TV Review: Whodunnit? 102: "Fire Starter"

DA- Oh my god! We’re having a fire…sale! No, unfortunately there is no fire sale or commercial starring Tobias yet, but we do have another episode of Whodunnit? to dissect and solve!

This week we have to piece together how Dontae (or the stunt man that pulled off that pretty amazing feat) somehow became engulfed in flames. This episode for the most part follows the same structure as the week before. The contestants chose between the three locations, they mingle over a nice lunch spread, receive a clue that leads them on a goose hunt around the house, and then they plead their case talk to themselves in a library trying to sound like they are a lawyer.

While I like solving the murder along with the houseguests, the biggest thing that I cannot stand about the show are the contestant reactions. Most of America knows that these contestants are not really dying but somehow this message is not getting to the actual contestants. Contestants are crying over Dontae’s death, Kam is disgusted to swim in a pool before they clean it since Dontae’s body was lying in it, and Giles tells them nobody is allowed to leave the house. Stop it! This is a reality show. I am okay with the puns about how if you don’t solve the case it will be the “death” of you and your game but you are not fooling anyone that this is real…well okay almost anyone.

One aspect I do like though is allowing the contestants to only choose one location to explore. This forces them to meet and collaborate with each other. However, like this week, each group decided they would change the information and withhold crucial pieces, which led to some interesting conversations. While Sasha (one of the best players on the show) sees right through it, others like Gino are confusing themselves on what actually he saw himself. The protector from fire is St. Agnes Gino, or wait it’s Agatha. No I’m sorry Agnes. Argentina?

Also these conversations post-investigation always creates some much needed drama and tension between the contestants. I love the alliance formed by Kam and how much it annoys the rest of the players. The other side thinks they need to work together to stop this killer but Kam at least is aware that this is all an individual game. However because you are only be allowed to see one of the three rooms you need a few others to at least help you make it to the finals. One thing I do not understand though about Kam is why he thought to choose Lindsey to replace Gino in his alliance. Last week she was almost “scared” when she was not close in solving Sheri’s murder and this week she is playing with Adrianne with a gas fireplace while everyone else is solving the flag clue in the laundry room. So to go back to another Arrested Development reference…her? What is she funny or something?

After all the clues were pieced together we find out that Kam’s alliance mate Ulysses was the best at piecing together Dontae’s murder. It turns out that Dontae was given special pajamas sprayed with benzene and socks that somehow created more static electricity than other socks. After the killer sounded the fire alarm, Dontae tried to run out of the room but the shag carpet and his special socks created enough static electricity that when he touched the door the small spark engulfed him in flames. He then proceeded to run out of the house (not catching anything else on fire mind you) and jumped into the pool. 

This time Dana and Adrianne are “scared” or nominated to be “killed.” I had a feeling I knew who was going home for a few reasons. For one, Adrianne said Dontae died from the exploding medallion the killer gave him along with his silk pajamas. Not only can she not figure out he died but I also do not think she knows how science works. If this is true then how did it reform and float to the bottom of the pool where you found it with Kam? As for Dana, she may not be the killer of the house but give her time and I think she could become one. After Ulysses did not run over to talk to her, Dana threatened to kill him and to pinch his head off. Dana! Don’t tell us how you are going to kill him! We need something to solve in the next episode.

Speaking of the next episode Adrianne has finally bit the dust and not a day too soon. How did the golf cart she was fleeing in explode? My money is on an exploding medallion…

In and Out Points:

- Donate’s death could have easily been avoided. Don’t they teach “stop, drop and roll” in elementary schools anymore?

- How did Giles get an ankle monitor on him to keep him in the house? We are told he has never met his employer but wouldn’t he have seen/heard someone strapping something on to his ankle at some point?

- Speaking of Giles, in next week’s preview it looks like he is either protecting or terrorizing the house with a shotgun. Is it too late to rule him out as the killer?

- For all you Ithaca College students out there, talk about a death by doorknob!

- Anyone else think ABC threw Donate’s last words at the end to try and convince America that a network television company represented by Mickey Mouse is not lighting people on fire for others to solve how and only win a quarter of a million dollars by doing so?

That is all for this week. Let me know who you think the killer is and how Adrianne died either in the comments or @eastwoodmcfly. Until next Sunday have a killer week!

TV Review: Whodunnit? 101: "High Voltage"

DA - There’s been a murder I do declare! Well okay, not really, but tell that to the people who watched ABC’s premiere of their new murder mystery reality show, Whodunnit? Because there were some people out there thinking that the Mickey Mouse network was offing contestants left and right in their series premiere Sunday night.

