Hallmark Mysteries: Mysterious Small Town Hijinks Ensue - General Discussion

[LuvMyShows]

3 minutes ago, lizzbert said:

In the books, Aurora dated Robin, then married Martin (who was a much older man in the books). Martin died of a heart attack, and Aurora later married Robin and they had a baby.

In the books, Aurora’s dad left Aida and married a younger woman and had a son, Phillip (who is her cousin in the movies)! Phillip was kidnapped as a boy in part because Aurora was embroiled in a mystery, so they blamed her and moved across the country and refused to let her interact with him. Later, as a teenager, Phillip caught his dad cheating on his mom with a teenager (a friend of his) and ran away from home to live with Aurora. His mom moved away to a commune and abandoned him and his dad was in trouble with some bad people for embezzling or somesuch. Aurora’s dad is an ASS in the books, she basically throws him out of her life.

Aida married John in the books and was very happy.

Good grief...I am glad that our silly little Sunday diversion did not go down such a dark road!!

[lizzbert]

Yeah, the books are much, much darker. All the Little Liars in particular! I appreciate them both, but I do love that I can watch the movies with my six-year-old. :)

[LexieLily]

6 hours ago, lizzbert said:

In the books, Aurora dated Robin, then married Martin (who was a much older man in the books). Martin died of a heart attack, and Aurora later married Robin and they had a baby.

In the books, Aurora’s dad left Aida and married a younger woman and had a son, Phillip (who is her cousin in the movies)! Phillip was kidnapped as a boy in part because Aurora was embroiled in a mystery, so they blamed her and moved across the country and refused to let her interact with him. Later, as a teenager, Phillip caught his dad cheating on his mom with a teenager (a friend of his) and ran away from home to live with Aurora. His mom moved away to a commune and abandoned him and his dad was in trouble with some bad people for embezzling or somesuch. Aurora’s dad is an ASS in the books, she basically throws him out of her life.

Aida married John in the books and was very happy.

So the only good part about the books is that Aida married John? (I always wondered what happened to him in movie-verse. Did the actor not want to stay signed on? I've seen him in a few other Hallmark projects.)

The rest of it sounds like it would be right at home as a Lifetime movie, good grief.

[maggiegil]

Aurora's wedding dress was much more daring than I was expecting. I was expecting a sweetheart meringue not something with such a deep v. Did Nick and the groomsmens suits look odd to anyone else like they were ill fitting or just a bit dated or something?

[ShelleySue]

14 hours ago, maggiegil said:

Aurora's wedding dress was much more daring than I was expecting. I was expecting a sweetheart meringue not something with such a deep v. 

I'm not sure what you call it, but it always makes me think of ice skaters' costumes -- the top had that light see-through fabric, so it wasn't her skin we were seeing, but the fabric. It was difficult to see unless you noticed the straight line at her neck.

Is it wrong to wish that I had gone to get my degree in library science instead of going to law school? I have house envy. I realize that she inherited her first house and her mother is a real estate agent, but every movie has her in an even nicer house. Or was that her mother's house?  I was confused.

I loved, loved, loved the books used as arches and in the floral arrangements, but part of me felt hoped that no books were sacrificed in the making of them and that they were neatly disassembled and put back on shelves after the wedding.

[Irlandesa]

7 minutes ago, ShelleySue said:

Is it wrong to wish that I had gone to get my degree in library science instead of going to law school?

If it's because of her house? Ha. Then yes.  There aren't many library jobs that will get you that house.

Edited June 15, 2021 by Irlandesa

[GaT]

I really thought that for some reason Aurora wouldn't be able to get married, & her mother & father would end up getting remarried instead. I'm really glad I was wrong. 😁

[Irlandesa]

I knew they'd get married because they were already advertising the honeymoon Teargarden movie. 

[Daff]

On 6/14/2021 at 5:34 PM, LexieLily said:

So the only good part about the books is that Aida married John? (I always wondered what happened to him in movie-verse. Did the actor not want to stay signed on? I've seen him in a few other Hallmark projects.)

The rest of it sounds like it would be right at home as a Lifetime movie, good grief.

In one of the movies, (might have even been as far back as Martin episodes), John proposed to Aida. Forgot why, but she declined. After that, he appeared semi-prominently in a few more movies, but now, not so much. 

