Death in Paradise Season 5

DVD Wholesale Quick Overview:

Most detective shows are so relentlessly dark that they provide little contrast to the gloomy news of the day. Death in Paradise is just fun, like a Caribbean vacation. It is relentlessly formulaic, but in a great silly way that makes us look forward to every new episode. The tone is set right at the beginning of each show when the story line of the day – the murder to be solved – is set up and then followed by the cheerful theme song. Then the ‘crack team’ figures out that the murder was ‘impossible’ but eventually figure it out. We leave every episode with a strong desire to head to the Caribbean again. Now that I think about it, it probably helps to have been there a few times because they do a good job of evoking fond memories.-KC

Love this show, but then I like the English humor. This series is much like Hercule Poirot series, but updated to present time and confined to an Island setting. The series includes some colorful characters and a few sub-plots that keep you thinking. But more importantly the mysteries for each episode are full of twists and turns that are not easily figured out until the end. The Inspector and his Sergeant make a very nice pairing, even if the Inspector is both naive and uncomfortable interacting with the opposite sex. He seems to bumble forward with each episode but not enough to give him a chance at love or any thought of moving in that direction. His Sergeant partner is beautiful and smart, but he seems unaware of this fact, having been enamored with his previous Sergeant who moved to France at the end of Season 4. He has not recovered from that major heart ache, but there is hope for him by the end of Season 5.-Yogi Bear

As I’m getting older, I find change difficult. Losing three of the four principal characters in a series, especially Camille and Fidel, seemed too big change to me. I liked both of them. Losing the first inspector from the first two series was unsettling, but he was too much like MONK to seem original. And his passing was creative. Kris Marshall won me over slowly, clumsy like Jim Hutton’s Ellery Queen (which I guess is supposed to make him endearing – Hutton did it better) but brilliant in detection. Unlike some other reviewers, I like the ‘great reveal’ at the end – it explains what clues I missed. In season 5 the new team seemed to gel – thank God for Dwayne who is the one link to all the series and a really original character for a police procedural. I liked him the best anyway (I hope they are not thinking of moving him to somewhere). I like the ‘rookie’ who is finding his own self as a policeman and so is a better foil for Dwayne than Fidel. The Commissioner has gotten a stronger part and I like him but the writers don’t seem to have a solid idea of who he is – a politician? a policeman? a good boss? a boss that doesn’t work much?. He always seems to have loads of free time. I also wonder why Catherine never mentions her daughter – you would think Humphrey (terrible name) would ask about Camille once in a while. Florence, the policewoman, does not have charisma of Camille. She could be any office worker anywhere. But this team of four now seems like four people who know what they’re doing on the job and can take time out to have fun together. The plots are creative – when I first started watching this show I wondered how many murders you could have on an island – the answer is an infinite number. And last but not least – the island itself – beaches, ocean, palm trees, warm winds, colorful buildings, interesting people – watching this is like going on vacation, only you get to go practically everywhere on the island – jungle, resorts, rich man’s houses, markets. The only drawback is you don’t get to taste the food or have an exotic cocktail. Sit back and relax. This series is definitely worth owning.-wisdomstar

DVD Wholesale Main Features:

Actors: Kris Marshall, Sara Martins
Directors: Various
Format: Color, NTSC
Language: English
Dubbed: English
Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only.)
Number of discs: 2
Rated: NR-Not Rated
Studio: BBC
DVD Release Date: December 13, 2016
Run Time: 466 minutes
ASIN: B01I0M1AEY