jologo-12649

As a long time viewer of Death in Paradise, the series had been progressively losing its lustre, though I continued to watch it out of habit. While I am by no means "woke," I cheered when a black detective finally became the local DI. The tired trope of the stereotypical Englishman out-of-place in a tropical clime was at long last retired in favor of a Londoner of Caribbean ancestry who merely missed watching live English football on TV.

After a decent Christmas special, however, I found the first few episodes disappointing. They began to improve from Episode 4, and this unusual episode broke the mold with an exceptional storyline that the season had been building towards: Was the DI's mother -- who had apparently accidentally drowned at sea in a storm while scattering her father's ashes -- actually murdered and, if so, why and how?

As fans of the show, we can suspend our disbelief at certain dramatic contrivances to enjoy the "whodunit" aspect of the show, which is invariably brought to a gratifying conclusion. Such was the case here.

But this episode was unusual in the number of suspects, as well as in the way the season's backstory was integrated into the murder mystery. In addition, the writing combined humor, a touching emotional resonance at appropriate moments with some clever detective work to solve a seemingly impossible case in a manner that made this exceptional episode stand out.

I was a fan of "Death in Paradise" which had the virtue of bringing some virtual sunshine to cold January nights in Blighty coupled with upbeat reggae music, a host of colorful characters and a cozy murder mystery vibe. For me the show started to go downhill with the arrival of the Irish detective. Plotlines became increasingly repetitive and the drama among the series regulars began to strain credulity. Still I stuck with the show like a familiar pair of shoes.

This apparent spinoff ar first glance seems a suitable refresh. Set in an Australian surfing town, the ahow puts a hometown girl.who has risen through the ranks in London but got caught up in a false scandal back in "Dolphin Cove" temporarily. A misfit in her formative years, she is still a misfit in this small town environment. After 4 episodes, I have personally found it dull going. Your mileage may vary.

I watched this film on Netflix with my teenaged son at his urging. As a car nut back in the day (though not much of a racing fan), the cars of the early 1960s were familiar to me, as was the name Caroll Shelby (played by Matt Damon). But I knew nothing of race driver Ken Miles (played by Christian Bale) or the Ford-Ferrari racing rivalry. That said, I found the film truly engrossing, evocative of the period in which it is set, suspenseful and, thanks to the first-rate acting, emotionally affecting.

While I am not sure how historically accurate "Ford vs Ferrari" is - considerable dramatic license seems to have been taken in places - the story works as a whole and held my interest to the final credits. The technical concepts that figure in parts of the film are fairly basic, so don't be put off by that aspect. Personally I would have liked more detail, but as this is essentially a biopic and not a documentary the art of racing must win out over the science of speed.