The Brokenwood Mysteries

Image provided by Acorn TV.

               Every year I eagerly await the new episodes of Brokenwood (as I call it) to come out.  That’s why it is so strange to think I have only watched five seasons and a total of twenty episodes.  I would think I would have watched more.  Every time I finish with a season, I find myself greatly looking forward to the next episodes to come.  Maybe that’s why it feels I have watched more than I actually have.

                The police force in Brokenwood can never get away from murder.  Even on their days off, Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd (Neill Rea), Detective Kristin Sims (Fern Sutherland), and Detective Constable Sam Breen (Nic Sampson) get wrapped up in a murder.

                Always having a murder to investigate is why Kristin has such a hard time getting together with her love interest, Kahu (Rawiri Jobe).  She is always either called away or too tired to do something.  This is not the problem for Breen, though.  He somehow always makes things work with his girlfriend, but they have been together for a long time.

                For Mike, working all the time isn’t a big deal.  Other than the line dancing class he takes, or the country music he loves, work is pretty much Mike’s life.  He even goes so far as to take the work home so he can ponder the evidence on his own.  Sometimes his friend Jared (Pana Hema Taylor) stops by.  Other than that, the time Mike spends at home is alone.

                Not that Mike is a complete recluse.  People in Brokenwood do talk to him when they see him around town.  Mrs. Marlowe (Elizabeth McRae) in particular loves to talk to Mike.  An elderly woman, Mrs. Marlowe always wants to know what is going on with what Mike is working on.  As someone very inquisitive around town, Mrs. Marlowe is also someone who always has something to say.

                Then there is Dr. Gina Kadinsky (Cristina Ionda).  She is the medical examiner who is absolutely crazy about Mike.  Gina would definitely be happy to spend more time with him, and she makes that clear.  At karaoke night she even goes so far as to sing Mike’s favorite song to get his attention.  Everyone around him finds Gina’s infatuation amusing.  Mike just tries to handle it.  They do have to work together, after all.

                Because, as I mentioned earlier, there are murders to solve.  With someone always lying or leaving out information, Mike, Kristin, and Breen always have to go back to the same people over and over again to get the full truth.  Having to do this so often, it’s no wonder these three detectives spend all their time working.  If everyone would say the whole truth the first time around, these cases would be solved a lot faster.

South Pacific Pictures & all3media International/Image provided by Acorn TV.

                But then we wouldn’t have a show.  I also wouldn’t be able to watch these three detectives work together, which is something I enjoy doing.  They each have their own style for getting information.  When these styles are brought together, they solve the case.

Image provided by Acorn TV.

                Spending so much time together has led the three detectives to become friends.  They gently tease each other and want to know what the others are up to, even if that person doesn’t want to share.  The one everyone is most curious about is Mike.  Somehow, other than his past with women, whatever is going on with Mike is always discovered.

South Pacific Pictures & all3media International/Image provided by Acorn TV.

                Mike and his previous wives have been a mystery from the beginning.  Every now and then a bit of information is revealed, but for the most part, his romantic past remains a secret.  With five years of secrets already, I wonder how long that storyline is going to stretch before the full story comes out.

                While characters don’t often come and go in this series, there is occasionally a change.  Jared went away for a while and was replaced by his distant relative, Kahu.  I like Kahu.  He seems to be a very sweet and patient man.  He is patient because despite having his dates with Kristin regularly broken, he’s still around waiting when she becomes available.

                Another character who is in and out of the show is Frodo (Karl Willetts).  Frodo is a man who never quite lands on his feet.  He tries all sorts of schemes and businesses, but somehow everything he tries ends up sideways.  Still, he keeps trying, which is to be admired.  And while he does, Frodo usually comes up with some bit of knowledge that helps with the case.

                While some of the characters I really enjoy, there is one character I’m not fond of.  That character is Nicky (Greta Gregory).  She was in at least two episodes of the fifth season.  A selfish, self-absorbed person, it was always irritating when Nicky was on the screen.  How the detectives had patience to deal with her, I don’t know.

                The thing is, Nicky could change.  I wasn’t fond of Jared either at first.  Now, having returned to the show, Jared is a better character, one I have far less difficulty watching.  There is nothing to say the show can’t do the same for Nicky, if they decide to keep the character around.

                The problem with watching all the episodes at once on DVD is when I’m done with the DVDs, I don’t have another season to jump right into.  There aren’t any continuing storylines to deal with, which is a good thing, but I still always want to know what is going to happen next.  As I always watch on DVD, I have to wait to find out.

Note: Season 6 of The Brokenwood Mysteries is already streaming on Acorn TV.  The DVDs are scheduled for release on May 19, 2020.  My calendar is already marked!