Anyone watching Harper's Island?

[Elemental]

I'm a sucker for murder mysteries, even if they're a bit on the cheesy or cliche side. I've found the last few episodes of this show quite intriguing but am now pretty certain I know who the killer is after seeing the 10th episode. If anyone else has been watching this show and wants to discuss it, let me know!

Edit - I made this post before finishing episode 10. The ending kind of changes things a bit...

 

[Tulin]

I just finished ep seven where Low Rent Hurley gets hacked up in the boiler room. I find some episodes to be hit and miss. The deaths are quite interesting, however. I will try to catch up and then I can discuss it moreso.

 

[1001001]

My wife and I watch the show regularly.

Not exactly Shakespeare, but it's good fun.

 

[Elemental]

I just finished ep seven where Low Rent Hurley gets hacked up in the boiler room. I find some episodes to be hit and miss. The deaths are quite interesting, however. I will try to catch up and then I can discuss it moreso.

So far the show's deaths (as in who will die next?) have been incredibly easily to predict. My biggest irritation with the show was early on how people would just disappear and get killed, and the rest of the people would just go on for days without a single mention of what might of happened to that other guy? The cast was so obviously over-inflated that it was all for the purpose of having some nobodies to kill off. After the death of the bride's dad however, when people figured out there was indeed a murderer at work, I think the adrenalin kicked up considerably.

Another gripe would be that the characters are very cookie-cutter in nature. There's the standard well rounded main guy and super hot main girl, the odd behaving little kid that talks in a vague monotone and gets everybody else scared, the good-looking buddy who is always looking for the next lay (I'm honestly surprised this guy has made it this far but he's an obvious future death), token black guy who is nothing more than a sidekick (ditto), grumpy rich dad who likes to manipulate things with his money, the overly serious sheriff, the Jerk who insults everyone and only looks out for number one (he'll last a few more insults before biting it in a decidely painful way), etc, etc.

 

[1001001]

Yeah, they're pretty straightforward, but honestly I'm not watching Harper's Island for subtleties and nuance. Some good old fashioned harpoonings will do nicely....

Spoiler: Spoiler for Last Episode

I was kind of bummed step mom got the ol' clippers in the back. She was hot.

Oh, and I thought the local kid was the killer before the teaser was aired. We'll see if that's just another red herring.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I think the killer is...

Spoiler: my guess

Henry.

So we get a new ep tonight, then a rerun for July 4 and the final ep a week after that?

My biggest irritation with the show was early on how people would just disappear and get killed, and the rest of the people would just go on for days without a single mention of what might of happened to that other guy?

Or the way the sheriff realized there was a serial killer on the loose pretty early on (after the corpse with the red-ink-stained eyes) yet did nothing to either alert the FBI or take steps to evacuate the island or even tell people their lives were in danger.

That's why

Spoiler: for all eps already aired

I thought the sherrif had to be the killer but now I guess it was just sloppy-ass writing.

 

[1001001]

I think the killer is...

Spoiler: my guess

Henry.

What's the motive???

 

[Temis the Vorta]

I think the killer is...

Spoiler: my guess

Henry.

What's the motive???

Okay, this is going out on a limb, but...

Spoiler: why I think that person is the killer

Wakefield refers to his "child," not his "daughter" in his diary, which is what raised my suspicions that Abby really is the sherrif's daughter and Wakefield's child was born and given up for adoption before her birth. I think the child was Henry, who has inherited his father's madness and has a split personality. One of the characters' comment that Abbby was a "bad seed" seemed to be foreshadowing that whoever Wakefield's child is, that person is the "bad seed".

Kinda lame-ass I know, but it's gotta be "someone we'd least suspect" and I figure that character qualifies. Any other (non spoilery for unaired episodes) theories?

 

[Othello]

I'm loving this series... wish they did more murder mystery series like this on tv.. not great tv but it is entertaining...

 

[1001001]

I think the killer is...

Spoiler: my guess

Henry.

What's the motive???

Okay, this is going out on a limb, but...

