpose.

On 3/21/2021 at 10:42 PM, roctavia said:

I wasn't sure what to expect with the relationship stuff. I like that they kissed and clearly have feelings for each other and clearly want to be dating.... but I was afraid they were going to be like the Murder She Baked and suddenly be engaged after not even being obviously "dating", so in some ways I'm glad to see progress, but I also don't need them to get married right away.... just be together and solve some mysteries! 

My issue with the Murder She Baked series wasn't that they got engaged so soon but the fact that getting them together meant that the series was over.  I still miss that series.  She and Cameron had really good chemistry and the series was more interesting than her podcast series.

Anyway, I was a little nervous that was going to happen here too until we got the cliffhanger.

[roctavia]

25 minutes ago, Irlandesa said:

Earlier in the movie, Amy was given a salt pig as a gift by her dad. It was a somewhat random gift so some viewers (myself included) wondered when the salt pig would "go off" according to the Chekhov's gun philosophy that everything introduced should contribute to the plot. When Joe was attacking her, she grabbed the salt pig, full of salt, and threw it at him.  So not only was the object something he had to duck but salt was thrown in his face.  And the random gift suddenly had a purpose.

My issue with the Murder She Baked series wasn't that they got engaged so soon but the fact that getting them together meant that the series was over.  I still miss that series.  She and Cameron had really good chemistry and the series was more interesting than her podcast series.

Anyway, I was a little nervous that was going to happen here too until we got the cliffhanger.

I agree about Murder She Baked, I enjoyed that series and the cast and would happily watch more episodes. I hate love triangles anyway and I know they really went away from the books in that aspect, but I think they went with the right coupling. 

I definitely don't want Mystery 101 to end! But I'm also glad they aren't afraid to have the characters kiss/date. I feel like some of the mysteries have a pairing, but they draw it out so much that it gets ridiculous. 

2 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

Not just that she and Rick had no chemistry, but he is so wooden in his acting.

I definitely don't necessarily watch for the romances when it comes to the mystery movies, so I think I liked the morning show ones more than some.... but I would absolutely agree on both points. They tried to make it work, I think they really did... but it was heading into cardboard cutout territory.

[freddi]

6 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

Earlier in the movie, Amy was given a salt pig as a gift by her dad. It was a somewhat random gift so some viewers (myself included) wondered when the salt pig would "go off" according to the Chekhov's gun philosophy that everything introduced should contribute to the plot. When Joe was attacking her, she grabbed the salt pig, full of salt, and threw it at him.  So not only was the object something he had to duck but salt was thrown in his face.  And the random gift suddenly had a purpose.

She actually just threw a fistful of salt at him, but the salt pig was wide enough to allow her to get a good big fist full!  

[Cherpumple]

There were a lot more plot threads in the newest Mystery 101 than usual, but I managed to keep them all straight and I rather liked it. It was  definitely more entertaining that the latest Aurora Teagarden installment for me. That one was confusing and boring (I always zone out during plots involving financial crimes like fraud and money laundering). And I find the endless parade of ugly ruffled sweaters and giant headbands (Alice bands?) they keep putting Aurora in to be distracting.

Definitely agree that Wagner and Polaha have great chemistry, and I'm happy to see their relationship progress. I thought it was particularly cute that when he was on the ground after the explosion, confused and concussed, as soon as she got near him he instinctually reached up to kiss her. Awww.

I think the convoluted plot worked for me because even though it was obvious that everyone was involved somehow, the exact role they each played wasn't clear right away, which kept me engaged. For instance, like everyone else here, I immediately picked up on the strangeness of the scene with the IT guy in Amy's office, but didn't know if he murdered the woman in the wall, or was the real Wolfman, or what, until later. I kind of like this plot structure better than having one crime and a bunch of obvious red herrings. But I'm sure it can turn into a mess in the wrong writers' hands.

Speaking of the Wolfman, I was very disappointed in how that fizzled out. I was really hoping for him to escape and then appear in a later movie. 

I also want to give a shout out to my favorite cameos from this one: the bickering twins also played the Kitchen brothers in the second season of Fargo, and Travis's new partner Maria is the "I'm from Michigan" girl from Mean Girls (she's been in a ton of other things since then that I haven't seen, but I was pretty impressed with myself for recognizing her from 5 seconds of screen time in a 17-year-old movie).

[freddi]

3 hours ago, Cherpumple said:

 

I also want to give a shout out to my favorite cameos from this one: the bickering twins also played the Kitchen brothers in the second season of Fargo, and Travis's new partner Maria is the "I'm from Michigan" girl from Mean Girls.

This is such a good point about the cameos!  The twins’ scene was just the right length.  And I really appreciated that Travis’ new partner came on screen and was immediately competent and incorporated  into  the more seasoned cast .  No long explanations or transition hijinks.  Just “I’m here and ready to help.” 

