Season fourteen of Death in Paradise is noticeably serious at times, but that doesn't always work so well. On the fictional Caribbean island of Saint-Marie, there are two certainties: tropical beaches and an absurdly high murder rate. The light-hearted detective is already in its fourteenth season and the concept has not changed. The police team, led by a maladjusted Englishman, solves a murder every week. Every few seasons, the chief inspector leaves and a new head of the detective department takes over. At the end of the previous season, the previous detective left, and in this season we are introduced to the fifth detective: Mervin Wilson (Don Gilet).
Wilson is not here for fun and he makes that clear often enough. We have seen this with some of the previous protagonists. Often this is used for comedic effect, but here a serious storyline is thrown in. He had a bond with the island in the past, but a tragic event severely damaged that bond. It is good that the series also incorporates some serious drama in addition to humor, but especially in the first few episodes Wilson's grumpy personality only arouses annoyance.
The serious tone of the first episode does the series no favors
In addition, the first episode is not exactly cheerful. Where the murder cases are normally treated with a wink, there is no laughter in this episode. A few moments that are meant to be funny are rather painful and feel out of place due to the serious atmosphere. The ongoing storyline in which Commissioner Patterson (Don Warrington) is more or less forced to retire because his position is being cut is also very serious, especially in the beginning.
Fortunately, the series becomes less gloomy later in the season and it is back to normal. Detective Wilson becomes less moody and the murder cases are fun again (if you can call a murder fun). For example, the team investigates a shooting during a football match, a poisoning at a distillery and a murder during the filming of a game show. It is definitely not top television, it never has been, but it doesn't have to be. It is just a wonderful weekly trip to a tropical island with beautiful images and nice actors.
Shaquille Ali-Yebuah is an asset as the clumsy young agent Sebastien
Just like every season, the composition of the police team this season is slightly different compared to the previous season. In addition to Wilson, there is also a new young officer, Sebastien Rose (Shaquille Ali-Yebuah). Rose is clumsy and not always very bright. Ali-Yebuah's comic timing works perfectly and he is a very valuable addition to the cast. Fortunately, his character is not only clumsy and does not become a caricature. At the same time, he is a hard worker and is a bit insecure. During the season, he gets a nice and touching storyline. In addition, Shantol Jackson and Ginny Holder do a great job as sergeant Naomi Thomas and officer Darlene Curtis respectively.
The fourteenth season starts off quite heavy and serious, which doesn't suit the series. Only after a few episodes does the fun and light atmosphere return and it feels familiar and old-fashioned again. A fifteenth season has already been announced, so we can already look forward to that.
About the writer, Karzal
Mike (1995) has been a member of MySeries since 2016 and is mainly active on the English version of the site. Since 2018, he has been actively translating news articles, columns, reviews and basically everything that ends up on the Dutch site. The original articles, columns and reviews were actually written by others. During the week Mike can be found at IKEA, where he is a national systems specialist and occasionally also in the classroom to teach an English lesson. In addition, Mike logically enjoys watching series and has actually been spoon-fed this from an early age. The genre doesn't matter, there is a place for everything in the otherwise busy life.
