Ah, the bucolic splendour of rural New Zealand: the rolling hills, the plant and animal life, the sparkling waters, and the dead bodies. While the surroundings do make for a picturesque backdrop, it’s the latter item which is of primary importance in The Brokenwood Mysteries: Series 1, now available in both Blu-ray and DVD from Acorn Media. On the surface it may sound like it bears a passing resemblance to the British series Midsomer Murders, but once you begin watching you’ll realize there are significant differences between the two shows.
Like most police procedural shows “Brokenwood’s” action primarily centres around a supervising detective, Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd (Neil Rea and his subordinate Detective Kristin Sims (Fern Sutherland). Each of the four episodes contained on the two discs of the Blu-ray set are close to 90 minutes each, which gives us plenty of time to get to know our two leads and for their professional relationship to develop.
For Shepherd is initially an outsider. Brought in to check into possible police misconduct, a suspiciously botched and mishandled murder inquiry by the current Senior Sergeant in the first episode, Blood and Water, Sims is resentful of the fact he’s not only taken over a murder inquiry but seems to be investigating her boss. It doesn’t help that Shepherd has a couple of odd idiosyncrasies. The strangest being he talks to murder victims’ corpses at the crime scene. After that his habit of playing old country music cassettes in his vintage 1970s car is merely annoying in comparison.
Over the course of the four episodes we see the working relationship between the two gradually develop and strengthen. For once he solves the initial case, Shepherd has himself reassigned to Brokenwood permanently when health forces the previous Sergeant to retire. Sims not only becomes used to his strange habits, but learns to respect and appreciate his skills as a investigator. Shephard has to gradually learn how to work well with others after years of playing the lone wolf. However, he’s quick to admit his interpersonal skills aren’t the greatest, as he often refers back to his three, or is it four, failed marriages (he never seems quite sure about the last fact).
The next three episodes see Shepherd settling into life in a rural community and solving some unusual murders. New Zealand’s wine making community may not be as renowned as Australia’s, but Brokenwood has sufficient vineyards, including Shepherd’s new home, and winemakers to have their own awards. So it’s a small surprise that the second episode, Sour Grapes, finds a wine judge floating in a vat of wine; people have been dying in wine since Shakespeare’s time after all.
While none of the episodes sound too original, there’s also a golf murder, Playing the Lie, and a hunting murder, Hunting the Stag; what makes them so good is the characterization and the slow pace in which each episode develops. The wonderfully written and acted characters grow with each episode. There are also story lines which carry over from one episode to another, primarily from Shepherd’s previous career. A couple of really good continuing support characters provide both comic relief and help to move the stories along. One is a junior detective, Constable Breen, (Nic Sampson) in the Brookenwood force. The other is Jared Morehu (Pana Hema Taylor) who operates on the borders of the law but becomes Shepherd’s advisor on all things Brookenwood in the first episode and then his caretaker and vineyard worker.
Of course, they can’t go through the season without a nod to New Zealand’s favourite son, Peter Jackson. In the fourth episode one character’s nick name is Frodo. When he comes into the station to be questioned, Constable Breen asks if they should invite him through for second breakfast, only to be put off by the fact Shepherd doesn’t know what the heck he’s talking about.
The show’s soundtrack reflects Shepherd’s love of country music. However, this is great stuff performed primarily by New Zealand singer and songwriter Tami Neilson who will knock your socks off. Her voice is such she can handle everything from rocking country blues to slow numbers equally well. Not only do the songs work beautifully to fill in the transitions between scenes in the show, they add an extra dimension of depth and character to the settings incidental music isn’t usually able to create.
While the special features on the Blu-ray are limited to five minute interviews with the two leads and the head writer, the show itself is the real special feature. Each episode is a well crafted and finally spun story. Like its rural surroundings, ‘Brookenwood’s’ pace might be slower than other mystery shows, but it seduces you with its quiet nature and before you notice you’ll be caught up in an episode and find yourself wanting more.
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