I loved Ardal O'Hanlon as Father Dougal but here he seemed a bit dull, no great spark either individually or with the other characters. I'll reserve judgement for a while though.
I loved Ardal O'Hanlon as Father Dougal but here he seemed a bit dull, no great spark either individually or with the other characters. I'll reserve judgement for a while though.
The problem I'm having with Ardal O'Hanlon is that I can see the mechanics of his acting. That's not to say he can't act, but there is always a split second before the required expression kicks in- be it astonished expression, confused expression, moment of enlightenment expression. It's as if they are all there in his acting brain- but you can see him pull the expressions out as they are needed. A bit obvious- maybe a good technique for a sit com- but not a drama.
I sometimes feel like that with other actors- but normally only when I'm watching for a second or third time (as I remember what comes next) With O'Hanlon I actually felt like that watching him the first time in this episode.
It is not Florence but the writers who have lost the plot.
Everyone in the original team had a more-or-less defined role. Camille was an experienced detective in her own right; Dwayne was the old sweat who might cut corners but knew his way round Saint Marie's underworld; Fidel was bright and ambitious but inexperienced. Those three would collect evidence from which DI Poole would solve the case.
But all that was lost with the second team, which seemed unable or unwilling even to make the tea without direction from DI Goodman, who at the end of the episode would pull a solution out of the air as he frantically drew arrows on the whiteboard. JP was a cipher; Florence's main job was to have her name pronounced with a cod-French accent, as she shadowed the DI for no apparent reason. There was no sense they were a team of professionals, just Goodman's minions.
Unless I'm misremembering. To be fair, Dwayne and JP have been more independent recently.
Yes I agree with you. I thought the latest episode was really flat. The thing that annoys me most about DIP are the clothes that Florence wears! surely someone of her station would'nt be going to work in halter neck tops and shorts...... I'm no prim but I would have thought a top and skirt or top and trousers would be more professional....
I do hope that they flesh out Florence a bit more. Sometimes it feels as if they could put a wig on a mop and a pair of short shorts and nobody would tell the difference - the character is not the slightest bit fleshed out and needs a back story.
But none of the other characters has a back story: they can all be adequately described in a single sentence. And we know next to nothing about any of them. Although that doesn't prevent them from entertaining us for a few hours every year. It is only in soaps, which are ONLY about the characters (and how they deal with whatever crisis-du-jour is conjured up for them) that you need a background, to know how they will react.
Florence's role is the same as Camile's: to provide a source of exposition (explaining to the DI the who, what, where and when of the murder), gender balance and someone for the DI to "reveal" the criminal investigation to.
However, I do agree that Florence is largely a wasted character. I wonder if "daughter" has been brought in and Catherine's role (apparently) expanded because the actress can't or won't "step it up a gear"?
I like Ardal and am willing for him to do well but there was no life in this week's show. I agree with comments about lack of acting from the support cast which I think is due to script writers. We know they can act so give them the lines to do that.
Well, the series final episode must have been one of the worst for the "any barrister would make mincemeat out of that case" effect.
They are so lucky that the culprits are always so cooperative in owning up.
Did the culprits in the final episode actually own up?
To my mind, all they had to do was say Jack's hypothesis was rubbish, and anyway where was the proof.
The fact that they were mother, and daughter did not make them murderers.
They were pointing so much on the reverend and his wife's direction, i thought 'it can't be them'.
I kept going back to something that wasn't even mentioned: why was the knife upside down? Because i wasn't sure at first if there was also an opening at the top of the booth, for a few minutes, i thought it was the son who did it! He was in the booth at the back and if he did it from the top, the knife would have been upside down!
Finally, the official version was one the worst possible. Predicting what booth the victim is gonna be in is already a stretch. But to rely on the fact that a person in the room is gonna have his back turned for a few seconds is madness. Even more, relying on the fact that the victim is not gonna cry out when being stabbed is also stupid.
Now i know that these two are not professional assassins but really!
Anyway, we learned a few things. Jack is staying. And the big arch story i was stressing about early on in this thread is now resolved: Catherine is mayor. Of course, with the help of blackmail by a police officer, so we'll see if there are consequences (i doubt it)!
Why are knives usually inserted with the blade vertical? It is so much easier to insert them with the blade horizontally as it then passes between the ribs rather than trying to force it's way through.
Sadly for us the series is now Dead in Paradise, Awful O'Hell brings nothing to the show, the awkward awful slip of a girl is a major irritation, I loved Miller and Marshall but casting Awful O'Hell has ended my enjoyment.
Finally, the official version was one the worst possible. Predicting what booth the victim is gonna be in is already a stretch. But to rely on the fact that a person in the room is gonna have his back turned for a few seconds is madness. Even more, relying on the fact that the victim is not gonna cry out when being stabbed is also stupid.
Now i know that these two are not professional assassins but really!
