Harper's Island on BBC3 (contains spoilers)

[Dinos Sfyris]

Noticed Phil mentioned this 13 part series in another thread, which is my latest murder mystery guilty pleasure where, without fail, a main charcter is barbarically slaughtered at the end of each episode. I'm rather enjoying watching the series unfold and guess who's going to get picked off next and how. Although I'm often working Friday and Sunday nights so have missed a couple of episodes, but last night I found out there's an even later double bill showing after midnight. Last night saw father-of-the-bride Mr Wellington's gruesome death by chandelier, and they've finally started discovering some bodies including Uncle Marty hanging in 2 pieces from a tree.

So anyone else being watching it? Any ideas who the killer might be? Is John Wakefield back, is it a copycat killer, or is it a psycho relative trying to destroy the wedding? The obvious candidate is JD, the groom's weirdo brother but my money's on the sheriff.

[Phil Reynolds]

Any ideas who the killer might be?

Well, I figure if they keep slaughtering main characters at the rate they're going, there's going to be hardly anybody left by the denouement, which means not much of a surprise; soooo... I reckon either it'll be someone we thought was dead but actually turns out not to be, or someone with a cast-iron alibi. My money's on the English guy, since (a) English people always turn out to be the villains in American dramas and (b) I think the whole thing in episode 2 with him being left hanging upside down in the forest all day was a red herring, and actually as soon as he was left alone he freed himself and went off butchering people.

[Matt Morrison]

Is this good? Anything BBC3 tends to put me off, in my head it's still the domain of shit like Two Pints. But if you two rate it, let me know, and I'll try and catch up.

[Phil Reynolds]

Is this good?

If you like gratuitous gore and wondering which annoying plastic American 20-something is going to get hacked to pieces in ever more inventive ways next, then yes it's great. (Also, you've got to love a series in which all the episode titles are onomatopoeic representations of that episode's climactic murder - Thwack, Splat, Gurgle etc.)

[Jeffrey Burgin]

BBC3 is largely good for Family Guy and occasional reruns of High School Musical. Oh, and Marry/Snog/Avoid.

[Dinos Sfyris]

If you like gratuitous gore and wondering which annoying plastic American 20-something is going to get hacked to pieces in ever more inventive ways next, then yes it's great.

This^. Which reminds me Saw VI is out soon

(Also, you've got to love a series in which all the episode titles are onomatopoeic representations of that episode's climactic murder - Thwack, Splat, Gurgle etc.)

Shit I did some googling because I didn't know this and wanted to find out what the first few episodes were called, and accidentally stumbled upon major spoilers. Oh well shouldn't have gone looking I suppose. Will still keep watching though.

[Phil Reynolds]

I did some googling [...] and accidentally stumbled upon major spoilers. Oh well shouldn't have gone looking I suppose. Will still keep watching though.

Bummer.

[Sue Sanders]

Dinos - Phil just called you a bummer!

[Phil Reynolds]

Heehee. The first of tonight's episode's was a bit dull, I thought. However, the second more than made up for it!

[Matt Morrison]

Right then, I watched this over the weekend.
Overall, pretty good, I certainly enjoyed it better than 99% of everything else on BBC3.
It was quite refreshing that it seemed to know it was a teen horror, and not get confused and come over all teen drama too often.

As far as I know the BBC3 run is still going, so I'll refrain from posting any spoilery opinions or "this bit surprised me, but I guessed this bit by episode 6" sort of stuff until you guys have finished, though I did do quite well with some of my predictions. Let me know when you're done.

Shit I did some googling because I didn't know this and wanted to find out what the first few episodes were called, and accidentally stumbled upon major spoilers. Oh well shouldn't have gone looking I suppose. Will still keep watching though.

Whenever you're TV searching, never use Google. Wikipedia or tv.com will always give you access to stuff like basic episode information a few clicks before you stumble into plot/character spoilers, whereas Google is full of forum posts, opinions, reviews, etc. Guess you learn the hard way!

