Have always been quite fond of 'Murder She Wrote'. It is a fun and relaxing watch that makes you think as you try to unwind in the evening. If one wants more complex, twisty mysteries with lots of tension and suspense 'Murder She Wrote' may not be for you, but if you want something light-hearted and entertaining but still provide good mysteries 'Murder She Wrote' fits the bill just fine.
Cabot Cove and its regular inhabitants are always a welcome sight and they're used to full advantage, and "The Big Kill" is a pretty good episode. Having said that, it did follow on from two of Season 9's (which as said a few times already is one of the weaker and wildly hit and miss 'Murder She Wrote' seasons) best episodes "The Petrified Florist" and "Threshold of Fear". So to have a somewhere in the middle episode that was neither among the best or worst of the season or the show in general was a little bit of a let-down.
Suspension of disbelief somewhat is needed regarding new businesses constantly popping up just like that in a place as small as Cabot Cove. Will confess too to guessing the murderer well before Jessica did in a case where suspects were too few. While the season has certainly had far worse endings, the ending was pretty vanilla.
The mystery however was pretty good, nothing out of the ordinary but it was nicely paced and maintained attention. The murders are pretty clever and the staging of the discovery of the first murder was well done. Angela Lansbury demonstrates as always why Jessica Fletcher is one of the roles she is best remembered by, while she has great support from fellow Cabot Cove regulars William Windom, charmingly curmudgeon as ever and with more crustiness to usual, and Ron Masak. Julie Adams is funny and classy, sad that this is the episode where we say goodbye to her.
In support, Chad Everett, Gregg Henry, Michael Beck and Hope Lange are particularly strong of a solid guest supporting cast.
Production values are slick and stylish. The music has energy and has presence but also not making the mistake of over-scoring, while it is hard to forget or resist the theme tune.
Writing is amiable and thought-provoking.
On the whole, pretty good if not so big. 7/10 Bethany Cox
Cabot Cove and its regular inhabitants are always a welcome sight and they're used to full advantage, and "The Big Kill" is a pretty good episode. Having said that, it did follow on from two of Season 9's (which as said a few times already is one of the weaker and wildly hit and miss 'Murder She Wrote' seasons) best episodes "The Petrified Florist" and "Threshold of Fear". So to have a somewhere in the middle episode that was neither among the best or worst of the season or the show in general was a little bit of a let-down.
Suspension of disbelief somewhat is needed regarding new businesses constantly popping up just like that in a place as small as Cabot Cove. Will confess too to guessing the murderer well before Jessica did in a case where suspects were too few. While the season has certainly had far worse endings, the ending was pretty vanilla.
The mystery however was pretty good, nothing out of the ordinary but it was nicely paced and maintained attention. The murders are pretty clever and the staging of the discovery of the first murder was well done. Angela Lansbury demonstrates as always why Jessica Fletcher is one of the roles she is best remembered by, while she has great support from fellow Cabot Cove regulars William Windom, charmingly curmudgeon as ever and with more crustiness to usual, and Ron Masak. Julie Adams is funny and classy, sad that this is the episode where we say goodbye to her.
In support, Chad Everett, Gregg Henry, Michael Beck and Hope Lange are particularly strong of a solid guest supporting cast.
Production values are slick and stylish. The music has energy and has presence but also not making the mistake of over-scoring, while it is hard to forget or resist the theme tune.
Writing is amiable and thought-provoking.
On the whole, pretty good if not so big. 7/10 Bethany Cox