Death in Paradise season 13 episode one spoilers follow.
Death in Paradise's milestone episode had all the ingredients it needed to be a special, celebratory chapter in the show's history but somehow managed to fumble its execution.
The drama centred around Don Warrington's detective Selywn Patterson, who was shot by a mystery villain during a party held in his honour to celebrate his 50 years in service.
An attempted murder on a fan-favourite character is a bold move for Death in Paradise and one of the very few times the show has done something so daring with a main character. There was of course detective inspector Richard Poole's death in the season-three opening.
Ben Miller's exit kickstarted the whole 'changing of the guard' habit with Kris Marshall's Humphrey Goodman stepping in to take his place as the island's resident detective. Florence (Joséphine Jobert) was also shot in season eight but unlike DI Poole, she lived to tell the tale.
ginny holder, tahj miles, elizabeth bourgine, don warrington, shantol jackson and ralf little in a photo to promote death in paradise's 100th episode Over the course of 13 seasons and 100 episodes we can all agree that this type of action is still quite rare and so holds potential for some serious shock factor.
Top it off with the fact that the shooting happened to one of the few longest-running characters on the show and it should have made for a thrilling watch.
Returning characters are also a big hit and seeing the miscreant Marlon Collins (Sean Maguire) again was a fun little Easter egg which grew legs as the episode ticked on.
Fans will remember Marlon as Death in Paradise's first ever arrest in the debut episode.
The yacht boat thief made an intriguing return in episode 100 with a slightly more developed backstory as a reformed convict.
Despite being arrested several times over the years, he had turned his life around and taken up work (ironically) at the Saint Marie Royal Yacht Club, where Selwyn's party was taking place.
sean maguire, death in paradise, season 13
While Marlon's name wasn't even on the list of top shooter suspects given that he was among company when Selwyn was apparently shot, Selwyn's earlier comments about not being convinced of Marlon's reform and the fact that the character Alton (Mensah Bediako) was so obviously a red herring gave us pause for thought.
Death in Paradise is famed for its twists, so when the murder was ultimately pinned to Marlon it was no great surprise, even with his watertight alibi.
It was, however, engaging to learn how he managed to pull off an attempted murder while he was surrounded by Selwyn's guests.
It turns out it was a combination of Marlon's shrewdness and desperation that allowed him to succeed at this near brilliant plan.
Despite being able to guess he was the culprit early on, the ride to his unmasking was enjoyable. Yet still the episode fell flat. Not because of what happened on screen but rather what happened off.
The most intriguing things about the grand 100 episode were the return of Marlon and Selwyn's shooting – everything else had a very everyday Death in Paradise feel about it. Despite being the draw of the episode, these details were spoiled days ahead of the episode airing.
Not only were fans aware that there would be a returning character, it was public knowledge that it was Sean Maguire who was coming back, which took all of the mystery and surprise out of the watch.
Equally, Selwyn's shooting had huge emotional stakes. He's a fan-favourite character whose sternness against some of the more comical elements in the show only increase the comedy.
ginny holder, mensah bediako, tahj miles, death in paradise, season 13 Furthermore he is revered and adored by colleagues and friends and the shock of his mortality being placed on the line should have been a huge moment that landed with great emotional weight.
Sadly, all the wind was taken out of those sails by the spoiler heavy details that were shared ahead of the episode release.
What’s worse is it becomes clear early on that Commissioner Selywn is not going to die. No one is hankering to see the back of him but knowing he’ll be fine so quickly once again means that stakes that were initially raised are almost instantly lowered.
The episode lost the crucial surprise element needed to give it its punchiness and so all fans were left with was business as usual.
New episodes of Death in Paradise are airing Sundays, 9pm on BBC One. The main show and its spin-off,Beyond Paradise, both air on BBC One and stream on BBC iPlayer.
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