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Review: Who’s the Murderer Season 5 (明星大偵探 第五季) (2019)
This season took an interesting step compared to the previous seasons. From last season, it seemed like this show was getting more and more ambitious, but this season reverted back to the more insulated, simple cases, which I thought was refreshing and nice.
Overall, I thought this show was a little easier to palate than last season just because there were fewer "epic" cases, but it's also a matter of preference (whether you prefer longer or shorter cases).
Format
The format was mostly the same as last season, in that the voting system is more flexible. However, it wasn't really utilized as much in this season. There would've been an opportunity to use it in the final episode, but that would've spoiled the story, so I'm not mad that it wasn't implemented then.
Production
As I mentioned, this season relied less on the two-part cases. In fact, there were only two of them, and the remaining were all one-episode cases, which was nice. It might've been due to the fact that there were more new players to the show this season, including some younger guys, so keeping the cases simple would've been easier for onboarding.
But the one thing that I will never get over is how long the episodes are. On average, they are about 3 hours each, which is a lot of time. The first couple of seasons managed to write a lot of fleshed out cases without such a long run time, so I really think it's just the production team trying to drag out the show with gags.
Speaking of gags, I do think there are a lot more drawn out gags now compared to previous seasons. I used to wish there were more gags, but now I see how they can get in the way of the story and break up the flow, especially if you're not the biggest fan of the guests on that show.
As usual, many episodes had a focus on certain aspects of society, and would end with a PSA reminding us to be mindful of our behaviours.
Cases
I forgot to take notes on the episodes until literally the last two episodes, so my notes are going to be very brief this time, sorry.
Episode 0: The Return of the Famous Detectives
As usual, this was an ease-in episode to get us back in the groove of using our noggins. Instead of an actual case, the cast and guests were to solve a number of puzzles that may or may not be related. It also introduced us to the premise of the first two cases.
Episode 1: Pianist in the Sea: Part 1
This was fine as a first episode because if its star-studded cast, including the new players.
The way that the location was used was interesting, but as is usually the case in the huge locations, you can see that there are limitations. The production can't possibly use the whole space because it is far too big, so the evidence is confined to a few spaces, but it makes it harder to believe that I'm actually at the location I'm aware that not every spot is used. It's nitpicky, but it's something that I've picked up as I've watched more of this show.
As usual, as the part 1 of a two-part case, this case left some unused clues to be used in the second part.
Episode 2: Pianist in the Sea: Part 2
I thought the use of the voting format was really interesting in this case. It was complicated, but still enjoyable.
Episode 3: Really Cannot Street
This case was a bit more muted in tone because there were several new players, but it wasn't totally bad. The fact that the case was set back in the "warehouse" was comfortable too.
Episode 4: Silk Restaurant
I think this case had a good cast. It didn't rely too much on gags (considering that they were dressed up as Journey to the West characters). The cast had good chemistry and didn't have to rely on the gags.
Wei Chen was a detective for the first time, and I think he was able to hold his own.
Episode 5: Crime On the Rooftop
This case wasn't as memorable to me because it was rather generic in its premise and writing. There also wasn't anybody new in the cast.
Episode 6: NZND Reborn Concert
In my post for last season, I'd said that I thought that the NZND concept had been overdone by this point. I still believe that, but I guess this season, the production team tried to capitalize on the popularity of idol competition shows by actually having a few of the competition winners on as cast members for this case.
I also thought it was nice that the assistant had a bigger role in helping the detective this time. I think it's nice when the detective has one more person to really discuss with.
Episode 7: MGQ Magazine's Murder Case
This was another episode set in the warehouse but I liked how it used scenery to solve a certain logic puzzle (like in episode 3).
Episode 8: X School's Murder Case
I thought this story was pretty interesting. It might've been the most memorable case for me in this season actually. It made good use of scenery, props, and logic puzzles.
I thought that the less experienced cast members might've dragged down the show but actually they didn't because they leaned into their roles rather than trying to play themselves, which actually strengthened the believability of the case.
Episode 9: Revenge of the Puppet
This was another simpler case, but there were two victims. In an older season, this might've felt like a huge gimmick, but now that we have the appropriate voting system, these types of cases play well in the game format.
Episode 10: Detective Chinatown
This episode had some more gags, and while I appreciated them, I could see that the cast was leaning into them a lot on purpose. It might've been because the case might've been dull without the gags, but that still doesn't necessarily make it easier to accept.
Episode 11: Murder on the Slow Northern Train I
This case was alright. Admittedly I thought this case would have a lot of pandering to Xiao Zhan fans based on the clips I'd seen of the show, but actually, I think Xiao Zhan was a pretty good player. It might be because he's an older guy (despite only recently having achieved fame) so he's not going to try to go wild with the gags to try to take up the spotlight.
Episode 12: Murder on the Slow Northern Train II
This case was rather complicated. In our usual 2-episode cases, we usually have a meta-narrative come into play in a big way in the second episode, like time travel, dream worlds, etc.
While there was time travel, in the end, I didn't feel that it wasn't as pivotal of a plot device as it was in prior cases. It's not bad, just an interesting way to go about a second episode.
Overall
I thought this season would get even more complicated than last season, but I actually liked that it went back to the one-episode cases.
There were a lot more big-name celebrities as guests this season, but they actually fit in the cases quite well, particularly because they played their roles more strictly compared to the old guests, who are more comfortable with breaking character.
