This is a formula shakeup for Midsomer, with Barnaby arresting the supposed murderer in the opening scenes. We then fast-forward about a year, and it seems that Barnaby might be wrong.
It's a decent set-up for a murder mystery, with lots of good stories behind it to draw reference from (Poirot's Five Little Pigs comes to mind), but the awfully inaccurate courtroom proceedings are so factually incorrect and poorly handled that it was actually annoying me.
I'm not usually a stickler for accuracy in TV shows or movies. However, here the story hinges on the ability of the prosecution to convict the woman in the Dock. Yet the lawyer calls unreliable witnesses and asks out of order questions CONSTANTLY.
Any good defense lawyer would destroy her in a courtroom. Except the one in this episode remains quiet the whole time, even refusing to cross examine one of the most important witnesses in the trial.
Every time an objection could have been called or the defense could have dismantled the prosecution's baseless supposition, the dude remains quiet.
At no point are the facts presented in such a way as to make the accused appear guilty. All the evidence that Barnaby and everyone bangs on about is never once brought up.
Instead, the prosecution seems to base its case entirely on the "observations" and "opinions" of unreliable witnesses, like an obviously biased and overly protective teenager.
It became so annoying that I wished they'd hired My Cousin Vinny to dismantle the case, because then Barnaby would not have been needed.
An odd note is also how the prosecution lawyer seems unbearably smug at all times, determined to convict the accused for some personal reason. It is clear that it is a personal vendetta for her, yet this is never really adequately explained.
Why hate this specific accused so much?
Then again, maybe it is because she's a terrible lawyer, because all she does is constantly make up stories and guess at things throughout.
I zoned out about halfway through the episode because of all these overly annoying inaccuracies. And I managed to guess the murderer before the end, mostly because the person playing them was so smug the whole time.
Midsomer is usually quite good, but this episode is more annoyance than anything.
It's a decent set-up for a murder mystery, with lots of good stories behind it to draw reference from (Poirot's Five Little Pigs comes to mind), but the awfully inaccurate courtroom proceedings are so factually incorrect and poorly handled that it was actually annoying me.
I'm not usually a stickler for accuracy in TV shows or movies. However, here the story hinges on the ability of the prosecution to convict the woman in the Dock. Yet the lawyer calls unreliable witnesses and asks out of order questions CONSTANTLY.
Any good defense lawyer would destroy her in a courtroom. Except the one in this episode remains quiet the whole time, even refusing to cross examine one of the most important witnesses in the trial.
Every time an objection could have been called or the defense could have dismantled the prosecution's baseless supposition, the dude remains quiet.
At no point are the facts presented in such a way as to make the accused appear guilty. All the evidence that Barnaby and everyone bangs on about is never once brought up.
Instead, the prosecution seems to base its case entirely on the "observations" and "opinions" of unreliable witnesses, like an obviously biased and overly protective teenager.
It became so annoying that I wished they'd hired My Cousin Vinny to dismantle the case, because then Barnaby would not have been needed.
An odd note is also how the prosecution lawyer seems unbearably smug at all times, determined to convict the accused for some personal reason. It is clear that it is a personal vendetta for her, yet this is never really adequately explained.
Why hate this specific accused so much?
Then again, maybe it is because she's a terrible lawyer, because all she does is constantly make up stories and guess at things throughout.
I zoned out about halfway through the episode because of all these overly annoying inaccuracies. And I managed to guess the murderer before the end, mostly because the person playing them was so smug the whole time.
Midsomer is usually quite good, but this episode is more annoyance than anything.