[MerBearHou]

7 hours ago, Cherpumple said:

I also want to give a shout out to my favorite cameos from this one: the bickering twins also played the Kitchen brothers in the second season of Fargo, and Travis's new partner Maria is the "I'm from Michigan" girl from Mean Girls (she's been in a ton of other things since then that I haven't seen, but I was pretty impressed with myself for recognizing her from 5 seconds of screen time in a 17-year-old movie).

The twins cracked me up!  So they really are two identical twins?  I couldn’t find them on the imdb for this Mystery 101 and purposefully went there to read about them!  They look so much alike that I thought it might be the same person playing two roles.  Clearly, I didn’t see them in Fargo.

The new partner Maria was perfect — loved her — welcome to the team.

Like others have said above, the four mystery storylines made this Mystery 101 fun to watch.  

Erin Cahill played her part so well — I’m not usually drawn to her movies (except I liked the cooking competition one) but I really enjoyed her in this one.  I thought in an earlier movie Travis said his ex-wife didn’t like his job/long hours — am I misremembering?  An FBI agent would certainly get that.  But she did explain they’re too much alike and he said they had 4 rough years after the 1st good year... 

The detail about Amy’s mother passing away only 2 years ago didn’t fit.  A little better continuity there would have been good.  

I love love love how Robin Thomas plays Amy’s dad.  He is perfection to me.  

[Cherpumple]

2 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

The twins cracked me up!  So they really are two identical twins?

Yes! Their names are Todd and Brad Mann. I had to find them through the Fargo page on IMDB, since they aren't listed on the Mystery 101 page for some reason. It was actually really funny to see them here, because on Fargo they played menacing hitmen who never spoke.

2 hours ago, MerBearHou said:

I love love love how Robin Thomas plays Amy’s dad.  He is perfection to me.

Yes, he's great!

[roctavia]

Speaking of all the new characters/small parts in the Mystery 101, they have been getting better at introducing a lot of new characters so it's not so obvious who the bad guy is. I feel like some of the movies with an established cast they bring in 1-2 new people for the new story, and then you know it's one of them since there aren't enough other people to possibly be the bad guys. Sometimes it gets convoluted (I'm thinking of the one where it was really the son whose parents died in an apartment fire? Or something along those lines and he wasn't the obvious killer from the start) to get there, but i'd rather have a more convoluted resolution that is interesting and not just guess the culprit immediately and wait for our cast to catch up. 

The new detective partner was good, as others said, she sort of stepped right into the role... The ex wife was also a nice surprise, from the previews and the early part of the movie I was worried she would be involved in something bad.  

[mikeb]

I guessed the owner of the house which exploded was somehow involved at soon as he showed up at the house, because I recognized him from supporting roles in at least 2 Christmas movies and figured he would not just have small role of an innocent homeowner.

Also whenever I see new supporting actors or actresses in these mystery movie series, I always wonder if it was because the person they are replacing either wasn't available or no longer wanted to be tied down to small role in the series or whether the producers were trying to do an upgrade.  For example, there has been a lot of churn in the Aurora Teagarden supporting cast over the years, even beyond the boyfriend role.

 

Edited March 26, 2021 by mikeb

[mikeb]

On 3/21/2021 at 8:12 PM, KAOS Agent said:

I like watching the last Mystery 101 just to laugh at the lengths they went to to cover her pregnancy. Their extensive use of ponchos was inspired.

It looks like the purses, big coats, and ponchos might be making a comeback as Jill Wagner announced she is expecting her second child in August.  Although the article also mentions she is preparing for a role in a new series on Paramount+, so not clear when they might be filming the next Mystery 101.

https://people.com/parents/jill-wagner-pregnant-expecting-second-baby-exclusive/

[Veronica]

On 4/2/2021 at 7:38 PM, mikeb said:

It looks like the purses, big coats, and ponchos might be making a comeback as Jill Wagner announced she is expecting her second child in August.  Although the article also mentions she is preparing for a role in a new series on Paramount+, so not clear when they might be filming the next Mystery 101.

https://people.com/parents/jill-wagner-pregnant-expecting-second-baby-exclusive/

I think both she and Polaha mentioned they would begin filming Mystery 101 in April.

She and her family left their farm in Tennessee a few days ago, and are driving (RV) to Vancouver to quarantine before filming according to her Instagram posts & stories.

They did the same thing last fall when she needed to go up to film the Christmas movie and the last 101. They were nervous about flying with the baby during a pandemic so they bought an RV. 

