In this love letter to the crime genre (with serious Agatha Christie vibes), a refreshingly charismatic Violett Beane stars as Imogene Scott, a hyper-astute femme fatale/amateur sleuth haunted by the unsolved death of her mother, who finds herself in the wrong place at the wrong time when she becomes the prime suspect in a murder investigation taking place on a lavish Mediterranean ocean liner. To prove her innocence, she must partner up with the world’s great detective (played by Homeland’s Mandy Patinkin), a man she grew up hating (she has her reasons!) but who is the only person who may be able to help her.
Though it is told in a classic whodunit style, the show is not only compelling, but it is also fun to watch, with plenty of levity included, too. “We wanted to do a classical kind of clue-to-clue murder mystery,” said one half of the showrunning/writing team Mike Weiss. “I think that there is something about a well-plotted mystery, which is filled with secrets and clues and reverses and twists that turns into a game that the audience can play at home that people love, even if they love other genres as well. You can solve this mystery. It might take you nine more hours, but you can solve this mystery with all of the information that is hidden inside the pilot.”
Aesthetically the show is a feast for the eyes as well, with a wardrobe that is both timeless and timely and makes you want to go shopping. “We really wanted to make something that would be a joy to watch and that would be ultimately entertaining for people above everything else, because that’s honestly what I feel like watching myself,” added Heidi Cole McAdams, co-showrunner and cowriter. “There’s enough going on in the world that I want my entertainment to be fun.”
Fun is definitely the best way to describe it, but you can tell the writing team put a lot of work into making the story cohesive and coherent while at the same time hard to predict. Plus, who doesn’t want to watch Mandy Patinkin outsmart a bunch of rich people while half in the bag?
Death and Other Details premieres on Hulu Tuesday, Jan. 16.