My biggest frustration with this show will still be the episode length. At this point, we can see that there is a lot of editing magic going to purposely drag out episodes and I wish the editing team wouldn't do that, as a good mystery can still be told without so much runtime and gimmicks.
Overall, I thought this show was a little easier to palate than last season just because there were fewer "epic" cases, but it's also a matter of preference (whether you prefer longer or shorter cases).
Format
The format was mostly the same as last season, in that the voting system is more flexible. However, it wasn't really utilized as much in this season. There would've been an opportunity to use it in the final episode, but that would've spoiled the story, so I'm not mad that it wasn't implemented then.
Production
As I mentioned, this season relied less on the two-part cases. In fact, there were only two of them, and the remaining were all one-episode cases, which was nice. It might've been due to the fact that there were more new players to the show this season, including some younger guys, so keeping the cases simple would've been easier for onboarding.
But the one thing that I will never get over is how long the episodes are. On average, they are about 3 hours each, which is a lot of time. The first couple of seasons managed to write a lot of fleshed out cases without such a long run time, so I really think it's just the production team trying to drag out the show with gags.
Speaking of gags, I do think there are a lot more drawn out gags now compared to previous seasons. I used to wish there were more gags, but now I see how they can get in the way of the story and break up the flow, especially if you're not the biggest fan of the guests on that show.
As usual, many episodes had a focus on certain aspects of society, and would end with a PSA reminding us to be mindful of our behaviours.
Cases
I forgot to take notes on the episodes until literally the last two episodes, so my notes are going to be very brief this time, sorry.
Episode 0: The Return of the Famous Detectives
As usual, this was an ease-in episode to get us back in the groove of using our noggins. Instead of an actual case, the cast and guests were to solve a number of puzzles that may or may not be related. It also introduced us to the premise of the first two cases.
Episode 1: Pianist in the Sea: Part 1
This was fine as a first episode because if its star-studded cast, including the new players.
The way that the location was used was interesting, but as is usually the case in the huge locations, you can see that there are limitations. The production can't possibly use the whole space because it is far too big, so the evidence is confined to a few spaces, but it makes it harder to believe that I'm actually at the location I'm aware that not every spot is used. It's nitpicky, but it's something that I've picked up as I've watched more of this show.
As usual, as the part 1 of a two-part case, this case left some unused clues to be used in the second part.
Episode 2: Pianist in the Sea: Part 2
I thought the use of the voting format was really interesting in this case. It was complicated, but still enjoyable.
Episode 3: Really Cannot Street
This case was a bit more muted in tone because there were several new players, but it wasn't totally bad. The fact that the case was set back in the "warehouse" was comfortable too.
Episode 4: Silk Restaurant
I think this case had a good cast. It didn't rely too much on gags (considering that they were dressed up as Journey to the West characters). The cast had good chemistry and didn't have to rely on the gags.
Wei Chen was a detective for the first time, and I think he was able to hold his own.
Episode 5: Crime On the Rooftop
This case wasn't as memorable to me because it was rather generic in its premise and writing. There also wasn't anybody new in the cast.
Episode 6: NZND Reborn Concert
In my post for last season, I'd said that I thought that the NZND concept had been overdone by this point. I still believe that, but I guess this season, the production team tried to capitalize on the popularity of idol competition shows by actually having a few of the competition winners on as cast members for this case.
I also thought it was nice that the assistant had a bigger role in helping the detective this time. I think it's nice when the detective has one more person to really discuss with.
Episode 7: MGQ Magazine's Murder Case
This was another episode set in the warehouse but I liked how it used scenery to solve a certain logic puzzle (like in episode 3).
Episode 8: X School's Murder Case
I thought this story was pretty interesting. It might've been the most memorable case for me in this season actually. It made good use of scenery, props, and logic puzzles.
I thought that the less experienced cast members might've dragged down the show but actually they didn't because they leaned into their roles rather than trying to play themselves, which actually strengthened the believability of the case.
Episode 9: Revenge of the Puppet
This was another simpler case, but there were two victims. In an older season, this might've felt like a huge gimmick, but now that we have the appropriate voting system, these types of cases play well in the game format.
Episode 10: Detective Chinatown
This episode had some more gags, and while I appreciated them, I could see that the cast was leaning into them a lot on purpose. It might've been because the case might've been dull without the gags, but that still doesn't necessarily make it easier to accept.
Episode 11: Murder on the Slow Northern Train I
This case was alright. Admittedly I thought this case would have a lot of pandering to Xiao Zhan fans based on the clips I'd seen of the show, but actually, I think Xiao Zhan was a pretty good player. It might be because he's an older guy (despite only recently having achieved fame) so he's not going to try to go wild with the gags to try to take up the spotlight.
Episode 12: Murder on the Slow Northern Train II
This case was rather complicated. In our usual 2-episode cases, we usually have a meta-narrative come into play in a big way in the second episode, like time travel, dream worlds, etc.
While there was time travel, in the end, I didn't feel that it wasn't as pivotal of a plot device as it was in prior cases. It's not bad, just an interesting way to go about a second episode.
Overall
I thought this season would get even more complicated than last season, but I actually liked that it went back to the one-episode cases.
There were a lot more big-name celebrities as guests this season, but they actually fit in the cases quite well, particularly because they played their roles more strictly compared to the old guests, who are more comfortable with breaking character.
My biggest frustration with this show will still be the episode length. At this point, we can see that there is a lot of editing magic going to purposely drag out episodes and I wish the editing team wouldn't do that, as a good mystery can still be told without so much runtime and gimmicks.