Normally I watch Midsomer Murders and accept what goes on - the flaunting of search warrants, the just-got-there-in-the-nick-of-time endings, the motives going back 2 or 3 or 30 generations, the generous use of a nutter as the culprit, and all the other "this is surely fantasy policing in fantasy settings" habits of the show, large and small. Through 12+ series, I have only thought one or two episodes less than 7 stars.
Blood on the Saddle, however ...
The Stars and Bars represent the American South, NOT the American West. Aside from Texas, no other western state was in the CSA. By the time and place of Billy the Kid (~1875-1881; AZ & NM) virtually no one was flying that banner. The historical research seems to have been limited to those 50's Western movies where the hero was some dislocated Johnny Reb. Lazy and stupid and all the more so since it seems there may have been actual research effort regarding the USA flags displayed. They appear to have 45 stars, as was accurate in 1896.
Barnaby gets a bullet in a hand delivered post and immediately puts his prints all over the shell and the envelope. (Though admittedly this disturbance of evidence is SOP for all Causton police.)
Barnaby bursts in on a man CHOKING A WOMAN AGAINST A WALL. After grabbing him away from the assault, rather than cuff and caution the man Barnaby favors the gent with an intervening bear hug and a kindly, "No, that's enough." Disgusting. Then he begins to say "If she wants to press charges ..." before the man interrupts. Wrong. A Detective Chief Inspector witnessed a brutal assault. There is no need for any sort of victim's consent to press charges. The WITNESSING DETECTIVE CHIEF INSPECTOR has all the necessary authority to arrest. Again, disgusting.
Later, Barnaby lets someone else off with a simple caution for "threatening behaviour, inappropriate sexual conduct, (and) drunken charge" concerning a separate assault. The disgust here gets ratcheted up a notch since it's THE SAME WOMAN in both assaults. Apparently, if you're female, you have to wait to get killed before Tom will look to bring your assailant to justice.
Oh, and one more thing about the history. Billy the Kid's legal "nemesis" was Pat Garrett. Good grief, their names formed the title of a popular 1973 Western. Wyatt Earp was probably never within 500 miles of Billy.
All of which pulled me far, far away from any suspension of disbelief. Not to worry though. The script fairly shouted the killer's identity before the first hour was up, so there wasn't much disbelief to suspend. And the motive was so mundane it made all that time watching the bad history, bad procedures, and horrific judgment even less worthwhile.
Again, I've had no weighty complaint for close to 70 episodes. I've enjoyed and been, mostly, entertained. But those flags were just the Laziest Production and the misogynist policing so gratuitous ...
Blood on the Saddle, however ...
The Stars and Bars represent the American South, NOT the American West. Aside from Texas, no other western state was in the CSA. By the time and place of Billy the Kid (~1875-1881; AZ & NM) virtually no one was flying that banner. The historical research seems to have been limited to those 50's Western movies where the hero was some dislocated Johnny Reb. Lazy and stupid and all the more so since it seems there may have been actual research effort regarding the USA flags displayed. They appear to have 45 stars, as was accurate in 1896.
Barnaby gets a bullet in a hand delivered post and immediately puts his prints all over the shell and the envelope. (Though admittedly this disturbance of evidence is SOP for all Causton police.)
Barnaby bursts in on a man CHOKING A WOMAN AGAINST A WALL. After grabbing him away from the assault, rather than cuff and caution the man Barnaby favors the gent with an intervening bear hug and a kindly, "No, that's enough." Disgusting. Then he begins to say "If she wants to press charges ..." before the man interrupts. Wrong. A Detective Chief Inspector witnessed a brutal assault. There is no need for any sort of victim's consent to press charges. The WITNESSING DETECTIVE CHIEF INSPECTOR has all the necessary authority to arrest. Again, disgusting.
Later, Barnaby lets someone else off with a simple caution for "threatening behaviour, inappropriate sexual conduct, (and) drunken charge" concerning a separate assault. The disgust here gets ratcheted up a notch since it's THE SAME WOMAN in both assaults. Apparently, if you're female, you have to wait to get killed before Tom will look to bring your assailant to justice.
Oh, and one more thing about the history. Billy the Kid's legal "nemesis" was Pat Garrett. Good grief, their names formed the title of a popular 1973 Western. Wyatt Earp was probably never within 500 miles of Billy.
All of which pulled me far, far away from any suspension of disbelief. Not to worry though. The script fairly shouted the killer's identity before the first hour was up, so there wasn't much disbelief to suspend. And the motive was so mundane it made all that time watching the bad history, bad procedures, and horrific judgment even less worthwhile.
Again, I've had no weighty complaint for close to 70 episodes. I've enjoyed and been, mostly, entertained. But those flags were just the Laziest Production and the misogynist policing so gratuitous ...