nghthawk-41586

The plots of these movies are formulaic: Couple meets (or in this case, meets again). A relationship starts to evolve, but a misunderstanding gets in the way. The misunderstanding gets resolved and the couple finally gets together at the end.

But it's still enjoyable and a really good Christmas romance will make you tear up a time or two, which this one does. It was nice to see Faith Ford (Murphy Brown), Richard Karn (Home Improvement) and Barry Bostwick. In this movie, Holly Logan comes home only to find her ex-boyfriend, Mike, is running the production of the Christmas light show that was cancelled they last 5 years after a hurricane. People, including her mother, are nudging her to give him another chance, but she's resistant.

The theme is finding out where you belong and faith. I don't live in Mississippi, but I live in the South and, like another reviewer, I'm happy they didn't make the actors into rednecks or hicks and also that the light touches of religion were genuine and sweet. Sometimes you find you are making a difference even when you don't realize it.

This episode was done in black and white and was clearly an homage to the movie D. O. A. Which ran in 1949. The women's hairstyles and makeup seem to reflect that period, but nothing else does, so I don't know what the point is. Like the movie, Murdoch is given a poison that will kill him in 24 hours unless the antidote can be found. He suspects Frank Rhodes, formally of the black hand of the deed, but Rhodes has been locked up and claims innocence. George is away on his honeymoon, so Henry and Inspector Brackenreid are trying to find who killed the witness that was supposed to testify against Rhodes and if that's connected to Murdoch's sudden illness. Dr. Ogdon plays the best role in this one (although the baby Susanna is a close second.)

I would have thought the show's writers could have come up with something more original. This looked straight out of Invasion of the Body Snatchers. I was hoping at the end you'd have everyone at the stationhouse standing around listening to a reading of George's new book, but it was not to be.

In my ending, George would look up from his reading. The Inspector would say, "Bloody 'ell George, that doesn't make any sense! How come everyone except your character is so daft they don't notice that everyone is different, eh?" Murdoch would say, "How was tea involved?" Inspector, "That's not the point, although I like the idea of using a good scotch to off the beasts." Dr. Ogden, "Never mind that. George tell us how it ends. You've left us all hanging!"