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evian_man
Reviews
Midsomer Murders: Death of a Hollow Man (1998)
Disappointing
As a huge fan of the Midsomer Murders series, I was very disappointed with this particular episode. As usual, the characters are excellent - vibrant, well developed, a diverse mix of the eccentricities of country-folk, but the time spent on them allows the actual plot to suffer tremendously.
The initial murder is forgotten for the majority of the episode, to the point that it took me by surprise to see it being investigated again after more than an hour into the show. I'd actually forgotten it had taken place, and even then the segue to refocusing on it was vague and tenuous. The eventual motive for both the murders remains murky, as there was no clue throughout the nearly 2 hours of the episode that even hinted at it, let alone allowed the viewers the opportunity to deduce it for themselves. All we have to go on is a hasty explanation offered by Inspector Barnaby himself after he has already identified the murderer, referring to arrangements, relationships and motives that never surfaced at any point of the investigation - even now I'm not too sure what it was all about.
In my opinion, a murder mystery needs to give the viewer the opportunity to solve the crime themselves during the course of the show, or at least keep changing their guesses as new clues are revealed. This one did not. In fact, precious few clues were revealed at all. It was as though the red herrings that are part and parcel of a typical Midsomer Murders episode (and usually thoroughly enjoyed) took center stage, while the murders themselves became a trivial afterthought.