"Midsomer Murders" has been one of my favorite series for quite a some time now. John Nettles era is in my opinion way better than Neil Dudgeon's, but there were some bad episodes when Nettles was around. "Shot at Dawn" is in my opinion one of those episodes. It's not an abysmal entry to the series, but it is terrible indeed.
Let's start with the good aspects, shall we?
. The production values of "Shot at Dawn" are great as usual. The episode looks good and the music fits to the scenery. The acting's fine. Brian Capron is not bad in this episode and neither is Samantha Bond. The most intriguing performance is given by George Cole though...
. There are some intense moments in the story, which are effective-the opening scene with Tommy Hicks getting executed was well-done indeed.
But....
. The script is a shallow mess with uninteresting characters, ridicolous moments (I agree that the pub fight was childish) and vulgarity. This is one of the first times in "Midsomer Murders" where full frontal female nudity is shown and sex seems to be an endless subject. I was quite disgusted at times to be honest.
. Barnaby and Jones are not their usual selves and it does take too time up until anything compelling happens.
. The solution to the mystery (Lionel did it) was not clever in any way and is quite obvious from the start as well.
Overall, a terrible episode to a great series.
3/10 HK.
Let's start with the good aspects, shall we?
. The production values of "Shot at Dawn" are great as usual. The episode looks good and the music fits to the scenery. The acting's fine. Brian Capron is not bad in this episode and neither is Samantha Bond. The most intriguing performance is given by George Cole though...
. There are some intense moments in the story, which are effective-the opening scene with Tommy Hicks getting executed was well-done indeed.
But....
. The script is a shallow mess with uninteresting characters, ridicolous moments (I agree that the pub fight was childish) and vulgarity. This is one of the first times in "Midsomer Murders" where full frontal female nudity is shown and sex seems to be an endless subject. I was quite disgusted at times to be honest.
. Barnaby and Jones are not their usual selves and it does take too time up until anything compelling happens.
. The solution to the mystery (Lionel did it) was not clever in any way and is quite obvious from the start as well.
Overall, a terrible episode to a great series.
3/10 HK.