[Phil Reynolds]

The shock reveal at the end of the second of last night's episodes (that John Wakefield is indeed still alive) seems to negate the possibility of further twists, but with three episodes still to go I'm guessing that nothing is as straightforward as it seems.

[Matt Morrison]

The shock reveal at the end of the second of last night's episodes seems to negate the possibility of further twists, but with three episodes still to go I'm guessing that nothing is as straightforward as it seems.

I don't think I'd be spoiling anything by saying: good guess.

[Dinos Sfyris]

Ep#8-10 spoliers:So it seems every time the wedding party come up with a new suspect (JD, the sheriff) they turn up dead. Quite predictable but its still pretty gripping stuff with all the claustrophobia in the tunnels from last night's episode, and scary-biscuits Wakefield finally making an appearance. Stupidest death of the show so far: The lady who owns The Candlewick, minutes after being shot at by Wakefield, saying "This doesn't concern us. He's not gonna hurt the locals!" or something, before leaving the Cannery, walking nonchalantly across the harbour and subsequently finds herself hung from the roof. Also, Phil, I was right about the boat exploding! Even if I was a few episodes too soon.

Future predictions: What I want to know is who's Wakefield's child (and probably accomplice) mentioned in the journal now we know it isn't Abby? My money's on either Jimmy or Henry cause they're far too nice to be nice. Who do you think will be the eventual survivors? I think Chloe and Cal will make it out of there now he's (kind of) proposed and surely they can't kill off Madison. Sulley's been a bit of a dickhead and is surely up for the chop soon and I'm surprised the token black guy has lasted this long.

[Matt Morrison]

Obviously I'm loathe to talk too much for now cos I know everything, but re: your prediction that Cal will survive....
He's the token British guy in a cheesy American horror so I watched the whole thing thinking I'd be very surprised if he didn't turn out either dead or evil... I wonder if I ended up surprised...

NB: Your white anti-spoiler text is no good on the prosilver skin Dinos. The posts alternate background colours between two shades of blue, one of which it's perfectly legible on.

[Phil Reynolds]

Wow, well last night's episode certainly cranked things up a bit, with a body count of 4 - two of which, to my surprise, I actually found myself caring about - and a refreshing gear change now that we're seeing some of the events from the killer's point of view. I have to say the stupidest scene was the group cornered in the Cannery bar, in possession of a large shotgun and with an ideal opportunity to blow Wakefield away, instead merely waving the gun around ineffectually and backing out of the door while leaving poor Shane to depend himself with a markedly inferior weapon. Mind you, considering what a terrible shot everyone seems to be, maybe that was the best option...

The behind-the-scenes documentary beforehand was interesting and infuriating in roughly equal measure, with about 15 minutes of good material padded out to 30 with unnecessary repetition and pointless wisecracks. I'd already been all over Bowen Island in Google Earth, but some of the trivia were surprising - like the fact that the Candlewick Inn isn't really a hotel but part of the University of British Columbia, or that the Cannery (which I'd assumed was a set piece built on location) is actually the Royal Canadian Legion clubhouse. Best bit was seeing that the hanging tree (where Abby discovered her mum's body) is actually right next to the golf course!

[Dinos Sfyris]

Final 2 episodes tonight! Very excited If the conclusion is as brilliant as last week's episode I might just have to buy the whole thing when it inevitably comes out on DVD.

Here's my final thoughts on who will get out alive:

Definite Kill fodder:
Danny - must die surely? Out of the few remaining he's probably the one with the least connection to the other survivors, and is sort of just there in an ethnic matey capacity.
Sulley - See above. Minus the ethnicity of course. These 2 will probably meet their barbaric end in tonight's first installment leaving us wanting more in part 2.
John Wakefield - well there's gotta be a happy ending

Survivors:
Abby - Central character. Will probably be the one who ends it all and puts Wakefield in the ground so she can finally move on with her life.
Jimmy - The only local left, plus he's in love with Abby and has that boyish charm that's oh so hard to kill off. Cliffhanger last week says he could be Wakefield's accomplice but I reckon it's a red herring.
Madison - Awww. Need I say more?

