Reviews

I've watched all 4 episodes and have concluded that this show is mediocre at best and down right silly at the worst. This is no "Murder She Wrote" by far, and Harry is no Jessica Fletcher, but just a bored interfering senior. In the first episode Harry is mugged by a teenage boy, who she later befriends (and makes her partner) even after finding out his dad is involved with the Irish mob. All the cases so far have had some literary clue that only Harry would recognize, how convenient and unbelievable. I like Jane Seymore but this isn't one of her best endeavors. None of the characters are very likable especially Harry's son. Even Harry comes off as ditzy as well as her side kick. Harry exposes herself, her granddaughter and her partner to all sorts of danger. It takes 2 episodes before her dim bulb of a son to listen and take her detective powers serious. I do enjoy the scenery in this "Irish" drama. Since there is a lull in shows I will watch and hope for the best.

I've been wanting something new to watch and decided to give this show a try. The location, what we see of it is nice but the characters are just, too over the top. As other reviewers stated it's not really a drama or a comedy and certainly not much of a mystery. The tired plot line of a husband with a secret life gets hold and hard to believe. I will continue to watch to see if it gets better but I have my doubts. It makes a good multi task show as in folding laundry or ironing. No need to be glued to the set as there is little action.

I watched all 9 episodes, there are just 9 episodes right??? I slogged through each one just waiting for all the pieces to start to fall together and justice be served. Alas, no justice is served and all the main characters continue to make stupid mistake after stupid mistake. Billy, the main man won't clear himself from a murder charge and pays dearly in the end. Lee, Billy's ex girlfriend, a Yale grad, throws her marriage to a very caring and wealthy man away for a couple of nights in the hay. Lee came home to look after her crippled dad who was in the care of her gay brother who had a crush on Billy. Billy protects Isaac, who did the murder and to please his ex girlfriend. Billy's father is a ne'er-do-well and Billy's mother is portrayed as a spunky loving mom, who is trying to bring in a union to her work place. Mom works in a small company that makes bridal gowns. The contrast of beautiful bridal gowns to the location in this town where the local steel mill closed is stark. This contrast is beyond believable. With the down turn of the local economy, drugs are now a major problem for both the old and young. Billy is being investigated for the death of an ex policeman, who he had a dust up with in the past. The ex policeman was also a drug dealer. The local pharmacist is also involved in the heavy drug trade. There are so many twists and subplots, that the main story becomes hard to believe or tie together. We do have the checklist of characters needed by today's standards. Gay men, transgender person, bad white people, bad police officers, white trailer trash, fun drugs and people of color who aren't authentic. It's a long slog to watch this and then the last episode clears up nothing, ABSOLUTLEY nothing is resolved. The story needs at least another episode or 2 to clear up this mess. Why is it so hard for writers to tell a story?? I believe there was a book. Anyway a very annoying show as well as a dreary, depressing story. To add to the atmosphere the majority of this show is filmed in low light. Watch at the risk of being bored and annoyed.

I like all the actors but in other shows. What a waste of the picturesque scenery, buildings and actors. A thin 2 arc plot that goes basically nowhere. The 1st plot line is between, Billy Winters, who is tricked into marrying a woman who is pregnant by another (man?). Daughter Beth knows Billy isn't her father, and when she asks who her father is, Billy says he doesn't know it is one of two men. Beth's mother dies, when Beth is young and Billy continues to raise her as his own. As the years pass, Billy starts to see Beth, not as a daughter, but as a love interest. After drinking, Billy visits Beth in her bedroom who then escapes to sleep with the maid. The maid is a friend and confidant to Beth. The maid tells her brother the policeman.

Billy is well off and has tenant farmers and a stone quarry. This is the second story arc. Billy was mean to Beth's mother and beat her and threatens to disinherit Beth. One day a man shows up at Billy's house and asks him to spy on his tenants as there have been bombings in London by Irish dissidents. He blackmails Billy by threatening to tell everyone of him beating his wife. The man shows a report from the maid's brother as to Billy's beating his wife and being, too friendly to Beth. The law is checking on all sources for dynamite. One of the men in the quarry befriends Beth after learning Billy keeps gold at the house. The gold is needed for the bombs. Liam plans with Beth to steal the money and run away but in fact only wants the gold and plans to kill Beth after she robs her father. On the night of her planned escape she gives her father a drug for horses to knock him out. She grabs the the gold and leaves only to be stopped on the way by a mute man. He forces her back to the house and draws a diagram to show her Liam has dug her grave. She's devastated and puts the gold back at which time Billy enters the room. Billy beats her and forces her to leave with nothing. Beth misses the rendezvouses with Liam and instead waits at his house. Beth is pregnant and knows Liam planned to kill her so she tricks him into getting in a boat to leave for a new life. Beth knows Liam can't swim and knocks him out of the boat. Liam drowns and Beth returns to Liam's cottage where Billy finds her and wants her, thus starting the same scenario as before. Three stretched out episodes to tell this tale that could have been told in one. A great deal of the story is at night with bad lighting for the eerie effect I guess. A waste of talent.

