Vera (TV Series) The Darkest Evening (2023) User Reviews

A strong end to this run of episodes.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 25 February 2023]

During a huge storm, Vera discovers an abandoned car, with a baby on the back seat, later that night the mother's body is found.

On the whole, a very good episode, an intriguing mystery, with some very rich characters. I found a few of the pieces a little hard to put together, but this continued the high standard for the series.

You just know that when a character appears in the first scene, they're going to be lucky to survive til the opening credits play.

I loved the family angle, we got to learn a fair bit about Vera and her family life in the early years, but we've not been given much in recent years, it was nice to learn more about her back story. Vera sparring with Harriet was fun.

Vera and Paula, that freeze seems to have thawed out somewhat, with the pair now seeming to tolerate one another, she's proving to be a good addition, though I am missing Malcolm.

I was very pleased to learn that there's another episode to follow, one that's already been made, I really do hope it's kept for a Holiday weekend or even Christmas time.

Very good, 8/10.

Vera isn't done

[brownwolfpublishing · 8/10 · 20 February 2023]

One more episode is coming.

For this one, while some of the writing was still a bit disjointed, or clumsy, Brenda brings it off. She now has her full hand-picked team and even Paula, while still annoying, is on side.

I read the book and this episode sticks fairly close, although the explanation for why the victim was traveling was unclear. Why she was killed was unclear. I'll watch it again to see if I missed something. I also would have liked more of Harriet, what a piece of work. Lots of interesting conflict and a few skeletons.

On the whole I liked this series, this episode in particular. I hope we have more coming our way.

Good but Easy to Solve

[AJ_Blanc · 7/10 · 4 April 2024]

As of this writing, there are 54 episodes of the show, and 11 books some of those are based on. I mention this because The Darkest Evening (TDE) just so happens to be one of the very few stories that has a book of the same name. I phrased it that way because while I haven't read TDE I assume the mystery is a bit more... mysterious.

This case should've been solved in ten minutes, within the show that is; realistically in about about a day. All they had to do was get the victim's phone record to see who last texted her and that would be it. That's usually the first thing the team does and unless I missed it that conveniently wasn't done this time, they only mentioned that her phone wasn't on her.

Also, what was Vera doing out there? That wasn't her regular way home, and she wasn't going to visit those relatives we only just learned about; otherwise we would've heard about them sooner. I haven't read many of the books, but I have watched every episode to this point (most more than once) and I don't recall any other surviving family member mentioned before, so throwing them in the 9th book/50th episode feels a bit tacked on.

Other than that it was the usual Vera storyline: great scenery, everyone lying as if they were all practiced sociopaths, and the interviews stopping several questions sooner than they should have. TDE however seemed more Agatha Christie and less Ann Cleeves. Cheers.

Good season finale

[SunnyDaise · 10/10 · 19 February 2023]

I've been a bit bored by Vera plots in quite a few episodes, but this was a good one and kind of like Marple etc with a big storm and houseful of guests. There is plenty of drama, some unpredictable twists along the way and a good age-range of characters... Although I did get a little bit distracted playing 'Who's that actor?' with Downton Abbey's Mosley, Father Brown's Inspector Mallory and an actor from Endeavour all popping up! Despite not having as much humour as earlier editions, I would watch this episode again. Plus it seemed quite fitting to have a family party - Happy 50th episode, Vera!

Gripping, but....

[DoctorStrabismus · 6/10 · 25 March 2023]

A thoroughly gripping storyline really ought to provide everything we look for, but....

And it is a very big "but".

The acting was as brilliant as always, the non-police characters ranged across a broad negative spectrum from extremely dubious to utterly unlikeable, and every one of them seems to have a secret. Vera has to somehow cope with every single one of them telling lies or omitting to tell obviously relevant key points of information. Time and again she has to work very hard to keep her massive frustration from boiling over, and the line "Because this is a murder investigation, pet" is repeated over and over.

They are always "Pet", no matter how unpleasant they might be, and I always wonder at what point in 2023 one of them might retort "I'm not your pet". But it never happens. People in Geordieland must be thoroughly conditioned to this!

But, and here we come back to that big "but", right from the opening sequence we are asking ourselves one single question, and a very big question it is too. It is posed right there prior to the introductory titles. Why would a young single mother set off in her car, with her baby on board, in a howling storm, to drive to some unspecified destination, and on remote forested back roads?

We watched it through, and we still couldn't figure it, yet everything in the entire plot pivots on that one utterly illogical action.

6/10.

I wasn't impressed

[jennifertrathan · 6/10 · 22 February 2023]

I'm normally a big fan of Vera, in fact I spent a few weeks recently re-watching the older episodes and was surprised to find that I hadn't seen a couple of them when they were originally shown so enjoyed catching up on the ones I'd missed. Almost every series, they film in my town so it's become a bit of a thing on Facebook, during the show everyone has to post that we're on the telly again. However, I wasn't impressed with this one and ended up feeling that this was the weakest episode so far. I think my main problem was the poor acting by the lesser characters, who mostly had dreadful Geordie accents as well. One of the characters kept bursting into bad-tempered rants and he was a bit too over-the-top for my liking. Of course Brenda Blethyn and the team were like a well oiled machine, and the new doc is even growing on me, but I think that this is the first episode I haven't really enjoyed.

The Darkest Evening

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 22 May 2023]

In a howling storm, Lorna Falstone a new mother goes off to a remote location with her baby. It is Vera who finds the baby abandoned in a car as she is on her way to a party with some distant family.

Eventually Lorna's dead body is found. She died of a heart attack but someone was trying to strangle her first.

She had addiction issues. Not close with her parents especially her father. It turns out that he may not be Lorna's biological dad.

The car she was driving was owned by Ronnie Brown. He is an older man very fond of Lorna, he lent her the car. He too later turns up dead.

It is certainly a toxic mix with plenty of suspects. Lots of old acquaintances of Vera who are ready to put her down as well.

The big plus with this story were the large cast of suspects but many of them just bled into the background. It certainly was a case of too many red herrings.

It led to a problems with the actual murderer. Someone that Vera did not initially suspect but by the end was so unhinged. You had to wonder if Lorna ever saw the warning signs.

a bit quirky and oddball for my tastes

[frieda-92366 · 6/10 · 28 May 2023]

Vera's mysteries are always rife with eccentric personalities (not least of which is her own) but this one seemed overwhelmingly Agatha Christie with the heretofore unmentioned relatives, big house, and party on a dark stormy night. I had trouble connecting the dots on this one from the very beginning, with the young mother grabbing her baby and running off to who knows where, Vera happening on the scene and ending up unhappily at her estranged relatives' house, and after that it was a cascade as wild as the opening weather.

It was too contrived. Vera's female relatives were so loopily upper-class they were not believable -- that's what really bothered me the most. I guess the contrast between her no-nonsense all-business approach and their nonchalance is supposed to heighten the appeal, but it just wasn't there for me in this episode. I prefer when she is dealing with others more like herself -- the ship crews, the blue-collar workers, croft farmers, and such. I have not read all of Ann Cleeve's Vera books, but this episode has a decidedly different feel from the one I have read. This one has too much showy setting and off-putting people, and not enough basic plot.