Mostly Murder (But Sometimes Not)

New episode out now! We visit the Great White North with an episode of Murdoch Mysteries , season nine’s “Raised on Robbery”. We debate whether the blatant anachronisms are charming or terrible, try to unravel the unnecessarily complicated robbery plot, and have some unflattering observations about the writing, acting, and editing. We also discuss the odd cleanliness of the sets, speculate about w...

New episode out now! We delve into mid-century noir with the 1955 film Kiss Me Deadly . We discuss the nature of hard-boiled detective stories and their inclination to create an ideal square-jawed “dark hero”, and how Mike Hammer seems to be (perhaps purposefully) a weird parody of that. We talk about how almost every character is a terrible, unlikeable person, lament the appalling treatment and d...

New episode out now! We watched the 1973 whodunit film The Last of Sheila , and listeners, this movie has LAYERS. We discuss the journey of watching the film and thinking we knew where it was going, only to discover there was another twist or reveal that proved we were wrong. We get into the confusing experience we had watching it but how it all settles and fits in perfectly by the end, realize th...

New episode out now! We head to the Island and watch the infamous season three episode of LOST titled “Exposé”, aka the Nikki-and-Paulo episode. We cover the controversial episode’s place within the mythos of the show, argue about whether the investigative characters actually solve anything or just noticed anomalies, revisit the structure of the show as a whole, debate multiple character motivatio...

New episode out NOW! We’re shaking things up for the month of December! It’s the last of four brand new episodes along the same theme: the game Crack the Case. It’s Casemas 2: Electric Boogaloo! Crack the Case is a Milton Bradley party game that came out in 1993 where players ask yes or no questions in order to solve a mystery. We’re putting our detective skills to the test! Mack hosts week four,...

New episode out NOW! We’re shaking things up for the month of December. It’s the third of four brand new episodes along the same theme: the game Crack the Case. It’s Casemas 2: Electric Boogaloo! Crack the Case is a Milton Bradley party game that came out in 1993 where players ask yes or no questions in order to solve a mystery. We’re putting our detective skills to the test! Maddy hosts week thre...

New episode out NOW! We’re shaking things up for the month of December! It’s the second of four brand new episodes along the same theme: the game Crack the Case. It’s Casemas 2: Electric Boogaloo! Crack the Case is a Milton Bradley party game that came out in 1993 where players ask yes or no questions in order to solve a mystery. We’re putting our detective skills to the test! Carrie hosts this ag...

New episode out NOW! We’re shaking things up for the month of December! For the next four weeks you’ll get a brand new episode along the same theme: the game Crack the Case. It’s Casemas 2: Electric Boogaloo! Crack the Case is a Milton Bradley party game that came out in 1993, where players ask yes or no questions in order to solve a mystery. We’re putting our detective skills to the test! Katy ho...

New episode out now! We discuss the pilot episode of Dexter , as well as some later parts of the show so mild spoiler warning! We talk about the complicated feelings we have towards the main character and whether we’re supposed to sympathize with him—is he a vigilante? A corrupt serial killer? Is what he does justice? Or is he ultimately wrong in his actions? We also get into the trope of the Neur...

New episode out now! We once again enter the world of Sherlock Holmes with 1959’s The Hound of the Baskervilles . We discuss the odd convergence of this classic story with the Hammer Horror treatment, examine how this adaptation portrays Holmes and Watson and how they compare to other versions, and lament the terrible portrayal of women in the film. We also discuss the real-life friendship between...

New special episode out now! We watched the entire first season of the new show Only Murders in the Building , a mystery-comedy starring Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez. So spoiler warning! We discuss the incredible chemistry between the three leads, admire how the show deconstructs and examines the true crime podcast craze, and follow a lot of threads that lead to red herrings. We pr...

New episode out now! We watched the pilot episode of Marcella , the British noir/drama with a very Nordic feel. We talked extensively about the main character and her issues, discussed how the show is simultaneously challenging gender roles but also feels a bit backwards, get grossed out by the graphic nature of the serial killer’s process, and wonder whether murder walls are actually helpful in r...

New episode out now! We cover the delightfully macabre storybook world of Pushing Daisies in the season one episode “Smell of Success”. We discuss the memorable and stylized worldbuilding created by Bryan Fuller, share a love of (almost) every character and their specific and/or oddball traits, talk about how the show approaches death in a whimsical manner, rave about the gorgeous, colorful, and e...