Spoiler: why I think that person is the killer

Wakefield refers to his "child," not his "daughter" in his diary, which is what raised my suspicions that Abby really is the sherrif's daughter and Wakefield's child was born and given up for adoption before her birth. I think the child was Henry, who has inherited his father's madness and has a split personality. One of the characters' comment that Abbby was a "bad seed" seemed to be foreshadowing that whoever Wakefield's child is, that person is the "bad seed".

Actually, that's not bad. I could see that.

My theory was...

Spoiler: Who's The Killer?

I thought it was Jimmy based not on motive, but on formula. It seems to me the killer is always someone who was "killed" earlier, but they either never found their body, or they miraculously survived the attempt. By living through the boat explosion, Jimmy now throws all suspicion off himself.

 

[Elemental]

What's the motive???

Okay, this is going out on a limb, but...

Spoiler: why I think that person is the killer

Wakefield refers to his "child," not his "daughter" in his diary, which is what raised my suspicions that Abby really is the sherrif's daughter and Wakefield's child was born and given up for adoption before her birth. I think the child was Henry, who has inherited his father's madness and has a split personality. One of the characters' comment that Abbby was a "bad seed" seemed to be foreshadowing that whoever Wakefield's child is, that person is the "bad seed".

Actually, that's not bad. I could see that.

My theory was...

Spoiler: Who's The Killer?

I thought it was Jimmy based not on motive, but on formula. It seems to me the killer is always someone who was "killed" earlier, but they either never found their body, or they miraculously survived the attempt. By living through the boat explosion, Jimmy now throws all suspicion off himself.

Exactly. That's who I figured it was too. It had to be someone close enough to the main characters (i.e. not the best bud just out for a party or the British comic releif guy), but not completely obvious and with enough mystery to them that them being a killer wouldn't be totally out of the blue. Jimmy fits this perfectly. However, the revelation that Wakefield is alive throws a corkscrew into all of this.

I've been trying to pay attention to what characters were by themselves at the time of a murder. In the last eppy, pretty well the whole crew aside from the Sheriff and Jimmy who supposedly died but not really. This was something pretty well straight out of Agatha Christie's "And Then There Were None".

Temis, I actually wondered about whether Henry might be the secret child as well. That plotline is going to have to be payed off somehow.

Right now with Wakefield being alive, I think it's almost certain that it's him and someone else who's yet to be revealed.

I was really surprised when the Sheriff supposedly bit the dust. I remember seeing in a preview before the show aired a scene where the Sheriff had the whole group gathered together in a room and said that "No one was leaving the island." What gives??

 

[Temis the Vorta]

What's the motive???

Okay, this is going out on a limb, but...

Spoiler: why I think that person is the killer

Wakefield refers to his "child," not his "daughter" in his diary, which is what raised my suspicions that Abby really is the sherrif's daughter and Wakefield's child was born and given up for adoption before her birth. I think the child was Henry, who has inherited his father's madness and has a split personality. One of the characters' comment that Abbby was a "bad seed" seemed to be foreshadowing that whoever Wakefield's child is, that person is the "bad seed".

Actually, that's not bad. I could see that.

My theory was...

Spoiler: Who's The Killer?

I thought it was Jimmy based not on motive, but on formula. It seems to me the killer is always someone who was "killed" earlier, but they either never found their body, or they miraculously survived the attempt. By living through the boat explosion, Jimmy now throws all suspicion off himself.

I think that character is now in the clear because the "clues" are so obvious, they've got to be a red herring. When the real killer is revealed, it will be someone for whom the clues were subtle enough that it should come a total shock (probably when we see him/her kill someone out of the blue). I expect this to happen about 15 minutes from the end of the finale. And the victim will most likely be

Spoiler: final victim

Trish.

Spoiler: my theory

The detail about "someone working with Wakefield" narrows down the field of suspects to someone who could have been in the same places and situations as Jimmy. As of now, the only characters we know have been on the island from time to time are Abby and Henry. Since Abby is the point-of-view character, I doubt she'll be revealed as the killer.

Another thing that set me off about this particular character that made me suspicious...Henry's parents' mysterious deaths - were they Wakefield's victims? Or maybe Henry's?

