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... this would be it. Everything bright, shiny, and clean. Totally unrealistic lighting, sets, and locales. The cast looks - and talks - like they just popped in from, well, let's just say not Vermont where, by contrast, clothes tend to be more practical and makeup restrained (when worn at all).

The landscape? Definitely not Vermont.

Architecture? Definitely not Vermont.

Stamos plays an evangelical pastor with a big church in town. The center of town churches in New England, however, are typically the oldest mainline protestant denominations or Catholic. While there are exceptions, evangelical congregations tend to be small and their buildings tucked away somewhere. The evangelical content comes off as a non-sequitur in this context.

The plot is obvious. John Stamos' acting is wooden. Most of the rest of the cast is forgettable. I don't know where to place the responsibility other than the director, as the cast itself is certainly capable of better.

A fresh scrubbed murder mystery set among the beautiful people of the make-believe land of non-Vermont.

Awful. Just awful.

Deliciously fast-paced with incredibly strong performances, great writing, and loads of twists and turns. Gary Oldman is a standout as a canny, older spymaster who is a personal mess, an interpersonal disaster, and ruthless in doing what he needs to do. He makes an art of taking advantage of those who think him past his prime. Kristen Scott-Thomas doesn't quite rise to the same level in terms of pure personality projection, but still delivers one of her better performances.

Loads of plots, subplots, betrayals, sleeper agents, deceptions and diversions. There are lots of cliches, but they play fresh somehow. Salted with cynical politics and a grey moral view of realpolitik.

Very enjoyable.