… Shetland.. the BBC hit mystery series.. just finished the 6th episode of Season 6.. who killed the local prominent lawyer?.. shot dead on his doorstep in broad daylight…
Hello, my fellow mystery buffs. This is my inaugural review of one of my favorite BBC British drama series. Shetland is based on the novels written by Ann Cleeves. Ms. Cleeves is an award-winning British mystery crime writer, whose books have been made into a series – Shetland and Vera are her brainchildren.
Shetland, 168 kilometers from Scotland. Icy winds, craggy peaks. A dark and damp part of the world that lends itself to sinister occurrences. Murder.
Shetland’s main character is Detective Jimmy Perez- he is Scottish and was raised in the small community of Shetland. He left for several years but returned after the death of his wife. He has a stepdaughter named Cassie. Det. Perez is played brilliantly by Douglas Henshall, a Scottish television, film and stage actor. The other members of his team of detectives are Det. Sergeant Allison “Tosh” Mcintosh and Detective Constable Sandy Wilson.
Season 6 has six episodes.. The first episode finds Det. Perez on the wind-blown Fair Isle.. attending his mother’s funeral. His father is present, and it becomes very apparent that his father is beginning to have memory issues. After the funeral, Tosh calls Det. Perez to inform him that one of the prominent members of the community has been murdered.. shot to death in broad daylight on his front porch. The murdered man is an attorney named Alex Galbraith. Just before he died, he was on the phone with his daughter, Merren. We hear the doorbell ring, Alex goes to answer the door and is shot to death, his daughter hears the shots ….
Det. Jimmy Perez returns to Shetland, meets with his team and requests that they check all phone records, financial records, his marriage- oh.. by the way- his wife, Eve, is currently campaigning for MP- a Member of Parliament. Jimmy tells his team “ to know how a man died.. you need to know how he lived. “
As with most people – a person’s public image can be very different than their private life. On the surface- Alex Galbraith was an upstanding citizen, a dedicated defense attorney – often taking cases that would be considered “lost causes” and a devoted husband and father. This of course begs the question why would anyone want to kill this fine, upstanding pillar of the community?
We soon find out that Alex Galbraith was not exactly the person he appeared to be.. and not to mention the list of potential suspects… the motive however appears to be the biggest mystery..
In this series, each episode ends as a cliffhanger.. a real “page turner” that causes the viewer to want to know what is going to happen next. Each episode peels another layer of the story.. the characters are multifaceted and are combinations of good and not so good.
Det. Perez is a complex man- very serious, work is most important .. and sadly, due to his long work hours and the demands of his job,
Jimmy is left with little time for family, fun, or even romance. Jimmy will not rest until the perpetrator is caught. He is a major task master and expects the same level of dedication from his team that he expects from himself. As with most good murder mysteries.. the viewers become engrossed in the story line and start to wonder who, what and why. The proverbial plot “thickens”. Each suspect has something to hide, is their alibi’s valid, were there any witnesses, what evidence was found.. In this mystery we find that the weapon used to kill Alex Gilbraith was a World War II era P38- pistol, thus throwing suspicion on one of the main suspects- an Army veteran named Logan Creggen, who’s not only a little bit gun-happy.. but also has a motive, since Gilbraith declined to represent him in an investigation of British Army war crimes that occurred in Iraq.
In addition to Alex Gilbraith’s death, as with many murder mysteries .. the body count starts to rise.. the death of a possible witness in a submarine decompression “accident”, the death of a nun, hit on the head with a rock in the ruins on a desolate stretch of beach.
Then there is another element of mystery when we find out that a young girl, who allegedly left and went to London, almost 20 years ago.. actually died of an accidental overdose and perhaps never left the island. Could there be a connection between this incident and the ultimate death of Alex Gibraith.
As many of us mystery fans know.. one can never rule out the spouse. However, Eve Gilbraith, seems like the perfect wife and mother. Plus, as she is running for MP- she must keep a squeaky-clean persona. Ok, as we find out .. Alex was having an affair with his law partner.. but Eve swears “she only suspected her husband’s infidelity and would never have killed him” Plus, she had what appeared to be an airtight alibi- even a picture on a CC camera that should her somewhere else at the time of the murder.
Believe me, as the series progresses, there are more suspects than we could imagine. As the story unfolds. We are increasingly perplexed as to the main motives behind the murder of Alex as well as the subsequent murders. Is there one killer? or could there be another person responsible for the increasing body count.
The other issue surrounds Det. Jimmy Perez father. Jimmy has his father stay with him after the funeral of his mother. James Perez is showing signs of early Alzheimer’s Dementia. His forgetfulness becomes increasingly troublesome. Poor Jimmy Perez, here he is trying to solve a complex murder(s) and now he has to worry about his dad. Well, life is like that isn’t it…. We can’t just focus on work.. when issues in our personal lives start to become problematic.
By the 6thand final episode of Series 6- truth be told, I am extremely confused about all the complexities of the plot. Too many suspects, no clear motive. Of course, everyone’s alibis check out. I am usually good and guessing who the culprit is – but not this time.
Now, Det. Perez is starting to suspect that there may be a link between the disappearance of the young girl and the death of Alex Gilbraith. But what is the link? There is bits and pieces of reports there was a party at a house just the night before the young girl disappeared.. did something happen to her? Was Alex there, were his friends there? Evan- who owns a trucking company, helps people in need. Or what about Alex ‘s friend Dr. Goodman- whose wife was having an affair with Alex? Did the good doctor kill Alex? Motive??
I admit this is one very convoluted mystery. I haven’t even discussed the villainess- Donna Killick, who has a very sordid past and adds another layer of misery to this story. Believe me, when you are watching this story unfold, you can’t have any distractions. None. Period. Just when you think you might know whodonit? You don’t.
To add atmosphere to this story, we often see the beautiful but eerie coastline of Scotland. A sense of the chill in the air permeates this story, adding to the intensity of what is going on with the characters.
One of the key elements of Shetland is the strength of the characters. Det. Perez and his team are determined to catch the person(s) responsible. However, in my opinion, perhaps the storyline might have been a little less convoluted and more simplistic. I am reminded of Columbo or Murder She Wrote- limit the body count and make the motives a little clearer. Mind you- this is just my opinion.
Toward the end of the final episode.. Det. Perez and the team and starting to have an idea of what the exact motive for the killing of Alex Gilbraith. However, just until the very last few minutes, we – the viewers – are still unsure of what linked all of the murders and who the murderer is..
I will not give up the ending.. but .. I will share a clue .. just think of the 1946 movie “The Postman always rings twice” … Det. Jimmy Perez appears to have an “AHA“ moment when, after his father is in the hospital following a minor accident, and Jimmy is visiting him- he tells Jimmy how he used to know when his wife was at the door …
Overall, I really liked Series 6- I honestly did not guess the actual murderer. It was a surprise ending. However, it does end as a cliffhanger.. as it gears up for the Seventh and final season with Det. Jimmy Perez as the main character.
I would like to add – since at times it might be a bit difficult to understand everything said due to the Scottish Brogue- I might recommend using Close Captioning.
I will give Shetland, Series 6 – (you can watch it on Britbox)—4 out of 5 stars.
I welcome your thoughts and observations.
My next review will be on the very mysterious Agatha Christie “The Queen of Mystery…. Stay tuned .. until next time.. .. Susan B.
Have not see this yet but it sounds good. Thanks for the tip on captioning.