The Brokenwood Mysteries

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             As much as I love mysteries, I am surprised to say The Brokenwood Mysteries took me awhile to get into.  I believe there are two main reasons for this.  First, before I started the series, I heard it compared to Midsomer Murders.  With this in mind, I came into this series thinking the mysteries were going to be as weird and quirky as they are on Midsomer.  They are not.  The Brokenwood mysteries are much more straight forward with not only the methods of the murders but also the reasons behind them.  Second, I watched the first season episodes spread very far apart.  With probably a month or more between each one, I kept having to re-familiarize myself with the characters and what happened in the past episodes.  The second season, however, I had to get from the library.  With such a short time to watch all four episodes, I was able to sit and enjoy all that was going on instead of trying to remember what the characters were talking about.  That made all the difference.  Watching all four episodes in such quick succession helped me get more involved in the show, and now I look forward to seeing what happens in season three.

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                Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd (Neill Rea) is new to Brokenwood.  With a car from the seventies and a love of country music, Mike has a tendency to stick out in this New Zealand town.  The same holds true in his office as Mike is much older than those he works with.  Being from different generations, Mike and his co-workers do not always understand each other.  This can lead to problems on occasion, but with the same goal in mind (solving the mysteries and murders of Brokenwood), they all figure out how to get along, most of the time. 

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           Detective Kristin Sims (Fern Sutherland) is the person Mike works most closely with.  She is more by the book than Mike and does not always understand the things that he does.  Some things, such as going through paperwork instead of always being out conducting interviews, Kristin does eventually see the logic to.  Mike’s propensity for talking to corpses, I don’t think that will ever make sense in Kristin’s mind.  The lack of understanding, however, does not mean that Kristin and Mike are constantly at odds.  Through the episodes they learn to work together and get along to the point that some might even consider them friends. 

                Another person Mike oversees is Detective Constable Sam Breen (Nic Sampson).  Even younger than Kristin, Sam has a lot more proving to do before Mike will fully trust him with things.  His tendency to immediately say the thought that is on his mind does not help matters, but Sam does quickly realize when he has done something wrong.  This ability to know what he has done wrong and change it is why I believe Mike puts up with some of the things Sam does.  He sees a potential in Sam and is willing to wait until it comes out.              

                The medical examiner is the third person Mike works with.  Originally from Russia, Dr. Gina Kadinsky (Cristina Ionda) brings a lot of humor to the show.  She is closer in age to Mike than Kristin and Sam, but she intentionally drives Mike crazy by not answering his questions and instead telling stories of Russia.  Then, when Mike mentions that Gina is from Russia, she questions him as to why he would ever think that.  I’m not sure yet if she is truly questioning this as a way to say she is from someplace else, or if Gina is using the question as her own form of humor as she clearly does not get Mike’s.  In fact, her lack of understanding Mike’s humor has been a conversation more than once.  No matter how hard he tries, Gina does not get what Mike is trying to say.

While Kristin, Sam, and Gina are official members of Mike’s team, there is one more team member that is definitely unofficial.  Jared Morehu (Pana Hema Taylor) is a local who Mike regularly seeks out for information.  While I am not quite sure what Jared does for a living (he somehow always seems to be just on the right side of the law), he has the ability to mix and talk to pretty much everyone in town.  This leads him to finding tips and stories that help Mike solve the cases he is working on, or at least points him in the right direction.  Not wanting to be seen as someone who helps the police, it is not always easy for Mike to the get the information from Jared that he wants.  As the series goes on, however, Jared finds himself trusting Mike more.  By the final episode of season two, they might even be considered friends.

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                As I said before, the mysteries in The Brokenwood Mysteries are much more straight forward than they are in Midsomer Murders.  That does not mean they are not still good, though, and watching everyone’s different investigative styles is really fun.  I especially like watching Mike make everyone underestimate him.  Even though Mike asks very intelligent questions, the way he asks them, and the fact that he holds things back, leads people to believe he does not know what he’s doing.  Then he zings whoever he’s talking to, and they realize doubting Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd was the wrong thing to do.

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                I also like the little bit of quirkiness that is in this series.  It’s not as much as Midsomer, but it is in there and continues to grow as the series goes on.  Most of the quirkiness has to do with the characters.  One character I really get a kick out of is an older lady who somehow seems to be involved in every community club going.  I don’t recall her name, but she’s always offering people some baked good she makes (I believe it’s cheeseballs), and trying Mike’s patience with her stories.  The stories, however, are worth putting up with, because the woman knows everything that is going on in the town.  If Jared does not know something, this woman is definitely the person to go to.

                While I like the increased quirkiness in the show (the last victim was killed by an electric guitar in a bathtub), there is one thing I’m concerned about as the show goes on.  That thing is the relationship between Kristin and Mike.  I really hope that the writers don’t have them start towards a romantic relationship.  First off, there is zero chemistry between them.  Forcing it would, in my opinion, ruin the show.  Second, as of now, Mike and Kristin are just co-workers and sort-of friends.  I think it is great that their relationship is this way, heading more towards solid friendship than anything else, because it’s about time there is a show where a man and a woman work together without any romantic undertones.  That hardly ever happens, even when the characters are married, and I really hope this show stays in that direction.  It will help the show remain on the good path it is on and avoid making messes that are completely unnecessary.  The murderers in Brokenwood make enough messes on their own.

              

              (Note: If you have seen the first two seasons and don’t want to wait for the third season DVDs to come out, The Brokenwood Mysteries: Series 3 U.S Premiere is scheduled for December 2016 on Acorn TV.  Source: Acorn TV representative.)