[LegalParrot81]

On 6/16/2021 at 5:35 AM, Daff said:

In one of the movies, (might have even been as far back as Martin episodes), John proposed to Aida. Forgot why, but she declined. After that, he appeared semi-prominently in a few more movies, but now, not so much. 

In one of the post-Martin episodes, they said that since Aida wouldn't marry him, John decided to move to be closer to his children.  I kind of miss him.

[LuvMyShows]

Ugh again I missed the first 15 minutes.  Started just in time to see her hear the argument thru the vent and see the body fall.  I gather that somehow she had already met the guy across the hall.  So....who is she, why is she in Italy, what do we know about the guy across the hall other than he is FBI, and who is her friend who she thinks was in the room above her and may or may not be the guy who fell?  And is the hotel not really open yet, and that's why there were so few staff to be suspects, plus no other staff for behind the desk?

ETA; I take it she is a travel writer, and it is Malta not Italy. 

Edited June 21, 2021 by LuvMyShows

[david gideon]

The man who fell is her friend from college (I think) who was the manager of the hotel. It was not officially open yet though some people like the travel writer were there to make an assessment of it.

This whole production seemed more elevated than the usual Sunday night mystery. Maybe seeing actual location filming at exotic locations instead just another part of British Columbia made it seem special. If there are more travel writer mysteries they can't go back to filming in Vancouver now; the expectations have been set.

Edited June 21, 2021 by david gideon
being picky

[Irlandesa]

3 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

I gather that somehow she had already met the guy across the hall. 

They did meet when he was having a tough time opening the door using the swipe key cards which made me laugh a little because he talked about them like they were brand new.

All we knew about him is that he was investigating the theft of information about secret agents or some such thing.  This information was kept in a lock box instead of a thumb drive.

So the scenarios were a bit old fashioned but I enjoyed this movie and I would like to see more. 

32 minutes ago, david gideon said:

This whole production seemed more elevated than the usual Sunday night mystery.

Oh most definitely.  They filmed on location and used that location much better than the regular Hallmark movie that aired yesterday which was filmed in France.  Here, they used the drones and aerial shots.  That final confrontation was visually stunning. 

They also used actors who aren't Hallmark regulars.  Colin was in a Hallmark movie before (in Iceland) but I don't think Nathalie Kelley has been.

I liked the sidekick characters as well.  Colin's wife played the best friend.  And the actor who played Tom (the ex and current boss) was fine as hell.  I need to see him do more of these movies.

[chediavolo]

Just started watching the Aurora Teagarden mysteries. I can only find the first 3 then it skips to about 8 up to the wedding. Not even complete on the Hallmark app.   I just finished the one where they were at the resort with the police couple ( what a bitch, don’t get me started) and the actress in the play was murdered with a real knife. Anyway, my question is why is Candace (in the previous movie I watched where she was a bridesmaid also) now wearing hideous cheap looking wigs? It looked like her natural hair in the first few movies but now it is obviously fake. 

[mikeb]

3 hours ago, chediavolo said:

Just started watching the Aurora Teagarden mysteries. I can only find the first 3 then it skips to about 8 up to the wedding. Not even complete on the Hallmark app.   I just finished the one where they were at the resort with the police couple ( what a bitch, don’t get me started) and the actress in the play was murdered with a real knife. Anyway, my question is why is Candace (in the previous movie I watched where she was a bridesmaid also) now wearing hideous cheap looking wigs? It looked like her natural hair in the first few movies but now it is obviously fake. 

I remember hearing her on a podcast a few years ago where she said constantly dying it different colors as she switched between this role and other projects was causing problems with her hair, so she was resorting to wigs.

[Kitty Redstone]

I also really liked To Catch a Spy.  As usual with HMM movies, the supporting cast was fantastic.  Sara, the photographer, was a standout!  I did miss a bit with why the ambassador allowed herself to be blackmailed, but I'm easy to please and didn't let it bother me. 

So this movie was originally Destination Mystery or something, correct?  I thought it was supposed to be a series and would be titled like Aurora Teagarden or Chronicle Mysteries (so Destination Mysteries: To Catch a Spy).  Hopefully titling it in the singular doesn't mean there won't be more in the series.  It's a great concept and I'd love to see more of the world.  Malta is gorgeous!