[LexieLily]

On 3/23/2021 at 12:58 AM, Irlandesa said:

I was reading about the summer movies coming to Hallmark and there was news about the mystery movies as well

It looks like Holly Robinson Peete is getting a new love interest in the Morning Show Mysteries. I'm glad because I did not think she and Rick Fox worked very well.

https://www.etonline.com/hallmark-reveals-summer-nights-schedule-and-6-more-original-movies-exclusive-162675

I thought HRP and Colin Lawrence had decent enough chemistry in their Christmas In Evergreen movies so this works for me as a change-up.

[Clawdette]

Speaking of purses, big coats, and ponchos, I was obsessed with the methods used to disguise Jen Lilly’s pregnancy in the sister channel’s “Paris, Wine, and Romance.”  It’s impossible not to notice in spite of their best efforts. 

[roctavia]

I liked the new Crossword Mystery, it was a good mystery, even if there were some people to be suspicious of early on and you knew from the beginning that there was going to be some cheating happening at the game show. 

I'm glad there was some positive movement for the main relationship, though it was soooo school yard drawn out the whole episode... "it's not a date, it's just dinner" but then being jealous and of course bringing in the ex-fiance etc.  As I've said in about other Mysteries, I wish the people could just date over the course of several movies, we don't need constant will they/won't they, when they clearly will.... So hopefully if there are more crossword mysteries, they can just be dating for a bit and not suddenly engaged or something, assuming we get more.  I was rooting for them leading up to the kiss, but man, I wish Hallmark wasn't so lame about the kisses... please, kiss like real people.

It was fun to see all the commercials for the upcoming mysteries. I like the sea town ones and cannot think of their name for the life of me right now.... but I'm enjoying them a lot and looking forward to more... though it was funny to have a commercial guessing which liquid was going to be poisoned in the next murder... followed the next commercial break with the answer via preview for the new movie. 

I'm also very interested in the new detective for the Morning Show Mysteries....he seems very appealing and hopefully won't be so wooden. So glad we are getting new mysteries regularly!! 

[Irlandesa]

20 minutes ago, roctavia said:

I'm also very interested in the new detective for the Morning Show Mysteries....he seems very appealing and hopefully won't be so wooden. So glad we are getting new mysteries regularly!! 

We got such a quick view of him but he did make me go "hello!" Time will tell but he definitely looks like an upgrade.

[GaT]

3 hours ago, roctavia said:

It was fun to see all the commercials for the upcoming mysteries. I like the sea town ones and cannot think of their name for the life of me right now....

Martha's Vineyard Mysteries

[chitowngirl]

I’m glad HMM airs the previous mysteries before the new one. I somehow missed one of the Crossword Mysteries and now I’m caught up!

[Cherpumple]

I liked the new Crossword Mystery too. On a shallow note, Brennan Elliott looks so much better with slightly longer tousled hair; it makes him look younger and less like a tv news anchor.

As usual, some things didn't quite make sense, or made me laugh. First, it made no sense to me that the star contestant basically had the run of the set, had his own dressing room where he kept personal effects, and was left unsupervised in the studio after hours. I'm no expert, but I have been a contestant on a game show, and the production crew kept a very tight watch on us while we waited for out turn to play. We couldn't even go to the bathroom without a chaperone! We were treated well, but certainly not like we worked there or were stars in our own right.

Second, I kept laughing when Tess was going through the old show recordings to find evidence of cheating, and she was watching them at top speed. How the heck was she supposed to see anything suspicious doing that? I considered that we were just seeing a speeded up version of the scene itself, like a time lapse, but she seemed to be moving at a normal speed. It looked ridiculous.

[roctavia]

Looking forward to another new mystery tonight, though Matchmaker is probably my least favorite cast.... but still worth watching, since there is a murder to solve!!

I'm just glad we are getting new mysteries more regularly again... 

[LuvMyShows]

Oh dear, the Matchmaker Mysteries haven't gotten any better.  Danica Kellar's facial expressions truly are the worst, and it seems more like an older brother/younger sister vibe that she has with the detective. 

Purely from a logic perspective, it is not plausible that no one else would have thought to see if the guy's computer was backed up to the cloud.  (Did we ever find out if that college student did have the info for that guy's password?)  And yeah sure, when she went to sneak into the museum, she wore high heels that would click loudly on the floor even though she needed to be stealthy.

But one thing I genuinely don't understand...at the end, that museum director woman had been trying to kill the younger research woman, but how?  What was the arsenic actually put into, and since that was in the guy's office, how was that going to kill the research woman?

Plus the whole episode was very boring...I did fall asleep for a few minutes around the one hour mark, right before she snapped a pic of the parents with the mom wearing the necklace, and maybe I missed something?

On 4/14/2021 at 2:00 AM, Cherpumple said:

I liked the new Crossword Mystery too. 

As usual, some things didn't quite make sense, or made me laugh. 