I usually read the reviews before starting a series but didn't for this one, which was a mistake. Like most people who have been shut in for the last year, finding something interesting to watch is getting harder and harder, so when this pops up on Acorn it looked interesting. A 14 year old girl goes to town and just disappears. We are shown how Amber's disappearance affects the members of her family and their relationships with others. We are, also shown flash backs from different scenarios that give clues as to what might have happened to Amber. The story goes along and it seems that the writers are working towards a conclusion, but alas they are not. The viewer after 4 episodes knows nothing more than when the show started. I was waiting for episode 5 but there is no episode to finish up the story of Amber. I realize that Amber is evidently not coming home and this was the gist of this story. The writers could have tied up the ending in away that would be satisfying to the viewers, instead of just hanging everyone out there with "what the hell" was that about. After you've invested 3 1/2 hours to a pretty decent story to only find there is no ending is an insult to the viewer.

Just finished the series and thought it was outstanding for a true crime adaption. There was enough episodes to tell the story without being rushed or over done with filler. It always amazes me how the little things are downfall of the criminal. I do feel that the original detectives missed a big clue in the bar picture of the darts team. That picture led to the film being turned up with John Cooper looking very much like a sketch of the suspect. All in all there is enough drama to keep you interested. The actors all did a good job with the well written script.

The actress who played the spoiled teenage daughter did a great job of getting us to hate her in the first 10 minutes. The parents take an additional 10 minutes to loath. Clearly the daughter has been over indulged by guilt ridden parents to the point the daughter has no empathy for anyone. The parents after learning their daughter has just "killed" her friend go out of their way to protect their sociopathic daughter. I understand the desire to protect your child but these parents are so extreme in their actions. An accident can be explained and most people would see the need for common sense and decency but not here. All of the main characters are just crappy people who continue to lie and then blame the dead friend's father. The parents continue to cast blame bringing in the police to further the "lie". As the story progresses the viewer is shown the daughter in various scenarios where she doesn't seemed disturbed at all by her actions. Again the parents fail to pick up on any of these clues. It isn't till the final plot twist that the daughter confesses to her lie, but alas it's to late for the parents. The acting wasn't bad, nor the photography but the story for most of us "normal" people just didn't resonate as plausible. For the average viewer the message of overindulgence of children is never is a good thing. Love and attention are far more valuable than "things. Not bad but not good either.

After much hype, HBO's Perry Mason( in name only) has arrived with a big thud. If you are going to pimp the show as Perry Mason lets at least have some semblance to the character the show was named after. Instead of a brilliant, articulate well dressed attorney, we are shown a dirty, depressed, self-loafing human being. The scenes are depressing and over the top. Dead babies with stitched up eyelids, obese naked men running down the street, same naked obese man eating whipped cream from a young ladies genitals, 30 sex positions in a single bed, or some lame brain torture all within the the first 30 minutes doesn't necessarily make for an interesting show. I also believe there was electricity and sunlight back in the 30s, but this show lacks both of these factors , thus everything is dark and gloomy just like the main character. The whole episode was very disjointed. We are not introduced to our characters but just subjected to little bits and pieces of information none of which are very helpful. Any semblance to the Perry Mason of early TV is not to be found anywhere in this show. Perry is not an attorney but a milk cow, air stirp owning private detective. He is also portrayed as a bad father and husband, dishonorably discharged army vet of WW1, a bad dresser and all around unlikable person. Again another attempt to take a beloved character from fiction and TV and make them into something edgy that fell flat. We loved the original Perry for his sharp mind and dry wit, but this new Perry doesn't come off as the sharpest tool in the shed, he's just comes off as a tool. Queen of the South's Veronica Falcon is Perry's "love" interest ( 30 sex positions) and is not believable in that capacity. Matthew Rhys does a good job at being the down and out Perry, but the script was lacking depth. I will give it another go next week and hope it improves but not holding my breath. Maybe Perry will take some night classes to get his law degree. I do think the time period for Perry as an attorney would have been interesting, with prohibition and crime leading up to WW2. Dead mutilated babies, oral sex, f-bombs, bad lighting, and unlikeable characters do not add to this show's appeal. A hodgepodge of dark (literally) disjointed scenarios without a well written story do not make for an interesting Perry Mason.