Murderville Review

A combination of an absurdly good murder story, comedy and improvisation? Yes, please!

I absolutely loved the new series on Netflix with Will Arnett as a senior homicide detective named Terry Seattle who is supposed to solve a murder in every episode with a new partner, a celebrity playing him- or herself. While the show actors have a blueprint for the story, character parameters, and pre-written lines, the celebrities have absolutely no idea of what is about to happen. As true partners to the detective, they interrogate and observe three murder suspects. The episode always starts out with some sort of a test for a new trainee in the form of questions, where Terry and his new partner are supposed to bond. Then they go and investigate the murder. At the end of the episode, they are supposed to solve the case by naming the murderer, usually in a game-show revealing and suspenseful manner, and explain how they arrived at that conclusion. Then Chief Rhonda Jenkins-Seattle (who is also Detective Seattle's estranged wife) comes out and tells whether the celebrity guessed right or wrong, also in a comically suspenseful way with close-ups and dramatic pauses, and explains how the murder was really committed. Throughout the show, the detective and celebrity are fed certain clues that just like in a good murder mystery are supposed to lead the detectives to the right conclusion.

Based on the British TV series "Murder in Successville," the show bets on excellent permanent cast of 4-5 actors, a range of talented guest actors invited for one episode, and the celebrity guest's improvisation skills. There are some parameters for the show that give it the solid structure and certain predictability, such as: there's always three suspects in the murder, the murder is committed in a comically ridiculous way, the celebrities shadow Terry Seattle in investigation but at some point have to go undercover into a suspect's lair while Terry Seattle feeds them the most ridiculous lines, including coming up with fake names and personal legends. The celebrities are supposed to go along and improvise in those situations, and some of those improvisations are pure gold.

I am happy the show has been renewed for the second season because I enjoyed the first season a little too much and was hoping for the renewal as it only had 6 episodes. There's not much I can ruin here by giving out spoilers as the whole point of the show is to watch the celebrities riff off and banter with Will Arnett, but I am going to rank the Season 1 episodes in the order I liked them the most. So, here's my ranking:

1. E5: Heartless (Sharon Stone)

I rank this episode the highest not only because I love Sharon Stone, who was introduced in the episode as the "Hollywood icon," but also because it was such a treat to see her on screen again. She does not appear much in movies and on TV these days, and I always look forward to her rare appearances as she is definitely one of the smartest people in Hollywood who knows her own worth. Her responses to Terry Seattle's attempts to flirt with her are a masterclass in fending off verbal sexual harassment. Here's my favorite example: to Terry's question about himself in the 3rd person, "What part of your partner do you find most attractive?", Stone responds, "I like the silences."

A great example of Stone's improvisation involved the remark the hospital administrator made about her, saying, "She is very unlikable." Stone's unprompted perfect response was "'Difficult''s the word I usually get." Clearly something based in her real-life experience.

Another example was perfect for the current crazy times we are living in. Trying to get a body part as a piece of evidence from the coroner who needs to put it back into the body, Terry pleads for Stone's support, "Sharon, whose side are you on? Are you on my side or on the side of science?" - "I am always on the side of science." Also, in the same scene pay attention to the smiling and blinking corpse as Terry and Sharon play with its chest.

Special treat in this episode is the entire scene where Terry forces Stone to pretend to be a German surgeon. Her faking the German accent and surgery skills while speaking with the German accent is superb. Overall, excellent performance and something tells me Sharon Stone loved participating in this project. She clearly had a lot of fun with it.

2. E1: The Magician's Assistant (Conan O'Brien)

Conan O'Brien is a master improviser and I'm only ranking this episode at #2 because Sharon Stone is not a comedian. Conan's episode is absolutely superb in every aspect of it, and can be definitely quoted at length. The most memorable lines, however, came from the pre-written part of the episode, for example, when Terry Seattle yells, "That woman was murdered against her will today!" Or when he responds, "That's a good reason to kill somebody!" in response to the murderer's confession, "I only murdered her because I wanted her dead!"

This episode has the funniest scene in the entire series: Terry Seattle going overboard with his reactions to the simplest magician tricks that Conan decodes for him as they are demonstrated. Near the end of the scene, Terry overreacts to a card trick, jumps off his chair and yells, "It's sorcery!" Conan loses it, laughing. Conan is not a great actor but definitely a superb improviser, and sometimes he makes you wonder if he forgets that he is in a show and reacts to Will Arnett who is his great friend in real life. Overall, they have an excellent chemistry and dynamic in the episode.