Temis, I actually wondered about whether Henry might be the secret child as well. That plotline is going to have to be payed off somehow.

It's either him or Jimmy, and since that would make Jimmy and Abby half siblings, well, ew. They've had sex, right? CBS wouldn't go there. Henry and Abby act like siblings already.

Of course it's possible that Henry could be the secret child and not the killer...

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Just for fun, here are some other ideas:

If we follow the Ten Little Indians formula, Henry and Abby will be the only two left alive at the end, and each will think the other is the killer, yet they are both wrong and both survive at the end. So someone else needs to be the killer, despite everyone else apparently having been killed.

Explanation One: Someone we think is dead really isn't. The writers have been good about making the deaths un-fakeable, and/or having people around who can verify the deaths. What happened to the corpse of Maggie, the wedding planner, anyway? Can we assume the group took her body down and made sure she was really dead? She struck me as a creepy person, and I could see her having a secret affair with Wakefield and helping him with his crimes. And after all, she'd know all about those underground tunnels. I don't think survival is plausible for any of the other characters, and motive would be a big problem as well.

Explanation One-point-five: Well, we never actually saw Malcolm being chopped up and thrown into the furnace. The bones could have been anyone's. Maybe Wakefield offered to bankroll Sacred Turtle Beer in return for assistance with various homicides?

Explanation Two: The fake-out death happens in the finale, and it's Madison, who has been surreptitiously assisting the murders. This solves the problem that the writers face in having to kill off an "innocent child," and it would be the least surprising to find out that of all the surviving cast, she is the psycho because she already acts like a psycho. And think about all the misdirection she's done: saying the sherrif kidnapped her, finding the clippings about Jimmy. Hmm. Motive? Maybe she's deranged enough to think this is all a game she is playing with her "secret friend" Wakefield.

Since this is CBS, having a likable character like Henry be the killer would be too shocking. It would be far more CBS-like for it to be Madison.

 

[1001001]

Well, I just finished Episode 11.

I now have no idea what's going on.



The finale should be fun.

 

[Elemental]

Just for fun, here are some other ideas:

If we follow the Ten Little Indians formula, Henry and Abby will be the only two left alive at the end, and each will think the other is the killer, yet they are both wrong and both survive at the end.

Actually, both of them died. One killed the other and the final person hanged herself. It was only in the cheesy movie that they changed things and made the final two survive (probably thinking it's too much of a downer to have everyone die).

I am willing to go out on a limb and guarantee that Trish will survive. These things are just too formulaic and she's not the type they'd kill off. Also, there's no way the kid would be a killer. And can you honestly imagine the show's climax revealing the bumbling fat guy to be the killer?? Do you think he just did all that wailing and screaming for his own entertainment as he was killed?

I agree that Henry's past has been left way too mysterious that (again following the formula), would be the perfect sort of thing for him to reveal as he holds a gun on Abby and blames her for all the shit that happened to him. The same could still hold true for Jimmy but that is becoming less likely.

When the show first began, I instantly placed Trish's sister as being the likely killer, but she's been too far removed from the spotlight for it to be an interesting reveal that she is the killer. And no one else in the current survivors would be an interesting killer either.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

Actually, both of them died. One killed the other and the final person hanged herself. It was only in the cheesy movie that they changed things and made the final two survive (probably thinking it's too much of a downer to have everyone die).

Yeah I was going off the cheesy movie. But CBS certainly will follow a cheesy movie script rather than have an everybody-dies ending. Abby and Henry as sole survivors at the end just strikes me as a CBS style ending, particularly if they were brother and sister all along. Well all their friends and family have croaked but hey, they've got each other!

And can you honestly imagine the show's climax revealing the bumbling fat guy to be the killer??

Nah. But his death was the only one where there was even a tiny bit of an "out."

The more I think about it, the more I think that it would be the CBS style to have Madison be the killer, stupid as that may be. I'd rather it were Henry.

My guess is that whoever the killer is, Trish is dead.

When the show first began, I instantly placed Trish's sister as being the likely killer

Really? Why?

