I know I have said it, but I want to keep saying: The second season has started very up and down, even more than the first one, for me. "Death on the Plantation" was awesome, "An Unholy Death" decent enough, "Death in the Clinic" good, but not great. "A Deadly Curse" however is easily the weakest "Death in Paradise" I've seen so far. It's not a bad episode (it takes a lot to call an episode that), but falls very short. Even though I wasn't so keen on the "treasure hunting" premise, as a murder mystery fan, I hoped to see a lot better writing than I got.
Let's start with good, shall we? Because there are some enjoyable aspects in here.
. The production values are great as usual. The direction's gorgeous and the music's fun. The acting is not bad either. Pip Torrens, an actor I really like, is sadly for one scene in this episode, but he's very enjoyable in it.
. The humor works and is quirky. Especially like the teasing-name Camille gives to a goat. The chemistry between Richard and his female partner has always been very nice...
But...
. The murder mystery was a huge disappointment this time around. At times, I really lost my interest. Couple of twists, especially the one regarding of who might have been responsible for the explosion were too obvious from the start. There are also tropes in this mystery that have been done for too many times in crime stories. "The beautiful suspect, who flirts with police officers and an innocent-looking, but clearly guilty of something person, whose life is in danger" come to mind. I also wish some of the characters were given more to do in the story, especially Pip Torrens'.
.The solution to this mystery wasn't very good either. The killer's identity I thought was quite obvious from the start and the motive for the murders, which is about saving a rainforest, was quite random to say the least.
Overall, an okay, but very flawed episode.
5/10 HK
Let's start with good, shall we? Because there are some enjoyable aspects in here.
. The production values are great as usual. The direction's gorgeous and the music's fun. The acting is not bad either. Pip Torrens, an actor I really like, is sadly for one scene in this episode, but he's very enjoyable in it.
. The humor works and is quirky. Especially like the teasing-name Camille gives to a goat. The chemistry between Richard and his female partner has always been very nice...
But...
. The murder mystery was a huge disappointment this time around. At times, I really lost my interest. Couple of twists, especially the one regarding of who might have been responsible for the explosion were too obvious from the start. There are also tropes in this mystery that have been done for too many times in crime stories. "The beautiful suspect, who flirts with police officers and an innocent-looking, but clearly guilty of something person, whose life is in danger" come to mind. I also wish some of the characters were given more to do in the story, especially Pip Torrens'.
.The solution to this mystery wasn't very good either. The killer's identity I thought was quite obvious from the start and the motive for the murders, which is about saving a rainforest, was quite random to say the least.
Overall, an okay, but very flawed episode.
5/10 HK