New episode out now! We delve into the world of horror comedy with Happy Death Day (2017). We discuss the surprising similarities between whodunits and slasher films, get a little confused by the time loops, complain about the “aspirations of wokeness” and the weird progressively dated aspects of the film, and only say the words “groundhog day” about 84 times. We also get into how much time is spe...

New episode out now! We revisit the character of Philip Marlowe in 1973’s The Long Goodbye . We cover the differences between the book character in The Big Sleep and this film version, wonder if we liked this version better solely because of Elliott Gould, share stories about the problematic method acting, and discuss the aggressive 1970s-ness of this movie. We delve back into the methods and mean...

New episode out now and it’s our 50th!!! To celebrate we cover one of our favorite characters and total badass, Miss Marple. We watched the series 3 episode of Agatha Christie’s Marple “At Bertram’s Hotel” and discussed the many, many threads and red herrings present in this classic Christie mystery. We marvel at Miss Marple’s attention to detail, try to decide if we enjoy the false leads if they...

New episode out now! We finish our mini-jaunt into the 1980s mystery scene with a major crossover event—Magnum meets Jessica Fletcher! We watched Magnum, P.I.’s “Novel Connection” and Murder She Wrote’s “Magnum On Ice” back to back, which made the differences in the shows pretty apparent. We compare their investigative skills and strategies, rage at how they both touch evidence, wonder how each wr...

New episode out now! We watched the pilot episode of Lucifer and it really revealed some of our inner thoughts...and desires? We talked about how it was surprisingly structured as a procedural but with the literal devil as an investigator, discussed the family dynamics of the angels, demons, and the Abrahamic religions themselves, lay out the difference between a “procedural” and “Christie mystery...

New episode up now! We explore the tropical ‘80s world of Magnum, P.I. with the third season episode “Of Sound Mind”. We discuss the surprising goofiness of Magnum as a character as well as his specific personality choices, realize he’s essentially living the teenage dream, dunk on the wooden playacting of his friends, wonder at the Odd Couple-ness of Magnum and Higgins, and come to the conclusion...

Jinkies! It’s a new episode! We finally cover the teen mystery gang after watching 2011’s Scooby-Doo! Legend of the Phantosaur . We immediately decide who is most like which character, get frustrated trying to remember the live-action adaptations, learn wild things about the gang’s dating history, discuss the iconic voice actors, and one of us turns out to be a “moderate aficionado” of the Scooby-...

New episode out now! It’s time to visit Cabot Cove—we watched Murder She Wrote ! The season five episode “Fire Burn, Cauldron Bubble” had it all—cute guys, weird accents, ghost witches, the Universal backlot, libraries, Bill Maher dressed as a lady pilgrim, Southern exorcists, and of course the OG—Jessica Fletcher. We discuss Jessica’s BDE, wonder if Cabot Cove has a phone chain specifically for m...

New episode! It’s not what we promised last time, we know, but due to unforeseen computer problems we have to push Murder She Wrote until next time. But we think you’ll love what we’ve got instead! It’s a very special “Just In Case” episode where we play Crack The Case, like we did back in December! As a refresher, Crack The Case is a Milton Bradley party game that came out in 1993, where players...

New episode out now! We enter the world of the 1980s with the season five episode of Miami Vice , “The Lost Madonna”. New to us all, we marveled at the wild fashions, the synth score, the feathered hair, and of course—the drugs. We really get into the Florida-ness of it all with the production design and color choices. And we talk extensively about Michael Chiklis’ ponytail. Katy critiques art pac...

New episode out now! He is vengeance. He is the night. He’s Batman! We have our first encounter with the Dark Knight in 1993’s Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and listeners, Mack is excited. Seriously, he’s like a Batman encyclopedia! We learn about the origins of the animated series that gave way to the film, discuss the iconic and game-changing animation style that only half of us noticed, and rave...

New episode out now! We took our first foray into the world of Midsomer Murders with the series three episode “Judgement Day”. We discuss the traditional high body count in Midsomer County murder cases, complain about the slightly confusing timeline, create actual suspect lists, try to psychoanalyze the murderer, and extensively discuss young Orlando Bloom. We get into the show’s dark humor and lo...