Thirteen contestants entered the Bachelor’s the Whodunnit? house all knowing that they were there to compete in a reality game show. However, they should have known that when Sheri Marsh, ex-NFL cheerleader (and probably aspiring actress) was killed for dropping a champagne glass, that this was not going to be Minute to Win It.

Out of the thirteen, one contestant is a “killer.” Really Whodunnit? is The Mole mixed with the board game Clue (or a direct rip-off of the ICTV show Suspicion, created by Dual Redundancy’s own Mike Ladue). Every week a character will be murdered and it is up to fame-seeking contestants to figure out how each one of them died and who the killer actually is.

While the show has its moments full of cheese and eye-rolls, there are many interesting ideas the show uses. After Sheri is murdered in front of the fish tank, contestants have to choose between three locations to explore: the crime scene, her last known whereabouts, or the morgue (which is conveniently located in the basement of the mansion). This automatically leads Kam, a homeland security attorney, to align with two others to get the full story. However, he does not know if one of his allies is lying or even worse the actual killer!

They are also given clues by a mysterious butler named cliché butler name Giles, who supposedly receives notes from the killer under his door. One clue was a key with the numbers “13:17” on it. Even though Kam was an early favorite of mine after he thought the numbers were military time and decided to disregard the key and start spinning the hands of clocks for a secret passage opening, I started looking for other strong players. 

After they figured it out was a Bible verse, it was Ronnie who realized there were two sides to the key (really? Nobody else saw this?!) and figured out the two crowns engraved on the key were referencing the book of Kings 2 in the Bible. Next he realized it was in reference to a nearby missing window, saw a number carved into the wood, and realized it was for a crate directly straight ahead from the window. Where Ronnie, the bounty hunter, failed was not only speaking out loud for the other contestants to hear but also sprinting throughout the house to the crate, thus bringing everyone with him to the clue!

Inside the crate we find a slingshot and a crowbar, which adds with the pebble found in the back of her head to point to a Dennis the Menace copycat killer. After all the clues they are off to the library where they get to pace around and talk out loud to the “killer” of how they committed the crime. This was easily the funniest moment of the show. Every single contestant thought they were the greatest lawyers ever to walk across the face of the Earth yet as a viewer we knew who was completely out of left field. Yes, I am talking to you Dontae and your idea that she drowned from the fish tank instead of the head shot wound you found.

In the end it was the journalist Sasha who correctly figured out that the killer broke into her room and used a fogged up mirror to lure her down to the fish tank. The killer ran back down, cut the wire of the nearby lamp, and aimed a slingshot outside waiting for Sheri. Somehow this killer made a completely remarkable shot from outside, through a missing glass pane, and right into Sheri’s neck severing major arteries. Next it was an elaborate Rube Goldberg machine only seen on TV or in an OK Go music video. This hit forced her to fall into the fish tank, cracking it, and the built up pressure made it break which caused the frayed wire to further shock an already dead Sheri. Moral of the story? Don’t drop a champagne glass in this psycho’s house!

Don and of course Dontae were the two that were “scared” after their accusations during a dinner that night. (It should be noted that despite a killer on the loose inside the house, Giles is always there with the best hospitality and food service you could ask for). That night at 4:38 AM the contestants are awaken to a fire alarm. Now in some insane special effects (especially for a summer network reality show) “Dontae” comes running out engulfed in flames. In the end, he jumps into the pool but it is too late. Now while it was more than likely not Dontae running around (doesn’t he know to stop, drop, and roll?) this sequence was still amazing. Between this effect and the makeup they used on an insert shot of Dontae in the pool, Whodunnit? may be after some Creative Arts Emmy nominations.

Next week assuming the killer does not also murder this show from ABC’s schedule, we will most likely piece together Dontae’s murder and possibly receive more clues on who actually “dun it.”

In and Out Points:

- Hopefully we receive more clues on who the killer is instead of just how he/she committed the crime. There is already speculation online that the killer is right handed based on the dramatizations but this may just be reading too much into it.

- I know it is a game show but it seems as though the killer wants to get caught. He/she leaves clues behind and picks his/her next victim on who was the worst detective. Shouldn’t he/she have kept Dontae around and killed Sasha instead? Sasha was the one who figured out exactly how he/she did it!!

- I find it ironic that Dontae finds his end in the pool since the whole time he thought Sheri drowned. Now I may be over doing it here but did production choose his death based on Dante’s first part of the Divine Comedy, which is “Inferno?” Despite the spelling both names are pronounced the same way. If so, anybody have any ideas for how others may die?

That is it for this week. Let me hear what you thought about the premiere and who the killer may be either below or on Twitter @eastwoodmcfly.