Don't knows:
Shea - On the one hand she's the only family Madison has left so it would be cruel to separate them, but then again she's annoying and whiny and had it relatively safe last episode hiding in the sheriff's attic so is probably due a dangerous turn.
Trish and Henry - think one might meet a grisly end. Probably Henry since Trish is fit

[Phil Reynolds]

Haha. Well, not bad Dinos (and thanks for the texts BTW!) - your predictions started off bang on the nail, and became increasingly inaccurate. Perhaps you should have stopped after the "Definite Kill Fodder". So come on, spill the beans - what were the "major spoilers" you encountered after episode 6?

I enjoyed the twists in the final couple of episodes, although I have to say that, apart from the list reeled off by Henry to Sully, and the people we saw butchered by Wakefield, I'm still slightly in the dark about who exactly was killed by whom - although I'm not sure it matters and doubtless there are websites out there with definitive lists of exactly what happened to each character. And I've still no idea who the guy was tied to the boat's propellor shaft in episode 1. (I missed episodes 3 and 4, so some of the character relationship details passed me by.)

Overall, though, a really enjoyable series - an unusual genre for TV drama to tackle, and produced, written and acted with a wicked sense of fun.

[Matt Morrison]

As it's just the three of us who watched it, and the thread title warns of spoilers, I'm certainly not bothering with font colour

Phil - The guy tied to the propeller shaft was, if I remember rightly (easy to forget all this stuff a few weeks after watching), Trish's brother? There was no 'why' other than the overarching 'why' that Henry had for killing everyone.

I wasn't a fan of the ending at all. It just didn't really click for me. This, and some other annoyances:

• Physical location errors - towards the end things got a bit more far fetched, like when Jimmy knocks himself and Henry off the edge of the cliff, and then they are shown as having landed right in the middle of the beach, a spot that we've already been shown from various angles as being at least 30 or so feet from the cliff.
• Chloe's death - I caught a bit of the review show on BBC3 last night and this scene was described as the most beautiful, best, etc. of the whole show. Not for me, until they showed her body floating away face down, I didn't even realise she was killing herself. I didn't get the impression for one single moment that that sort of drop would have killed her, at the very worst a couple of broken legs. Should have been a great escape.
• Abby not killing Wakefield - when she has the gun and is encouraged to shoot him, Henry just watches on and doesn't do anything about it. I can't remember, I think he may have referred to it later in an "I knew she wouldn't be able to do it" kind of way, but for me it was a much too-close call considering that Wakefield was still vital to Henry's plan at this point and that Sully and the black dude (I think) were also there and could have quite reasonably shot him themselves.
• Henry's motive - Abby was whiney, annoying, and rough. Trish was clearly vacuous, but damn she was hot and the sex would have been great forever. Great sex with a hot bitch forever, or turn into a serial killer in order to win over some whiney rough moo just because you have some kind of nostalgic crush. Henry might have been weird but find me a weird man who wouldn't still make that choice better than he did.
• Henry as the killer / Jimmy the red herring - I didn't like it. Not only was it all a ridiculous motive, but I guessed it was him too. Early on I'd had an inkling, well kind of, I'd actually joked to myself "this guy has to be either the killer or a shit actor", (when Trish's dad dies, he doesn't look sad or upset or shocked in the slightest) but to be honest at that point I had still put it down to "man he's a shit actor". But of course later on when they tried so obviously to make out Jimmy to be the most likely Wakefield accomplice, that meant it clearly wouldn't be him, and there was really no one else it could be but Henry. They gave us way too much information about how it could be Jimmy for it actually to be him.
• Henry not killing Jimmy - er, why?

But yeah overall it wasn't bad. As I said before, better than the usual tripe on BBC3, and I definitely enjoyed it.

[Phil Reynolds]

The guy tied to the propeller shaft was, if I remember rightly (easy to forget all this stuff a few weeks after watching), Trish's brother?

