‘The Brokenwood Mysteries’ Recap: ‘Here’s to You, Mrs. Robinson’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Series Seven Finale of ‘The Brokenwood Mysteries’.
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It is definitely safe to say, that The Brokenwood Mysteries on AcornTV, does a phenomenal job of exploring how murder comes to fruition. For in just this series alone, we’ve come to learn how revenge can motivate murder, and we’ve also learned how death can come forth out of desperation or scuffles that simply go too far. But what we haven’t explored just yet in series seven, is what motivates someone to just straight up see nothing but red and commit the ultimate crime in a fit of pure fury and well, it would seem there was good reason for not examining that sooner. Because it turns out that this fascinating series was saving that particular exploration, for its series seven finale. For ‘Here’s to You, Mrs. Robinson’ dug into that concept no problem… in quite the unique manner.
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Because this is a story where Detective Kristin Sims and Detective Constable Daniel Chalmers were forced to solve this week’s crime without the help of their fearless leader, Detective Senior Sergeant Mike Shepherd, for reasons we will get to in just a moment. Simply because we need to talk about the unique nature of this case first thing, since it offered up quite the challenge for Sims and Chalmers. For the death of a mother named Anne Robinson and her adopted daughter Sascha… didn’t make any sense. Because the both of them were killed in such a unique manner that any conventional lead or thought as to the genesis of this crime, simply didn’t fit, and to complicate the case further, old faces from a prior series seven episode and other parties… kept the list of suspects long and broad. 

But with a little detailed questioning, a picture started to emerge. One where jealousy and misdirection and pettiness helped motivate Olivia Robinson to murder her mother and sister in a fit of pure rage. One that came forth from the belief that Anne was fooling around with Olivia’s squeeze, Caleb, and well, it was quite powerful to learn that consistent irritation, combined with the right lie at the right time can motivate people to go over the edge and do the unthinkable as evidenced here. But while that alone could have carried this tale, it had a great deal more to offer than the big investigation. Because watching Sims and Chalmers take the reins made for satisfying character growth, since we were able to see just how talented they really are as investigators and of course, Mike’s journey brought forth some incredibly powerful moments as well.

For his absence from this case was related to a past case. One where an innocent mother, was forced to change her name to Tania and go into hiding via Witness Protection after turning in evidence on the people who killed her husband and well, after spending nearly a decade in isolation she needed Mike at her side, because she was dying and had one last wish. In that, she wanted Mike to release her children from the program and have them reunite with her family so they could be loved and grow up in a healthy environment. Which was a request that Mike didn’t even hesitate to work on and thankfully, he was able to make it happen and help her see her family one last time and well, this was just a surprise for certain. One that definitely brought a little mist to this reviewer’s eyes over the beauty of Mike’s good deed. 

If anything, all these elements made for one powerful finale. Because there was some genuine emotional depth to this story, since we were able to really understand just how jaded and angry Olivia was in that horrible moment and of course, everything involving Mike’s journey was as emotional as could be since Tania’s final days were full of inflection and celebration of her life and her children and this finale also deserves credit, for tying series seven together with a follow-up from ‘Dog Day Morning’. Since it was fascinating to know that Caleb’s family and life fell to pieces following his involvement in that robbery and well, now that this case is closed, all we can do is sit and wait for more and hopefully… series eight of this incredible show takes the time to do more of what it did here. Because this really was quite the unique episode, one that definitely shook things up in all the right ways. Until next year.

'The Brokenwood Mysteries' is streaming now on AcornTV.

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