[LuvMyShows]

 

19 hours ago, david gideon said:

This whole production seemed more elevated than the usual Sunday night mystery. Maybe seeing actual location filming at exotic locations instead just another part of British Columbia made it seem special. 

I was prepared maybe not to like it because the previews made it look like it was trying to look like a fancy madcap caper movie.  But I really ended up liking the location filming, and it had a fresh feel...and it didn't have the crazy madcap angle I was dreading. 

5 hours ago, Kitty Redstone said:

Sara, the photographer, was a standout!  

Since I missed the beginning...there were two people who seemed to be co-workers of Chloe, the travel writer.  One was apparently Sara, and she was a photographer.  The other was named Patrick, I think...what was his role on the team?

When I watched Chloe, all I could think is how insanely much she reminds me of Teri Hatcher!  (And her character doesn't seem to me like a 'Chloe' for some reason.)

18 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

And the actor who played Tom (the ex and current boss) was fine as hell.  I need to see him do more of these movies.

We will have to agree to disagree...he was nice-looking enough, but he made Rick Fox look like an Oscar-winning actor!  Not sure if the Tom character was shown in the first 15 minutes, but the first time I saw him he was walking with Chloe outside (maybe across a bridge?), and he looked far too tall for the role (if that makes any sense) and they looked awkward together. 

Then there was a scene where they were in the lobby of the hotel (and Aaron ended up joining them), and I can honestly say that was the worst acting I have seen by anyone, ever in any of the HMM franchises (an honor I previously would have given to Danica Kellar in the Matchmaker franchise).  He kept shifting his eyes to the left or the right of Chloe (not for plot purposes), and sounded like he was reading from a cue card.  

19 hours ago, Irlandesa said:

So the scenarios were a bit old fashioned but I enjoyed this movie and I would like to see more. 

My only plot complaint was that it was a huge hotel, but when they were looking through the hotel database records, they kept talking about how few people were on duty that day...and the sparse staffing was further corroborated by how often and for how long they were able to be behind the desk without being seen.  If there were really that few staff yet, then the hotel wouldn't have been ready enough to have a big deal travel review.

But a minor nit overall...definitely would like to see more of these.

[Irlandesa]

2 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

My only plot complaint was that it was a huge hotel, but when they were looking through the hotel database records, they kept talking about how few people were on duty that day...and the sparse staffing was further corroborated by how often and for how long they were able to be behind the desk without being seen.  If there were really that few staff yet, then the hotel wouldn't have been ready enough to have a big deal travel review.

I don't know if they were there for an official review or if they were just looking at Malta to write about Malta.

The reason they were at that hotel is because Elias, the dead guy, was a friend of the main character.  He also happened to be a contractor at the hotel and invited the lead for a soft launch opening.  I still think soft launches involve more staff but it wasn't an official opening. 

[LuvMyShows]

On 6/21/2021 at 10:27 PM, Irlandesa said:

I don't know if they were there for an official review or if they were just looking at Malta to write about Malta.

That manager woman (the one with the thumb drive) several times mentioned the importance to her career of getting a good review from Chloe.

[Daff]

On 6/21/2021 at 6:08 AM, chediavolo said:

I can only find the first 3 then it skips to about 8 up to the wedding.

My guess would be that they’re trying to find a way to pay Yannick Bisson’s royalties (or they’re negotiating them). Maybe they didn’t part ways amicably. I’m surprised they even got him to make as many episodes as he did. He’s a very (very) popular Canadian actor. 

[MAS8]

On 6/21/2021 at 1:16 PM, Kitty Redstone said:

I also really liked To Catch a Spy.  As usual with HMM movies, the supporting cast was fantastic.  Sara, the photographer, was a standout!  I did miss a bit with why the ambassador allowed herself to be blackmailed, but I'm easy to please and didn't let it bother me. 

So this movie was originally Destination Mystery or something, correct?  I thought it was supposed to be a series and would be titled like Aurora Teagarden or Chronicle Mysteries (so Destination Mysteries: To Catch a Spy).  Hopefully titling it in the singular doesn't mean there won't be more in the series.  It's a great concept and I'd love to see more of the world.  Malta is gorgeous!