I had the sherrif pegged as the killer on the assumption that he would be in the best position to stage his fake death with an accomplice, who he then murders. The sherrif "dies" halfway thru and he comes back unexpectedly at the end. But that's obviously not going to happen now.

 

[Elemental]

When the show first began, I instantly placed Trish's sister as being the likely killer

Really? Why?

I had the sherrif pegged as the killer on the assumption that he would be in the best position to stage his fake death with an accomplice, who he then murders. The sherrif "dies" halfway thru and he comes back unexpectedly at the end. But that's obviously not going to happen now.

Just based on formula. It would have to be someone close to the main characters for dramatic effect but not super obvious (such as Trish's dad) or stupid (Henry's goofy uncle). Trish's family just seemed too large and her sister seemed like the least likely one. I don't think there was really much more than that. The Sheriff seemed like he would be the main source of the investigation and again, too obvious to be the one. I was surprised when he was killed, however, but like I said, I thought there was a scene in the trailers with him that we haven't seen yet.

I don't think the story will end with only 2 people surviving. That's just a little too tragic. Abby is the #1 most likely person to survive with Trish #2 (I'd add Henry to that too but there's a good chance he'll be a killer and so might be offed at the end). I think the British doctor and his girl will also most likely live. They're just too innocent and comical to kill off and they're future together is being foreshadowed too much. They're not as much of a certainty though. The blond guy and the black guy were as good as dead the instant they were introduced.

Keep in mind I haven't seen the most recent episode yet.

 

[1001001]

Keep in mind I haven't seen the most recent episode yet.

Well, for Temis then...

Spoiler: Episode 11

Well, we know the British doctor bites the big one, but do we really know Chloe is dead? Is it possible she survived the fall? Could she possibly have anything to do with it? Doubtful, but still....
And yes, they've made Jimmy too obvious now. But with only two hours to go, who knows? I'm still trying to see a motive. It's looking more and more like Temis is right about Henry.

 

[Elemental]

Just finished eppy 11. Wow, that was just evil! Not only did they kill the nicest guy but did so brutally painfully too. Biggest moment of stupidity in the series so far happened in this episode. Wakefield shows up in the cannery with a huge horkin knife. Shane decides he's gonna duel him. Trish grabs a shotgun and runs in the other direction... What a freaking tard! I don't care if she's never fired a gun in her life! Why the hell wouldn't she point and shoot!

2nd dumbest move was Henry sending his fiance off with Jimmy, who Wakefield seems to be going out of his way not to kill. Unless of course Henry is in on it which really seems like the most likely scenario now. I don't think they're ready to reveal the other killer just yet so Jimmy is a lot less likely now, scary facial expression or no. Plus if the Sheriff had lots of damning evidence against Jimmy, there's no way he wouldn't have done something about it before now.

There aren't really a whole lot of potential kills left. I forgot about Madisson in my last post. She and Abby are the two least likely to be killed. At least one of the two sidekicks (black guy and blond guy) will bite it next week. Jimmy will probably die in the finale protecting Abby from Henry after a long period of everyone thinking it's him. Trish's sister could possibly be a goner but that leaves Madisson lacking two parents and that just seems a bit too much. Trish... I don't know about so much now. Since Abby will have to survive, having another leading lady stick around might be too much (assuming Henry is the killer).

I remember now that one of the main reasons that I didn't think Henry was a killer was that he was getting shot at along with everyone else after the explosion that supposedly had killed Jimmy. How did Henry get that bruise on his head again? Also, when they were all in the drain looking for the last blond girl to get killed, wasn't Henry shooting right at killer? Of course in TV world, this doesn't necessarily mean a whole lot.

 

[1001001]

Just finished eppy 11. Wow, that was just evil! Biggest moment of stupidity in the series so far happened in this episode. Wakefield shows up in the cannery with a huge horkin knife. Shane decides he's gonna duel him. Trish grabs a shotgun and runs in the other direction... What a freaking tard! I don't care if she's never fired a gun in her life! Why the hell wouldn't she point and shoot!

I know. I was shouting at the screen "JUST SHOOT HIM!!!"




Unless of course, Trish is the other killer.....