Jack said their plan would have worked whichever of the Honore booths the victim went in, because they just needed the vicar to have to leave his post to deliver the pen to somebody. But yes, their plan really didn't make sense - it also relied on whoever was in that booth not having a pen in their pocket, the other voters taking ages to mark their ballot papers (although we saw that they only had to mark one cross!) and nobody else turning up to vote when the polling station opened at 10 a.m. You would surely have expected the candidate who was running on a "family values" ticket to bring his family along with him, wouldn't you?
Anyway, we learned a few things. Jack is staying. And the big arch story i was stressing about early on in this thread is now resolved: Catherine is mayor. Of course, with the help of blackmail by a police officer, so we'll see if there are consequences (i doubt it)!
I would much have preferred her to win in a fair election. I particularly disliked Duane's expectation that Catherine would get the rival booze seller closed down if she was mayor, which would surely be an abuse of her position. As would it be if the victim had won the election and used his position to get the orphanage closed down so he could buy the land. That's the kind of thing that the previous mayor was doing, but secretly. Surely the victim wouldn't have been able to get away with doing it openly? They do have a Governor appointed by the Crown, so it's not as though there is nobody who people can complain to (apart from the police commissioner) if the mayor is corrupt.
I didn't really believe the whole story about how the vicar and his wife would have lost the 3 children if the orphanage was closed down because it would take years for them to be approved to adopt them and in the meantime they would be sent to another island - surely they could apply to foster them in the meantime? I don't see why that would take long since they were already running the orphanage so must have had all necessary checks already?
I was expecting that either Catherine turned out to be the murderer and therefore was jailed, so Siobhan would take over running the bar, or that Catherine would become mayor, which meant she was too busy, so Siobhan would then take over running the bar.
Either way, it would have given S. some role in the show. Since the writers didn't provide her with anything I wonder if she'll still be there next year?
I was expecting that either Catherine turned out to be the murderer and therefore was jailed, so Siobhan would take over running the bar, or that Catherine would become mayor, which meant she was too busy, so Siobhan would then take over running the bar.
Either way, it would have given S. some role in the show. Since the writers didn't provide her with anything I wonder if she'll still be there next year?
I still think she could get a job in the bar without actually running it.
I was expecting that either Catherine turned out to be the murderer and therefore was jailed, so Siobhan would take over running the bar, or that Catherine would become mayor, which meant she was too busy, so Siobhan would then take over running the bar.
Either way, it would have given S. some role in the show. Since the writers didn't provide her with anything I wonder if she'll still be there next year?
I thought she might take over the bar as well, i was the first to suggest that.
I expect, if it happens, it's gonna be the main soapy-suspense of the first episode of next year! What's gonna happen to Catherine's bar? So stressful!
I would much have preferred her to win in a fair election. I particularly disliked Duane's expectation that Catherine would get the rival booze seller closed down if she was mayor, which would surely be an abuse of her position. As would it be if the victim had won the election and used his position to get the orphanage closed down so he could buy the land. That's the kind of thing that the previous mayor was doing, but secretly. Surely the victim wouldn't have been able to get away with doing it openly? They do have a Governor appointed by the Crown, so it's not as though there is nobody who people can complain to (apart from the police commissioner) if the mayor is corrupt.
I thought it was someone selling booze cheap i.e. probably illicit booze?
I am giving Ardal a chance but he does seem a bit wooden in his delivery. Maybe he'll be better when be settles in. I really liked Kris so I'm missing him. I was hoping for a cameo appearance at the end where he made a surprise visit to say goodbye. They could have filmed it during the London episode as the producer said the London interior scenes were filmed on the island so they could have filmed it then with everyone.
I am giving Ardal a chance but he does seem a bit wooden in his delivery. Maybe he'll be better when be settles in. I really liked Kris so I'm missing him. I was hoping for a cameo appearance at the end where he made a surprise visit to say goodbye. They could have filmed it during the London episode as the producer said the London interior scenes were filmed on the island so they could have filmed it then with everyone.
Anyway, we learned a few things. Jack is staying. And the big arch story i was stressing about early on in this thread is now resolved: Catherine is mayor. Of course, with the help of blackmail by a police officer, so we'll see if there are consequences (i doubt it)!
The relationship between Catherine and the police was already straying close to corrupt. They should not accept free drinks, and she clearly should have been treated as a suspect, even if they'd just kept her picture on the whiteboard for form's sake.
I thought it was someone selling booze cheap i.e. probably illicit booze?
Could well be, but if so, she would have been better trying to get it closed down before she became mayor. Has she reported it to the police? If so, only to Dwayne, who has turned a blind eye to it? Why wouldn't she have a word with one of the other officers, or the commissioner, about it?