It was indeed Destination Mysteries, not sure why the changed it? It might end up being a stand alone movie or maybe it could be an anthology type series with a new cast. I'm not sure I'm just guessing but yes this was suppose to be Destination Mysteries.

Anyone heard anything on Melanie Abrams Mysteries. Got a poll from Hallmark several weeks back. Two/three weeks ago I got a poll on the new Ashley Williams/Kimberly Williams-Paisley Christmas movie as well. Just the other day I got another poll on an upcoming movie about Wine/Vineyard/Sommelier type movie. 

[MerBearHou]

8 minutes ago, MAS8 said:

Two/three weeks ago I got a poll on the new Ashley Williams/Kimberly Williams-Paisley Christmas movie as well

Darn!  I would watch pretty much anything with Kimberly and pretty much nothing with Ashley.  Sounds like I will have to skip the sister movie.

[chediavolo]

In the middle of watching Aurora Teegarden, till death do us part. I looked up and was actually startled by the drastic  facial plastic surgery on Aurora‘s future mother-in-law😳

it’s kind of hard watching all of these continuously. Not exactly anywhere near being true to life all the murders she has encountered in her life. Hallmark:  known for everyone having a charmed life beautiful homes not a care in the world about money beautiful clothes & cars

Yep they should call the fantasy channel

I guess that’s why I watch it to escape but I don’t know if that’s actually a good thing!

[Clawdette]

I've been playing a game with myself during the Christmas movie marathon.  I punch in the channel number on my remote and close my eyes before the movie appears on the screen.  Then I see how long it takes me to identify the movie.  My success rate is pretty high. Yesterday I recognized Nickki DeLoach's voice immediately and then what sounded like a voice over.  Two Turtle Doves!

[GaT]

I finally got around to watching To Catch a Spy. I found the lead to be really annoying, just what you should do when you're a travel writer & should know how to behave in another country, investigate a murder. Plus, it was obvious who it was. I'm not looking forward to any more of these movies. 

[MAS8]

On 6/25/2021 at 11:31 PM, MerBearHou said:

Darn!  I would watch pretty much anything with Kimberly and pretty much nothing with Ashley.  Sounds like I will have to skip the sister movie.

I love Kimberly but tolerate Ashley, there is a few movies I like by Ashley but I think she really over does the giddyness/cheeriness in her roles often. 

You could probably just watch Kimberly' Christmas movie as each sister will play supporting role in each respective' movie. Ashley most likely will be a few scenes (beginning and end, probably a zoom call in between) so you could probably watch Kimberly' movie. 

[LexieLily]

Diagnosis Murder returns to HMM in a few weeks, wonder what got demoted.

[mikeb]

23 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Diagnosis Murder returns to HMM in a few weeks, wonder what got demoted.

Looking at the schedule on their website, the new weekday schedule after the Christmas Movies end will be:

11:00 PM - 3:00 AM : Murder She Wrote

03:00 AM - 06:00 AM : Magnum PI

06:00 AM - 09:00 AM : Diagnosis Murder

09:00 AM - 12:00 PM : Murder She Wrote

12:00 PM - 3:00 PM : Monk

3:00 PM - 5:00 PM : Good Witch

5:00 PM - 11:00 PM : movies

Although it seems lately the schedule changes every month or two

[GaT]

20 hours ago, mikeb said:

the new weekday schedule after the Christmas Movies end will be:

Christmas movies NEVER end, they will just keep playing over, & over, & over, & over until the world as we know it ends. In fact, they will probably be the cause of the world ending. 😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱😱

[MAS8]

Rochelle Aytes is leading Hallmark Movies and Mysteries new Mysteries series Melanie Abrams Mysteries: Beyond Repair now known as Redemption in Cherry Springs.

Edited July 9, 2021 by MAS8

[freddi]

The new Mystery 101 will premiere on August 1.  Saw two trailers for the new episode early Saturday morning (July 10).  The turnaround time on these is so quick!  

[Guest]

There are also advertising for the new Murder She Baked (August 8th) and new Aurora Teagarden (August 22nd).

 

[LuvMyShows]

So excited about all the new mysteries coming in August...it's helping me get through the awful Christmas July!

