As told numerous times before, the eighth season of "Death in Paradise" has not been great except for both parts of "Beyond the Shining Sea" and Frappe Death Day. Every other entry in this season seems to be missing the fun and the excitement the previous seasons had. Sadly, "Murder Begins at Home" is not great either and easily one of the weakest episodes of the eighth season.
Let's start with good aspects though.
. The episode looks and sounds wonderful. The acting's not bad either. Ardal O'Hanlon is a delight as Mooney and Aude Legastelois is extremly likable as Madeleine. Such an awesome new character!
. The story had some moments (especially the ending), which pulled my heartstrings, and the premise of the mystery was intriguing indeed.
But...
. The murder mystery of "Murder Begins at Home" is sadly weakish. The suspects are not interesting whatsoever. That was not caused only by unimpressive acting, but also by unfocused writing. The plot was not as investing as I would have wanted to and did not have as much twists and turns the episode could have had. That's why the solution, while not awful, felt lacklustre at best.
. Some of the humor unfortunately did not work either. Ruby has grown on me in the last couple of episodes, but the show would gain a lot more if they would pipe her down a lot more.
Overall, a middle of the road for me.
5/10
HK