"You know what I like about suburbia, Scribbs? The effortless way it all works - deceit, murder, wife-swapping. And still the hedges get trimmed." - Kate "Ash" Ashurst (Caroline Catz)
Murder in Suburbia: Series 1 DVD Review
By A.J. Carson
Ah, the suburbs. Manicured lawns. Palatial houses. Carpools. Deceit. Wife swapping. Murder. Yep, as anyone who saw Blue Velvet can tell you, even the most picturesque of suburbs can house severed ears in its lush gardens. No one knows this better than Detective Inspector Kate "Ash" Ashurst (Caroline Catz) and Detective Sergeant Emma "Scribbs" Scribbins (Lisa Faulkner), partners who investigate crimes in England's Middleford Criminal Investigative Department. Of the two, Ash is the rational, no-nonsense one. She doesn't form opinions until she has all the facts. Scribbs is more intuitive, using her instincts to suss out clues and suspects. Their skills are put to good use since their suburban beat isn't as placid as it first seems. Aiding in their investigations is Detective Chief Inspector Sullivan (Jeremy Sheffield), their enigmatic boss.
Six cases are investigated in series one:
Episode One: The murder of a well-to-do businesswoman seems to be tied to Applejacks, a singles club.
Episode Two: A housewife who raises money for a charity benefiting African animals turns up dead, and the investigation leads to a group of patrons who excel at monkeying around.
Episode Three: It's just your typical stag party - booze, carousing, strippers, and murder.
Episode Four: A torched Mercedes and the burnt body of its owner lead the investigators to ritzy Hollingford Avenue, and they soon discover where there's smoke, there's fire.
Episode Five: How hard is it to get your child into prestigious Middleford Comprehensive? You might say it's murder.
Episode Six: Bernard Lloyd loved home improvement projects to death, literally - after his latest project proved to be too noisy for his sedate neighborhood, Bernard turns up murdered with his own hammer.
Like many investigative series, the mysteries in Murder in Suburbia are often solved through last minute revelations and out-of-nowhere clues. The mysteries do make sense and are taken seriously by the writers, but they do tend to rely on Perry Mason-style "a-ha" moments. Viewers aren't really meant to attempt "solving" the cases along with Ash and Scribbs. And if you do attempt it, good luck.
Then again, the mysteries aren't necessarily what will draw viewers to the series. Instead, it's the relationship between Ash and Scribbs that really sells the show. The duo are believable opposites who also have much in common. Ash makes it a point to tell a date that she and Scribbs are merely coworkers, not friends. It is easy to see that this isn't true. When Scribbs is invited to attend an ex-boyfriend's wedding, Ash convinces her to dress conservatively so that she doesn't appear to be too slutty and desperate. When Ash dates a man who cries at movies, Scribbs is horrified, asking, "We are talking about a man, right?" Even worse, the guy cries when he breaks up with Ash.
The two also exchange much zingy banter about their lives and their cases. When asked if she would ever consider using a dating service, Scribbs wonders if Ash means it "in a 'hey, that might be fun' sense or a desperate 'how-the-hell am I ever going to find anyone' sense." When Ash makes a fool of herself in front of their boss, the partners tease each other:
Scribbs: See? If we had guns, I could shoot you now.
Ash: If we had guns, I'd shoot myself.
Their relationship with Sullivan is quite funny. They never use his name, instead referring to him as "Boss." Both might be fine detectives, but they can't figure out Boss. Is he gay or straight? Married or single? Does the fact that he's wearing the same shirt from the day before mean that his washer is broken, or that he hasn't been home? Their slightly flirtatious relationship with the handsome Sullivan gives the series an additional punchy kick.
The six episodes that make up Murder in Suburbia: Series 1 are divided onto two discs. The discs are housed in two standard-sized keepcases which slide into a cardboard slipcover. The back of each keepcase includes brief synopses of the episodes found on the DVDs.
The static menus are simple and functional. Viewers can choose to watch an entire episode or can jump directly to a scene using the "Scene Selection" menu.