Also, I feel the writers of the individual episodes need to confer a bit to get some continuity between episodes. For instance, Jack said in this one, "You can't be in two places at the same time", but that was the solution to the previous case! The fire door couldn't be opened from the outside, but they never considered the possibility that it wasn't locked in the first place, like the office door in the bank episode. And surely the local paper in this episode, which printed a front page story about Catherine being the chief suspect in the murder case just on the say-so of her mayoral rival, wasn't the same one which has just seen its owner arrested for a murder in which someone had been wrongfully convicted? But surely there can't be more than one local paper on the island?
Comments
The problem I'm having with Ardal O'Hanlon is that I can see the mechanics of his acting. That's not to say he can't act, but there is always a split second before the required expression kicks in- be it astonished expression, confused expression, moment of enlightenment expression. It's as if they are all there in his acting brain- but you can see him pull the expressions out as they are needed. A bit obvious- maybe a good technique for a sit com- but not a drama.
I sometimes feel like that with other actors- but normally only when I'm watching for a second or third time (as I remember what comes next) With O'Hanlon I actually felt like that watching him the first time in this episode.
Yes I agree with you. I thought the latest episode was really flat. The thing that annoys me most about DIP are the clothes that Florence wears! surely someone of her station would'nt be going to work in halter neck tops and shorts...... I'm no prim but I would have thought a top and skirt or top and trousers would be more professional....
Florence's role is the same as Camile's: to provide a source of exposition (explaining to the DI the who, what, where and when of the murder), gender balance and someone for the DI to "reveal" the criminal investigation to.
However, I do agree that Florence is largely a wasted character. I wonder if "daughter" has been brought in and Catherine's role (apparently) expanded because the actress can't or won't "step it up a gear"?
I know what you mean, it was a bit like that episode of Columbo where nobody dies, it's good but it's just not quite right.
They are so lucky that the culprits are always so cooperative in owning up.
To my mind, all they had to do was say Jack's hypothesis was rubbish, and anyway where was the proof.
The fact that they were mother, and daughter did not make them murderers.
I kept going back to something that wasn't even mentioned: why was the knife upside down? Because i wasn't sure at first if there was also an opening at the top of the booth, for a few minutes, i thought it was the son who did it! He was in the booth at the back and if he did it from the top, the knife would have been upside down!
Finally, the official version was one the worst possible. Predicting what booth the victim is gonna be in is already a stretch. But to rely on the fact that a person in the room is gonna have his back turned for a few seconds is madness. Even more, relying on the fact that the victim is not gonna cry out when being stabbed is also stupid.
Now i know that these two are not professional assassins but really!
Anyway, we learned a few things. Jack is staying. And the big arch story i was stressing about early on in this thread is now resolved: Catherine is mayor. Of course, with the help of blackmail by a police officer, so we'll see if there are consequences (i doubt it)!
I would much have preferred her to win in a fair election. I particularly disliked Duane's expectation that Catherine would get the rival booze seller closed down if she was mayor, which would surely be an abuse of her position. As would it be if the victim had won the election and used his position to get the orphanage closed down so he could buy the land. That's the kind of thing that the previous mayor was doing, but secretly. Surely the victim wouldn't have been able to get away with doing it openly? They do have a Governor appointed by the Crown, so it's not as though there is nobody who people can complain to (apart from the police commissioner) if the mayor is corrupt.
I didn't really believe the whole story about how the vicar and his wife would have lost the 3 children if the orphanage was closed down because it would take years for them to be approved to adopt them and in the meantime they would be sent to another island - surely they could apply to foster them in the meantime? I don't see why that would take long since they were already running the orphanage so must have had all necessary checks already?
Either way, it would have given S. some role in the show. Since the writers didn't provide her with anything I wonder if she'll still be there next year?
I still think she could get a job in the bar without actually running it.
I thought she might take over the bar as well, i was the first to suggest that.
I expect, if it happens, it's gonna be the main soapy-suspense of the first episode of next year! What's gonna happen to Catherine's bar? So stressful!
I thought it was someone selling booze cheap i.e. probably illicit booze?
Perhaps return for his honeymoon?
The relationship between Catherine and the police was already straying close to corrupt. They should not accept free drinks, and she clearly should have been treated as a suspect, even if they'd just kept her picture on the whiteboard for form's sake.
Could well be, but if so, she would have been better trying to get it closed down before she became mayor. Has she reported it to the police? If so, only to Dwayne, who has turned a blind eye to it? Why wouldn't she have a word with one of the other officers, or the commissioner, about it?
Also, I feel the writers of the individual episodes need to confer a bit to get some continuity between episodes. For instance, Jack said in this one, "You can't be in two places at the same time", but that was the solution to the previous case! The fire door couldn't be opened from the outside, but they never considered the possibility that it wasn't locked in the first place, like the office door in the bank episode. And surely the local paper in this episode, which printed a front page story about Catherine being the chief suspect in the murder case just on the say-so of her mayoral rival, wasn't the same one which has just seen its owner arrested for a murder in which someone had been wrongfully convicted? But surely there can't be more than one local paper on the island?