[rainsmom]

On 7/12/2021 at 8:26 PM, LuvMyShows said:

So excited about all the new mysteries coming in August...it's helping me get through the awful Christmas July!

Me too! I was excited to catch a couple of Jane Doe movies this weekend, though. Honestly, during the Christmas months I don't even check out the channel to see what's on. Looks like I might have missed some good mysteries at not-prime-time.

Can't wait until August, though!!

[LuvMyShows]

Hallelujah, it's finally time for a new mystery movie...bring on the new Mystery 101!  (but at 9:00 instead of 8:00)

[LuvMyShows]

3 hours ago, LuvMyShows said:

Hallelujah, it's finally time for a new mystery movie...bring on the new Mystery 101!  (but at 9:00 instead of 8:00)

If anyone is on the west coast and hasn't seen it yet, be sure to keep watching until the very very end...looking forward to discussing after everyone has seen it!

[roctavia]

And here I was thinking throughout the episode how nicely they've built the relationship, like they get to kiss sometimes, and just have good chemistry together, without jumping right to a marriage proposal... and the I love you was well done and felt earned to me.... But WTF now!!??  Not often do we get cliffhangers for these movies. Will be interesting to see how we got to where I assume the next movie will start. 

This mystery was good, though I feel like the 101s are always a little better of a mystery. Sure, they can all be a bit predictable since we spend the movie guessing that every new face could be the bad guy, but this one had some good twists that weren't entirely predictable.  Though all the affairs was kind of funny to me- I'm cheating on you, now you fell in love with someone else who's married and has a crazy husband... secret baby reveal etc. 

It was good to get our cast into a new setting though, so all the other characters were new. It was nice to also get some more back story on Amy's family and also Travis's childhood. 

Overall enjoyed it, but now I want the next one, like now! 

[freddi]

I love Mystery 101 and the main cast, but I totally believe that they shot this in 16 days.  It felt very thinly plotted and if I could have jumped to the ending, I would have.

So, it appears that they are trying a format that is serializing this series, with cliffhangers and convoluted love-life plot lines that cut across the end/beginning of adjacent episodes.  I thought this worked fine as stand-alone episodes.  

I did think they did a good, unobtrusive job with Jill's pregnancy wardrobe.  

[GaT]

Well, I just finished watching it, spoilers ahead....

I spent most of the movie wondering why they made they sheriff seem like a yokel, so once the ending happened, I understood. I wondered why they had the dead daughter mention when it didn't seem to have to do with anything.

As for the very ending, I think it will turn out that they're working on a case, & had to pretend to break up so Amy could pretend to be engaged to someone else.

 

[ShelleySue]

5 hours ago, GaT said:

 

As for the very ending, I think it will turn out that they're working on a case, & had to pretend to break up so Amy could pretend to be engaged to someone else.

 

I"ve been very emotional these past few days (I'm a Cubs fan) and the end hit me hard.  I was thrilled that they finally reached the stage where it wasn't a "will they or won't they declare their love." Then we got sucker punched.  Their relationship took time to build and their feelings are genuine.  The fast forward was 11 months (I think).  I can't see them breaking up, Amy starting a new relationship, and Amy getting engaged in that time unless it WAS some sort of set up. Maybe their are trying to flush out someone by pretending someone was killed????  I'm thinking a witness protection thing where now the supposedly dead fiance goes into hiding.  That has to be it. Right?  Please agree with me.

[Kitty Redstone]

Yes, I agree that the break up/engagement to someone else is probably a set up for a case.

This was a decent mystery and I really enjoy the cast.  My husband even got sucked in and watched it with me, ha ha. 

We must have missed something, though.  When it came to the boxes of estate material, who was lying?  Did the protegee steal the boxes and extra apartment key from the TA, as she said?  Or did the TA give the boxes and key to the protegee, as he said?

[LuvMyShows]

16 hours ago, roctavia said:

And here I was thinking throughout the episode how nicely they've built the relationship, like they get to kiss sometimes, and just have good chemistry together, without jumping right to a marriage proposal... and the I love you was well done and felt earned to me....

Me too!  

7 hours ago, ShelleySue said:

The fast forward was 11 months (I think).  I can't see them breaking up, Amy starting a new relationship, and Amy getting engaged in that time unless it WAS some sort of set up. 

