"Small mercies" is the work by Peter J. Hammond. He is my least preferred script-writer for MM, because all his scripts go along the same scheme that does never change! "Small mercies" is no exception, if you compare this episode to previous Hammond's works, you'll see they are all alike! "Dark Autumn" + "Death and Dreams" + "Bad tidings" + "Things that go bump in the night" + "Dead letters" + "Dance with the Dead": 1) the murder occurs right in the end of the film, or the body is discovered, the police cars arrive, the whole village is alert. We never know anything about the victim 2) all these episodes contain a "psycho" touch, the murderer is usually mentally deranged or is a little bit mad or plays some bizarre tricks (like in Bad tidings). 3) The character in Hammonds scripts are very pale, not elaborate, they evidently serve as the background - sometimes too much, like in "Dance with the Dead" where the murderer is shown twice before the exposing but other characters are still so insignificant that it's palpable right from the start! 4) When the murderer recounts his "deeds" he begins with the last murder and then goes to the first one. The only exception is "Bad Tidings" - I really enjoyed that episode but it also fits very well in the usual Hammond's scheme. So, "Small Mercies" is made in the same patterns, without any changes, so right at the beginning one can guess who is the murderer - like I did. So, this episode doesn't deserve a high vote - 2 out 10. Very poor.
Review of Small Mercies
