Xena Redux

 

So,
now that I’m thoroughly hooked on Candice
Renoir , the powers that be have made the show unavailable for streaming as
of the Season 7 debut, which leaves us hung out to dry, at least in the
English-speaking television world.  (The
series runs another four seasons, and three dozen episodes, before cancellation
late last year.)

Same
song, different day.   How do you fill the
gap when you’re invested ,
emotionally, in these relationships and outcomes, and all of a sudden you’re
Jonesing?   You’d think I might be used to
it, by now.  

I can
recommend Brokenwood , but not
unreservedly.   It’s got the
Ozzie-slash-Kiwi thing down, which helps when you’re lonely for the Blake mysteries, but it’s also vaguely reminiscent
of Death in Paradise , meaning it can
favor the silly.   It reminds you that
it’s all a fiction – and not simply made up, but a handshake between the
creatives and the audience, when too much of a knowing wink into the camera
will spoil the illusion.   I also find it
aggravating that while the medical examiner, Gina, is attracted to the lead,
Mike, her sexual appetites are played for laughs, and a sign of
desperation.   I could do with a little
less Our Miss Brooks.   In other words, Brokenwood seems stuck in the  wrong
era, with some lazy conventions.

Which
brings us to My Life Is Murder .   Also an Ozzie show, but after the first
season, set in Melbourne , it decamps to Auckland , showing its New Zealand roots.   Because, my dears, the star and exec producer
of the show is none other than Lucy Lawless.  
Yes, she’s done Battlestar
Galactica , and she’s done Spartacus ,
but those are ensemble casts, and I want to see her in a lead , kicking ass and taking names.   (Yes,
since of course you’re wondering, Renee O’Connor does a guest shot in Season
2.)  

Some
of us were resistant to the charms of Xena
– certainly they mangled Greek mythology – but some of us were equally
impervious to Buffy the Vampire Slayer .   What fools these mortals be.   My Life
Is Murder , I hasten to say, isn’t supernatural in the slightest.   It’s a straight-up detective show.   The scripts are inventive, and the
resolutions convincing.   She, the
heroine, is a former cop herself, and a cop’s widow.   She gets files, often cold cases, from a pal
who’s still active-duty.   We know that in
real life, no police agency in the world
would countenance such a thing; any good defense attorney would take you off at
the knees.   We can allow for dramatic
license.   It works, in context.   Some of the other tropes are a bit labored,
some of the forensic shortcuts challenge our suspension of disbelief, but
whaddya want?   We’re trying to wrap this
up in 45 minutes.  

It
depends, naturally, on the actor and the character she plays.   Lucy Lawless carries the show, just as Cecile
Bois carries Candice Renoir .   There’s more than a passing resemblance in
the premise of the two series.   Lucy
Lawless is 55, Cecile Bois is 51.  
They’re playing strong women who’ve been buffeted by Fate – a cliché,
but no less workable for that.   They’re
attractive, and sexy, and don’t suffer fools (although you wish Candice would
suffer fewer of them).   I think this is a
welcome development.   There was Unforgotten , with Nicola Walker, now
headlining Annika .   We’ve
got Happy Valley , and Vera .  

Give
it a shot.   I think it has a lot of
charm, and humor.   It tends to skate on
the surface, and not go deep into dark waters, but sometimes that does the
trick.