Whodunnit - A Summer Sensation

Whodunnit.  You hear the words and think of mystery, intrigue, suspense and murder.  In the summer of 2013 you think of a new summer series on ABC about a group of 13 people from all walks of life who come together to Rue Manor to solve a murder. Every day. The twist – the Killer is among them. Their goal which has $250,000 at the end of it, is to be the last one alive in the house with the Killer.  Theories abound, mysteries are unmasked making way for more mysteries and everyone is suspected, even the butler Giles.  But in the end 1 person would walk away with a quarter of a million dollars and the other would walk out of Rue Manor in handcuffs.  Let the murders begin.

The 13 cast members were from all walks of life – a former Miss Nevada and a bar trivia host to a Homeland Security lawyer and a bounty hunter.  Alliances are made, plots were twisted and the game changed every second.   If you stepped away from the TV you would have missed a crucial piece of evidence just as many of the ill-fated guests did many times.   Each day a murder would be committed by the Killer and the remaining players/guests would have to solve the crime to stay alive. The guest who attracted the Killer the best by piecing together the best summary of the murder would be Spared.  AT least 2 guests would be Scared for the night, not knowing which of them would be the next victim.

Murder mysteries are fun to read, watch and piece together as a viewer.  You feel like you are a part of the action, figuring out the who, what, where, when and how right alongside the characters.  You become involved, itching for more information and intrigue coming back for more every week, day or hour.  For the past 10 weeks I have been sitting in front of my TV at 9pm on Sunday nights anticipating who will catch the Killer’s eye as their best adversary and who will be scared perhaps not surviving the night.  I found myself trying to solve the murder right alongside the players. Even though I had access to all 3 areas of investigation (usually the morgue, the last known whereabouts and the scene of the crime) I still had a hard time piecing together all of the information.  The creators and writers of this how really had to think outside the box. Nothing was off limits with regards to how someone is murdered.  And no matter how outrageous the murder might seem, once Giles came in during that night’s dinner and read the Killer’s explanation of the murder did it all make sense.  After that Giles would hand out cards to every one of the remaining guests with either Spared or Scared written on the card.  The Killer controlled all of that which was fascinating to me because the Killer was in the room. They could have given themselves a Scared card to throw everyone off – that is how amazing this show is. 

SPOLIER ALERT

From the beginning I thought it might have been Lindsay, the engineer from Boston. I said it from the first episode. She was flaky, too happy and I thought that gave her away.  From the beginning Lindsay had never wavered in her accusation that Cris, the former Miss Nevada was the killer. So when the final episode came around and Cris, Lindsay and Kam were the last 3 standing I was 100% sure that Lindsay was the killer, for a few reasons. The first that was she was always playing both sides and was playing it well.  She knew how to get in people’s heads and stay there. She knew how to get people to like her and trust her.  The second thing is that she did get a scared card at least once. Kam also got at least one scared card. Cris never did.  I didn’t think that Cris would be that slick and sure of herself to never give herself a scared card and throw people off. 

I was wrong.

After the final riddle and all 3 of them had completed it, Kam and Cris went upstairs to a room with cameras all over the house, maps of the place and pictures of all the guests.  Lindsay was told to go back to the museum of death (where all of the murder weapons were hidden from all the murders).  Kam and Cris watched on screen as Lindsay was shot in the neck with an arrow. Only 2 left now.  They looked at each other, both denying they were the Killer but Kam kept pushing and pushing. Finally Cris broke out into a riddle and confessed to being the Killer. Kam was the winner. 

In the end it wasn’t about who figured out the identity of the Killer.  In the end it was about which player the Killer deemed worthy of the prize; the player who was the best adversary throughout the show.  Lindsay did accuse Cris from Day 1.  Kam did not. But it wasn’t about who identified the Killer first or the most.  For the Killer it was about who planned the game the best; who played the game with the most integrity and never wavered in their allegiance with other players.  Kam was the best player out of them all. 

Whodunnit was a remarkable summer series.  I hope it comes back next summer because I will be watching it, trying to find the Killer alongside all of the guests.