Shot at Dawn

I have to agree with one of the posters here, this story is probably a retread from another series. What the reviewer said makes sense. I interviewed Peter Falk once and told him that one of his episodes had been done previously on Macmillan and Wife, and sent him the tape to prove it. It's not uncommon

The basis for this plot is a 90-year feud between the Hammonds and the Hicks families. Tommy Hicks was executed for cowardice by one Lt. Duggie Hammond, which began the near-century-long fight.

The Hicks family is new money and constantly lord it over the old money Hammonds. The Hammonds are a mess. Actually, so is the Hicks family. Colonel Henry Hammonds has a son, Johnny, who is gay and married to Arabella, who is out having an affair with one of the Hicks.

Arabella and Johnny have two children, one of whom, Kate, is a lesbian, and the other daughter, Sophie, is going to marry yet another member of the Hicks family.

Henry is killed with a 1916 pistol, owned by Duggie, the man who shot Tommy Hicks 90 years ago. Then there is another murder.

Barnaby and Jones walk into this maelstrom. But there's another murder and an old secret awaiting them.

This episode is somewhat overdone with strange gadgets, murdering hay balers, a baguette fight in a pub - it's all silly. Barnaby is out of character, I think because it's a recycle from another show, and Jones is hardly in it.

It was kind of blah.

I enjoyed the setup of this episode where a man who is stunned in battle and walks away is charged with treason and executed in ranks. This execution has led to a modern day Hatfield and McCoy situation. Evidence has been gathered showing that the "traitor" was charged unfairly and suffered the ultimate. He is now being added to the war memorial. As it is with these feuds, people who really have no memory of the cause continue the feud. This is an interesting setup with some incredibly unbelievable events taking place in modern times. Barnaby and Jones come on the scene when a surly old general in a wheelchair is shot in the head. There are forces at work attempting to put an end to this fighting, but it goes. Internal battling and challenges to the situation continue to break people up. What is ultimately the method used for murder is preposterous. If one turns his back on the reality of the thing, one might enjoy it a bit. Otherwise, it is so far fetched that it goes right over the top. While it's not horrible, it is seriously lacking.

This episode revolves around a feud between two families, one posh, one common, that began during World War 1. Right there we have the first logistical problem. One of the families is descended from a VERY young soldier who was killed in 1916. We are supposed to believe that he was old enough to have children at the time (although he looks like a teenager in the flashback), and that his son (played by the venerable George Cole) is still alive and kicking in 2007. He would have to be at LEAST 90 years old (even though one character refers to "80 years"). The generational time-line of the characters doesn't make sense.

Then of course, since there is a feud, there must also be a romance...or two... between characters from the two families. No surprise there. What IS surprising is the relatively explicit nudity, which has not been a regular part of MM in the past.

But overall, the characters are even more two-dimensional than usual, and there's not much suspense in the unraveling of the murder. And as others have pointed out, there are difficulties with the logistics of the electrical "gizmos" used to bump off the victims. Not one of the best, but it was fun to see George Cole and Samantha Bond, two of my favorites.

Sure the remote controlled machine gun, combine, and wheel chair are silly. But, it stretches the imagination in a great way. Again a sense of humor is required to enjoy the episode to the fullest. Loaded with wit and cutting edge humor. For whatever reason Jones is almost non-existent. Look for Gemma Craven (Judy Hicks) shining as a sexpot wife wiggling around in a tight blue dress. The supporting characters are all superb, especially the older heads of families. The villian was very clever. I don't throw a lot of 10 ratings around, but this was a truly excellent episode. Vito S 1-21-20.

I can't believe the number of dislikes for this episode, while it isn't the best murder mystery, it was meant to be a light fun episode, not to be taken seriously--which in my opinion was a welcome addition to this blood thirsty, often dark show. If you settle in knowing this episode is a dramedy you just might find you are enjoying it.