Oh, and it looks like they’re going to introduce Renee Ballard, who is the main character in the follow on series by Connelly.
This is my wheelhouse. Thanks for the rec, will definitely chec.
Yep. It’s not edited like a normal reality show. They also give them 60-120 minutes to prepare before the games begin, which allows them to actually make a plan.
The “Mafia” like game they played was the first game and it was fascinating. I was genuinely guessing who were the Mafia and who was the officer, the fanatic, etc. It was a lot of fun and the players did, for the most part, a good job.
The second one was a board game of sorts and while interesting, I wished it had slightly been edited down.
I hope season 2 is as good. It’s all about having great players and the current season has great ones.
Death Wears White is a Murder Mystery game that was released in 2001. It was different in two ways,
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It was deeper in that everyone was trying to solve it, but also complete their other missions some of which conflicted.
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It was published in many languages, importantly the Asian ones.
This one game exploded in China and began and entire industry called Jubensha. Think Escape Rooms only they are a much bigger deal and usually involve a dozen young single people trying to mingle. This of course took of in other culturally repressive yet modern societies that contain many young people with cash, like Korea and Japan.
A little back story.
And everyone wears black and leather- whereas the Vikings liked bright colors (bright for that period, mind you) and chain armor, not leather.
I have watched epi 1 of A Remarkable Play to Die. Good so far, but kinda slow.
I have binged all 10 seasons of Brokenwood, but it seems another season-11- is coming up near the end of April.
The Traitors, with the amazing Alan Cummings also does the same base Mafia or werewolf style game. Mind you, I got tired of playing it on line, since the traitors have a huge advantage.
I have watched every iteration(UK, NZ, USA, Canadian, and Australian) of Traitors. Fun show, but it is somewhat limited by the fact they can’t ever have a game end early if one team dominates.
Alan Cumming is great. I think it is so fun that he went all in on it.
I’ve been watching S3 of Love on the Spectrum. I think this is the best season yet. There are both some familiar faces and new faces. I love this show. It’s really fascinating. There is also a lot of SHE (Second Hand Embarrassment) I have to sometimes close my eyes or look away!
All three seasons have been set at beachfront resorts with plenty of shots of waves lapping on the shore, or crashing on rocks. And each season has started with a dead body at the end of the holiday week (no spoiler there), before rewinding to show the guests arriving at the resort and spending the week there before someone dies at the end.
That formula of a death foreshadowed is getting a bit tiresome.
Maybe so, but to me it’s less about the death than about the character studies along the way. Mike White writes just OK plots, but (IMO) very interesting and complex characters. So far I haven’t lost interest in just listening to his characters talking to each other. YMMV.
I watched it. Above reviews weren’t greatly positive, but I liked both Brimstone and Reaper, the earlier takes on the idea of “Bounty hunter for Hell”, so I thought it would be worth a try, particularly since I also usually like Kevin Bacon.
And while it’s not super-groundbreaking, I did enjoy it. Enough twists to make things interesting.
But one thing I did like: The cops weren’t completely clueless. After the cheerleader disappeared, I thought, “Come on, no way does a small town like that just not notice a cheerleader going missing!”, and sure enough, when we finally get a good look at the cops, they have pretty comprehensive information on everything that was going on, minus the “demons” part.
Of course, I just couldn’t get used to Dewey Crowe not being a complete idiot 
The other day, I found a British show on Hulu called Big Boys. It aired on Channel 4 from 2022-25 and consists of three six-episode seasons. The storyline follows a young man named Jack whose father recently passed of cancer and who wins a scholarship to study journalism at a local university. He’s the first in his family to attend college and plans to come out of the closet when he gets there. He’s assigned to room with a straight guy named Danny who is more extroverted but has depression.
After halfway thru A Remarkable Place to Die, I gave up in disgust- turns out it was really all “And this time it’s personal” with the star disobeying direct orders and also having emotional breakdowns.
The final episode had me in tears with the writer conversing with his creation at the start.
Just finished watching a series set on the W. coast of Ireland. Featuring a female investigator from Dublin, who is also a lesbian. She gets involved in a 20+ year old Bad Thing. Of course there are the usual quirky/scary local Irish, etc.
Let me see, what was the name of it? Started with a “B”. Oh, Blackshore, um, I mean Bodkin.
The main character is a journalist who is in big trouble from her last story. He boss sends her to the burg of Bodkin with a newbie asst. to meet up with a US true crime podcaster (played by Will Forte) to find out what happened at a fall festival years ago.
It has it moments. But it also basically falls apart at times, esp. in the final episode. Yet Another Dark Comedy that barely has any humor. Forte does an esp. poor job sleepwalking thru this.
Don’t really recommend.
OTOH, also watching Blackshore. Near the end, getting fairly good. Will report when finished.
Yeah, it gets weird watching two similar series at the same time (half an episode each per night, don’t ask).
We’ve also been slogging thru season 2 of The Irrational. But may have finally given up on this.
The Åre Murders (Åremorden in the original Swedish.)
Saw this one (English dubbing) on Netflix. More interesting in its portrait of small-town Swedish life than entertaining in its plot, this show solves two murders in 5 episodes, the longest of which is about 45 minutes. Cinematography and shot-selection was very nice in some parts (if you notice such things).
Will recommend for those who want a palate-cleanser after slogging through some show with multiple 22-episode seasons, or those who like picaresque views of snowy landscapes.
Did Lizzie Borden really “take an axe and give her mother 40 whacks”? She was acquitted.
I think she did it. She was the first (one of the first?) celebrity defendants. Her trial was a huge show for the locals. Also, her father was not terribly popular, so a lot of people weren’t outraged by his death. That helped her, I’m sure.
I’m confused; which series are you referring to?
I’m 2 episodes in right now. I’m a little sick of the obfuscation–characters keep getting introduced who have a lot of backstory and we’re given barely enough to comprehend what the hell is happening and what the relationships are all about.
Oops, wrong thread, sorry!