I am desperately holding onto that supposition!!

One thing I noticed in the beginning of the preview, was that when they showed Travis seeing Amy at that crime scene, and saying something like "What is she doing here?", he sounded genuinely disgusted at seeing her (not just bothered that she was at a scene she shouldn't have been at), and so already I was wondering what on earth was going on.

5 hours ago, Kitty Redstone said:

We must have missed something, though.  When it came to the boxes of estate material, who was lying?  Did the protegee steal the boxes and extra apartment key from the TA, as she said?  Or did the TA give the boxes and key to the protegee, as he said?

I don't recall them specifically saying a definitive resolution to that, but IIRC, when Travis and Amy came over to see the boxes, it had already been gone through and somewhat organized, and Travis or the protegee made a point of saying that it couldn't have been done in only a few hours, which is what it would have been if they had been stolen just a few hours ago.  So, seems to go to the protegee as telling the truth, and not sure why the TA would have made up such a lie other than to be a stupid red herring.  

[WhyAmIHere]

A few comments on the new Mystery 101. 

I was glad they quickly addressed the lack of age difference between Amy and her uncle.  I was side-eyeing the casting of Peter Benson for that role until they explained. 

I laughed out loud at Amy swimming back to the inn.  That was a long haul back to the inn in presumably cold water.  

Speaking of the inn or Kent Lake House or whatever it was called, does Hallmark use that location often?  I feel like I've seen that place in at least 2 other movies. 

Overall, I liked it. I really enjoy Jill and Kristoffer together.  I hope the twist at the end is some kind of undercover operation because I don't want them to be apart and angsty for the next few movies.  It may be a long wait, though, between Jill's new baby and their other projects.  

[LuvMyShows]

1 hour ago, WhyAmIHere said:

I laughed out loud at Amy swimming back to the inn.  That was a long haul back to the inn in presumably cold water.  

And in a wool sweater and pants, which would be quite heavy while swimming.

[maggiegil]

I was getting pretty tired as I was watching it, didn't find it particularly gripping and almost turned it off when the Uncle was found safe and sound but those last 2 scenes made me glad that I didn't.

Hope we're not waiting too long for the next installment, does anyone know if its been filmed already?

[rainsmom]

Mystery 101 is -- was? -- my favorite of the currently airing mystery series. The leads have great chemistry. and I like the supporting cast, the setup, etc.

It's not perfect. Last night's mystery had a few holes in it. (The cops missed that the closet had been cleaned out??? And that the one table had been cleared?) I called the killer as soon as he showed on screen and mentioned the fraternity.

BUT I still enjoyed it, and I loved it when he told her he loved her.

Then the cliffhanger ruined it. Completely. Killed all my happy vibes from the previous scene. Yes, I think it's probably an undercover thing -- but I don't think I care. At best, I'll come here and see your reviews before I watch the next one. I might, however, just delete it off the DVR and give up on the series.

Edited August 3, 2021 by rainsmom

[freddi]

17 hours ago, maggiegil said:

I was getting pretty tired as I was watching it, didn't find it particularly gripping and almost turned it off when the Uncle was found safe and sound but those last 2 scenes made me glad that I didn't.

Hope we're not waiting too long for the next installment, does anyone know if its been filmed already?

It has not been filmed already; and as others have noted, with Jill's second baby about to arrive, and with her committed to filming a Christmas movie (I seem to recall?), it will be at least the New Year 2022 before any filming can occur.  That would make the earliest possible air date around Spring 2022, even with their quick production process.  

Edited August 3, 2021 by freddi

[Daff]

On 8/2/2021 at 7:22 PM, WhyAmIHere said:

I laughed out loud at Amy swimming back to the inn.  That was a long haul back to the inn in presumably cold water.  

I had tremendous difficulty with the entire setting, overall. You bet that swim would have been a killer-those are wickedly deep lakes, etched out of the earth by ancient glaciers!

[LuvMyShows]

About an hour and a half until a new Hannah Swensen!  It will be fun to find out what has occurred in her world since the end of Murder She Baked.

[Clawdette]

Well, tonight we had Chekhov’s security guard. Returned to the fray at the very end. 
 

Did we know Hannah had this sister? I remember Andrea and her family but not Michelle.