Have always been quite fond of 'Murder She Wrote'. It is a fun and relaxing watch that makes you think as you try to unwind in the evening. If one wants more complex, twisty mysteries with lots of tension and suspense 'Murder She Wrote' may not be for you, but if you want something light-hearted and entertaining but still provide good mysteries 'Murder She Wrote' fits the bill just fine.
"Time to Die" is not only to me the worst episode of Season 10, a variable season but not as badly so as Seasons 9 and 12, but also one of the worst 'Murder She Wrote' episodes in general. Very rarely give out this rating, the only episodes prior to "Time to Die" to get the rating were "The Szechuan Dragon" and "The Mole". Very little about it works, not even on a camp level, coming from somebody who actually made a real effort to find some value in it that way.
It does have a few redeeming qualities, and there is a big emphasis on few. The best thing about it is Angela Lansbury, again doing a great job as Jessica and showing such professionalism with deserving-much-better material.
The production values are slick and stylish as ever, the theme tune is irresistible and some of the music achieves a balance of the understated and having presence without going too far in either direction.
Mystery-wise, it is here where "Time to Die" nearly single-handedly sinks. It is a truly ridiculous story, this is hardly the first episode of the show that's silly but this was overkill and on a whole new level, that also manages to be very difficult to get into. Attempts are made to spice it up, with the graffiti and pigeons, but they ended up distracting from the story and confusing it. On top of that, the denouement is one of the show's most far-fetched and convoluted ("Menace Anyone?" is still the most convoluted, but this is one of few to come this close to beating it), pace-wise it also felt rushed. It's one that tries to be clever with a unique "how the murderer could have committed the murder" method but ends up making little sense.
Further disadvantages are the bad writing and acting. "Time to Die" has one of the show's worst scripts, the writers seemed to have forgotten what tone the show usually takes (light-hearted and cosy, it was too drab and heavy here) and everything here comes over as stale and contrived. The characters and their situations are far too obviously written, being blatantly obvious from the start who the victim will be, who the prime suspect will be and what the outcome of their predicament will be. The only not so predictable thing here is the identity of the murderer, even that is wasted by how badly executed the ending is.
Lansbury's performance here is the only good one, the guest cast are uniformly poor. Robert Beltran is the one that tries the hardest, but the character is too much of a cartoon and Beltran struggles to give any kind of subtlety. Everybody else are not worth mentioning. "Time to Die" even throws in some fusion music that just feels out of place here and one can be forgiven if they have to check that this was made in the early 90s, because the music would sound out of date in the 80s. It is too hard to believe that Lansbury has performed on Broadway and sung on soundtracks to great acclaim, yet reacts to this music like somebody who has no sense of rhythm.
Overall, a very bad episode that fails on the camp appeal. 3/10 Bethany Cox
"Time to Die" is not only to me the worst episode of Season 10, a variable season but not as badly so as Seasons 9 and 12, but also one of the worst 'Murder She Wrote' episodes in general. Very rarely give out this rating, the only episodes prior to "Time to Die" to get the rating were "The Szechuan Dragon" and "The Mole". Very little about it works, not even on a camp level, coming from somebody who actually made a real effort to find some value in it that way.
It does have a few redeeming qualities, and there is a big emphasis on few. The best thing about it is Angela Lansbury, again doing a great job as Jessica and showing such professionalism with deserving-much-better material.
The production values are slick and stylish as ever, the theme tune is irresistible and some of the music achieves a balance of the understated and having presence without going too far in either direction.
Mystery-wise, it is here where "Time to Die" nearly single-handedly sinks. It is a truly ridiculous story, this is hardly the first episode of the show that's silly but this was overkill and on a whole new level, that also manages to be very difficult to get into. Attempts are made to spice it up, with the graffiti and pigeons, but they ended up distracting from the story and confusing it. On top of that, the denouement is one of the show's most far-fetched and convoluted ("Menace Anyone?" is still the most convoluted, but this is one of few to come this close to beating it), pace-wise it also felt rushed. It's one that tries to be clever with a unique "how the murderer could have committed the murder" method but ends up making little sense.
Further disadvantages are the bad writing and acting. "Time to Die" has one of the show's worst scripts, the writers seemed to have forgotten what tone the show usually takes (light-hearted and cosy, it was too drab and heavy here) and everything here comes over as stale and contrived. The characters and their situations are far too obviously written, being blatantly obvious from the start who the victim will be, who the prime suspect will be and what the outcome of their predicament will be. The only not so predictable thing here is the identity of the murderer, even that is wasted by how badly executed the ending is.
Lansbury's performance here is the only good one, the guest cast are uniformly poor. Robert Beltran is the one that tries the hardest, but the character is too much of a cartoon and Beltran struggles to give any kind of subtlety. Everybody else are not worth mentioning. "Time to Die" even throws in some fusion music that just feels out of place here and one can be forgiven if they have to check that this was made in the early 90s, because the music would sound out of date in the 80s. It is too hard to believe that Lansbury has performed on Broadway and sung on soundtracks to great acclaim, yet reacts to this music like somebody who has no sense of rhythm.
Overall, a very bad episode that fails on the camp appeal. 3/10 Bethany Cox