Lucy Lawless proves, yet again, that she can do anything, this time starring as Alexa Crowe, a retired detective who now gets to investigate cold cases handed off to her by her former police colleague (Bernard Curry) when the police have closed the case or reached a dead end.
From the opening scenes to the title song, you know straight away that you're watching a more enjoyable, unique, light spin on a murder procedural drama. They showcase Melbourne (where it was filmed) at every opportunity and that's fun to see. Then there's Alexa, who's quirky in a fun, sarcastic way, and her partner in this crime-solving duo, Madison, who brings the tech knowledge and is adept at dealing with Alexa's attempts to keep everyone at a distance. Between Alexa's keen eye for detail and her experience in assessing people's psychological motivations, to Madison's ability to crack anything that involves a computer, they form a likely team, even though Alexa refuses to accept it's a team, as they set off on a new adventure each week to solve a cold case. The show focuses on the quirky characters and the situations they get into instead of on the dark tones and themes of murder. Since Alexa is no longer on the police force, she can submerge herself in the lives of those she's investigating, making it way more interesting than the typical police procedural.
As a viewer in the US, it's also nice to not see guns feature prominently in almost every case, nor to have Alexa running around with a gun strapped on her all of the time. It's very much like a modern-day Murder She Wrote, which I hope Lucy takes as the compliment it's intended as. The only thing that could make this better are if they have Renee O'Connor on, and/or Angela Lansbury. Imagine how great that'd be!