Three Pines: The Murder Stone episodes 5 and 6

December 20, 2022 1:57 PM - Season 1, Episode 6

Part 1: Gamache's anniversary celebrations at the Manoir Belleforet hotel are cut short by the discovery of a body; Gamache pulls in his team, and together they investigate the case, which focuses on the hotel's owners, the dysfunctional Morrow family.

Part 2: Gamache is certain he is closing in on solving the mystery of Julia's murder; Kevin and Lacoste have a tense encounter as Lacoste tries to defend himself, saying he was framed for murder.

posted by bq (2 comments total)

Several improvements to the main mystery from the book - the method of murder in the original and the motive behind the murder both being far-fetched. Penny’s strength is character dynamics and the dysfunction of the Morrow family transferred to the screen fairly solidly, the changes made being general improvements. I was amused to hear Bean referred to as ‘her’ (the child Bean’s gender is kept deliberately secret by her mother in the books, a choice whose handling has not really aged well). Agent Nichol continues to be a highlight, it’s just much more interesting to have characters on screen who aren’t impossibly beautiful and suave. When I read the synopsis I was hoping these episodes would feature Reine-Marie more prominently - alas it was not to be. Too many characters to showcase, I suppose, even in a 2-parter.

One surprise was that the mysterious missing adopted son didn’t show up - a gun in the mantelpiece in act 1 that did not go off in act 3.

Disappointed in them killing off another native character. Predictable and cheap.
posted by bq at 2:04 PM on December 20, 2022

I find myself breaking into a grin every time Agent Nichol turns up. "This place needs a vending machine!"

And yes, it would have been better if we'd heard something about that son on the mantelpiece.
posted by tangerine at 10:03 AM on December 26, 2022