3. E2: Triplet Suicide (Marshawn Lynch)

I'm not a sports fan, far removed from the American football phenomenon, so I honestly didn't know who Marshawn Lynch is. I thought he was a famous rapper or perhaps a YouTube star because his face was vaguely familiar. And then I heard his guest appearance on Conan's podcast where Conan praised his acting skills and I put two and two together. The man is indeed legitimately funny, and it's obvious from the first "intro" exchange as a trainee, where Terry Seattle asks him, "How much homicide investigative training have you had?" And Marshawn replies enthusiastically, "I watched Training Day!" Terry's "That's perfect!" is also the praise of Marshawn's spontaneity and improvisation skills.

Another unprompted memorable gem: When the murder weapon is introduced as a doll in a dress suit, Terry exclaims, "That's Tony Tuxedo!" Marshawn, visibly shook, answers, "No, that's Chucky, they just put a suit on him!" His entire cool demeanor and trust in his partner carries the episode.

I should also give praise to Rob Huebel who plays the triplets - suspects in the investigated murder. He has managed to give all three a convincing unique character story and shined in all scenes, but the one with the Fedora-loving gambling triplet is in the class of its own because of the interaction with the dealer ("undercover" Marshawn Lynch).

4. E3: Most Likely to Commit Murder (Kumail Nanjiani)

This episode was probably best-written. It centers on Terry's high school reunion, and at the beginning of it Terry's estranged wife Rhonda goes on a date with a co-worker and sends Terry into a jealous rage. Kumail Nanjiani witnesses their squabble and when asked to take a side, he masterfully diverts it by asking, "You said you haven't had sex for eight years, while married?" Terry replies, "Define sex."

As an introduction, Terry gives Kumail "a psychopath test," the first time-saving question on which is "Are you a psychopath?" Kumail aces the test.

My favorite narrated line from this episode is Terry's inner voice at the reunion, "It was good to see all the vaguely familiar faces of the people I forgot never existed." Confusing, I know, but that's what makes it funny.

In addition, this episode is full of interesting plot lines, such as Terry's embarrassing high school past, where he used to faint and fart at the same time and his classmates nicknamed him "Farnternator." Another one was a nerdy murder suspect with carpal tunnel syndrome who was in the business of app creation. He developed a meditation app in which the inner voice literally yelled at the meditating person to calm down and control their thoughts. Riffing off that idea, Terry Seattle starts yelling at Kumail telling him to calm down, and cool and composed Kumail responds with a smile, "That's not my inner voice! Make it sound Pakistani, but don't be racist. Make it sound like a Pakistani guy."

Also, check out the corpse's reaction in the scene where Terry instructs Kumail to check if there's anything in his mouth, "Always check the mouth for murder notes!"

Overall, it was an enjoyable and funny episode and I would have probably ranked it right there with Conan's. But Kumail is a professional comedian and improviser, so I have to be stricter to him than to Marshawn Lynch.

5. E6: The Cold Case (Ken Jeong)

This episode nicely wraps up the season by solving the cold case of the murder of Lori, Terry Seattle's former partner (represented in the series only by a photo of Jennifer Anniston). Will Arnett carries the weight of the episode, but Ken contributes nicely by sloppily faking the Finnish president and playing Terry's empathetic sidekick. He also obediently performs all the ridiculous tasks Terry gives him, uncovering a vast conspiracy in the end. Ken is naturally funny but for some reason I won't remember any lines or specifics from this episode except for the Finnish president incident. The episode ties up all the loose ends and sets Terry for a new stage of his life as a guilt-free newly single man who will no longer have to live out of his office in Season 2.

6. E4: Murder by Soup (Annie Murphy of Schitt's Creek)

This episode was good, but not remarkable. I didn't really pick up any gems from the dialogue, and most of Annie's improvisation was in her face (that innocent beautiful heart-melting smile can get to anyone) and body reactions. Check out the scene with the kindergarten teacher, where Terry Seattle turns into a cantankerous kid.

Disclaimer: I know that in any ranking exercise one will inevitably offend someone by placing someone's favorite low or last. So here's my full disclosure: I loved all the episodes of Murderville Season 1 and would absolutely watch them all again. However, some episodes I loved more than others and would watch them multiple times :).