I liked it too.  What didn't make sense to me was when the light fell...the only person who knew that she was going to be walking through the studio at that exact point, was the woman who told her about the shortcut.  The killer guy works in the editing studio and would not have any reason to already be up there in the lights, nor would he have had time to get up there and loosen the light even if he knew that she was taking the shortcut!

Also the whole scene where Tess went to the poker game was nonsensical.  The guidance had been to be nonchalant about bringing up that guy's death.  So what does she do?  She completely doesn't read the room, where pretty much no one else is talking, and the third sentence she starts is to ask about the murder!  

And IIRC, they made a big deal about how the killer would have needed to be taller and stronger in order to kill him, but as we saw, that really wasn't the case.

There is one thing I missed...at some point around the first hour (?), Tess was talking to the detective, and he said something that I didn't catch, to which she replied, I think, that he was the most cynical person she knew.  Does anyone know what he said?

[Irlandesa]

It wasn't the most exciting movie but I didn't mind this week's Matchmaker Mystery.  Maybe it's because I love Bruce Boxleitner. 

I did kind of call the ultimately bad guy, even though I wasn't sure what the motive would be.  And I also called that the sister was in on something but probably not the murderer or she would have used something more creative than arsenic.

1 hour ago, LuvMyShows said:

But one thing I genuinely don't understand...at the end, that museum director woman had been trying to kill the younger research woman, but how?  What was the arsenic actually put into, and since that was in the guy's office, how was that going to kill the research woman?

The cookies he was eating had arsenic in them. 

The cookies were ordered from the bakery for the museum opening.  They ordered extra, according to the villain (before we knew she was a villain) and she gave some boxes to about five people but nothing to the victim.  One of the people she did give a box to was the real target and she laced that box with arsenic.  The real target is a diabetic so she gave the box to her boyfriend--who died.

Now, if I were to kill someone but didn't want to kill anyone else close to that person, I'm probably not going to go with a whole box of cookies.

[ShelleySue]

On 4/18/2021 at 11:49 PM, Irlandesa said:

It wasn't the most exciting movie but I didn't mind this week's Matchmaker Mystery.  Maybe it's because I love Bruce Boxleitner. 

That's the only reason I watch the stupid series.  I'm so old that I've loved Bruce since he was Luke in How the West was Won. Despite my worship of him, this whole series is wearing me down. It's as if Danica is acting with her eyelashes because they are the only things that I notice when she acts.  And maybe it was because I was getting very bored, but did the the museum director/murderer, museum assistant/intended victim, and Angie's assistant all resemble each other?  I couldn't keep the museum assistant and Angie's assistant apart. In addition, for someone with such a keen eye for romance, why isn't Angie fixing up her assistant with the cute police officer?

[mikeb]

There is going to be a new original movie premiering on HMM in June - To Catch A Spy starring Colin Donnell, Nathalie Kelley, and Patti Murin.   No indication on whether this may become a recurring series.

https://tvline.com/2021/04/20/to-catch-a-spy-colin-donnell-nathalie-kelley-cast-hallmark-movie/

[Cherpumple]

This newest Matchmaker Mystery had one of my least favorite tropes. They spend 90% of the story building up these interesting characters and motives (art forgery, a crooked security guard, an illicit affair with a subordinate, family drama, a botanist with expertise in deadly plants) and then what's the big resolution? A woman scorned. That's right, with all that intrigue surrounding the museum, it all boiled down to an intelligent, mature, successful woman who didn't like being dumped. Yawn. It's cliched and more than a little insulting. I'm generally all for stories about crimes of passion (I'm a huge fan of Snapped), but they don't work when every other motive presented is way more interesting.

On 4/18/2021 at 10:13 PM, LuvMyShows said:

Danica Kellar's facial expressions truly are the worst, and it seems more like an older brother/younger sister vibe that she has with the detective.

Yes! I would actually love it if they leaned into this dynamic rather then going down the tired romantic route. I think it's hilarious that Victor Webster just roasts her whenever they see each other. It seems so natural, and since her character is a little too smarty-pants and precious, she deserves to be knocked down a few pegs.

Also, I'm not at all impressed by her matchmaking skills nor her professionalism. In every movie so far, her poor assistant spends the entire time begging Angie to actually do her job rather than going off on these wild goose chases, and then at the last minute Angie pulls some solution out of nowhere and voila, a perfect match! It's like she doesn't even notice or care that she has an entire staff of people depending on the success of her dumb show for their livelihoods. I definitely feel like the other series (Mystery 101, Crossword, Chronicle, etc.) do a much better job of showing that the characters are actually competent at their jobs.

Edited April 21, 2021 by Cherpumple

[LexieLily]

It happened again! I am in the middle of binge-recording Matlock (since we are still in The Year of Covid Where Time Has Stopped I wanted something new to watch) and it looks like as of next Thursday or Friday it's going to disappear from the lineup!