Oh right - ta.

Yeah, of course there were bits that strained plausibility beyond limits (throughout, not just at the end). This one, though, was at least clearly explained:

Henry not killing Jimmy - er, why?

Because he needed Jimmy to sign a confession, which he thought he could make him do by promising to let Abby live. He knew Jimmy loved Abby enough that he would take the rap rather than let her die.

This made me smile:

Early on I'd had an inkling, well kind of, I'd actually joked to myself "this guy has to be either the killer or a shit actor", (when Trish's dad dies, he doesn't look sad or upset or shocked in the slightest) but to be honest at that point I had still put it down to "man he's a shit actor".

As Chris Gorham explained in the post-finale show, he himself wasn't told that he was the killer until they were shooting episode 8. But yeah, I'd already got used to him being a shit actor throughout the first two series of Ugly Betty, so it came as no surprise here. The Harper's Island writers even gave his character the same name. Coincidence? I doubt it.

[Matt Morrison]

Henry not killing Jimmy - er, why?

Because he needed Jimmy to sign a confession, which he thought he could make him do by promising to let Abby live. He knew Jimmy loved Abby enough that he would take the rap rather than let her die.

Ah, thanks Phil! Knew I'd have forgotten something vital. Still, didn't he get him to sign it and them keep him alive for as long as Jimmy needed to save the day? Still a bit silly, but yeah, that's horror I guess.

[Phil Reynolds]

Still, didn't he get him to sign it and them keep him alive for as long as Jimmy needed to save the day?

No - Jimmy held out, refusing to sign unless Henry let him see Abby one last time. Henry agreed but Abby used that opportunity to escape after stabbing Henry with a conveniently located bradawl. Why she stabbed him in the foot instead of somewhere sensible like the neck - ah, now there indeed is a conundrum.

[Dinos Sfyris]

So come on, spill the beans - what were the "major spoilers" you encountered after episode 6?

I was reading on Wikipedia about the episodes I'd seen so far. Also I'd missed episode 3 and wanted to just gather what killings I'd missed, and I accidentally over-scrolled and found out Malcolm died in the next episode. Also I read a part that said Wakefield's child was his accomplice at which point I closed the window before I could find out who it was. but as Matt says, when there's so few survivors left it can only feasibly be Henry. But like they mentioned on Harper's Island Solved I think the "Why" became more enticing than the "Who" by then. The bit where Cal's actor and the other guy recreated Henry's death on the beach was quite funny.

[Phil Reynolds]

So come on, spill the beans - what were the "major spoilers" you encountered after episode 6?

I [...] found out Malcolm died in the next episode. Also I read a part that said Wakefield's child was his accomplice at which point I closed the window before I could find out who it was.

Ah, so not too bad then. At least you didn't find out the denouement.

The bit where Cal's actor and the other guy recreated Henry's death on the beach was quite funny.

Yeah, as was the bit where the other guy (who was one of the producers) told "Cal" off for leaning forward on the bridge (which he'd supposedly been instructed not to do) and getting in his shot.

[Chris Corby]

Been away, so caught up with the final two episodes last night. Just to let you know that there were more than just three of you watching this but I didn't dare look at this topic before because it contained spoilers. My great detective mind failed me because I thought Wakefiled's son was that geezer who shot himself in the thigh when he was supposed to be burying the money; only because we didn't seem him die and that wound could have been easily faked. Don't know if I was reeled in like a kipper from the writers or not, but I was convinced that it was a plot steal from Agatha Christie's "And Then There Was None" (carefully avoiding the book's orginal title there).

I am annoyed I didn't suspect Henry more - those funny looks he kept giving Abby, I even thought he fancied her more than his bride at one stage, and then he was covered in blood after his brother's death - the clues were all there.

Plot does not bear close analysis for the reasons you have all given, but it was a great 13 episode series, and it won't come back to get on your tits like Lost so full marks to everyone concerned I say!