Written by John Edward Betancourt Caution: This article contains spoilers for Episodes Two and Three of ‘Ultra City Smiths’. It is definitely safe to say that crime/noir stories are as popular as they come. For not only do they dominate the airwaves, but podcasts and novels feature a great deal of these types of stories as well. So many in fact, that some might be intimidated by the bevy of detective themed stories at their fingertips. Which does indeed beg an important question, in that… with so many crime/noir stories on the market, how does one find the best of the best? And thankfully there is an easy way to determine that. For the best of these stories feature several key elements. Such as a detective/investigator that is unique, the kind whose quirks and abilities captivate the audience in a dynamic manner and the best of these tales also move the case along at a brisk pace and are full of stunning surprises. That way, the audience is consistently engaged and curious from beginning to end and the story is offering more than the average pulp paperback or weekly serial and it just so happens that AMC, has a series on its hands that is accomplishing all those goals. For the next two episodes of Ultra City Smiths puts a checkmark in all of those boxes and that makes ‘The King of the Night’ and ‘Hot Clues’ quite the entertaining and engaging tales. The kind that informs us that this case is going to be something quite special… but not before the second chapter took the time to establish that Detective Mills is actually quite the gumshoe. Because when we catch up with him in Episode Two, he is putting all of his efforts into retracing the steps of the now deceased Christopher K. Smith, in order to figure out how this heinous crime has come to fruition and that leads to some stunning and fun moments. Because nothing escapes Mills’ keen eye and because of that, he is quickly able to piece together what Smith’s last day on earth looked like, to the point where Mills bears witness to every single stop that Smith made on CCTV and every conversation that he had with a seemingly random set of individuals and he also finds it quite odd, that Smith’s family has had little to say upon the matter. Which in turn leads to the fun in question… since it brings, he and Detective Johnson face to face with Smith’s eccentric, nightclub, and dance loving son; Donovan ‘The King of the Night’ Smith. Who refuses to talk to the cops about his dad and the situation, until a dance off takes place. But once we get past that particularly hilarious moment, a switch seemingly flips in Detective Mills’ mind, and he starts to wonder if by chance… the family knows more than they are leading on and digger deeper in regard to that… brings about quite the revelation. For it turns out, that every single person Smith spoke to or called on that fateful day, was a relative, including Detective Johnson and well… that particular twist only deepens the mystery and engages the viewer, since now we are quite curious to know what Smith said to the various members of his giant family and how that and his family, relates to his death and that really was quite the brilliant surprise to say the least, since it opens up the list of suspects and in true noir fashion… ups the ante danger wise as well. Because shortly after Mills determines that he is dealing with no less than eight suspects, all of whom could have various motives for bringing down the last great hope in this sullied town, other surprising parties take notice of the progress he’s making and make fascinating moves to potentially derail the case. Specifically… the current Mayor of this cesspool and after a quick meeting with Mills’ boss, quite the change is made to the team. In that, Johnson is pulled from the case, for obvious reasons… since family can’t work on a case that involves a family member. But rather than put another qualified gumshoe on the trail, Mills is assigned to the most distracted detective on the force, a man named Nico Onasis. Whose desire to basically bed everyone within his sight, tends to motivate him to forget about his work and the case at hand. But the bad parties in Ultra City might have made the decision to assign him to the case on the wrong day. Because shortly before Nico and Mills team up, Nico makes the call to finally settle down and think about the future… and in doing so, he’s suddenly keen to what’s happening and eager to explore the clues and that is indeed leading both he and Mills toward some answers, especially after finding the bullet casing that took Smith’s life. If anything, that is the perfect way to end these two episodes. Because it is the culmination of every element we’ve discussed. Since these stories do indeed offer up a quirky detective that loves limes and scotch and sees all, plus they move the case along at a near break-neck manner since Mills and Nico are quickly moving toward resolution and of course… both of these stories were filled to the brim with big surprises, since no one expected the mayor to be this scuzzy or to learn that Smith had such a powerfully large family roaming about the city and well, that’s how you suck an audience in and compel us to continue the journey. Because now we are dying to know how this family came to be so large and of course who killed Smith and well… the only way to earn those answers is to forge ahead and it will be quite interesting to see where this fascinating story takes us in the weeks to come. Until next time.
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