Welcome all, to episode 3 of Undead Murder Farce! Apologies for the delay on this. Much like with Jujutsu Kaisen I was out at a concert until 4am and just wasn’t able to get this out on table. On a side note though, you all should go and check out Ok Goodnight and Challenger Deep. My music tastes aside though, lets dive into the episode!
Starting off, the most off-putting part of the episode was the start. Undead Murder Farce just completely ignores the cliffhanger we ended last episode on and skips us forward to a pleasant lunch with the family. And while the lunch was nice, once again Undead Murder Farce has some great direction and shot composition, it made for a very jarring introduction to the episode. I actually stopped and wondered where the hell we were, what about the scene we were just in prior, the half-finished conversation. It’s very similar to how jarring the ending of the last episode was as well, and leaves me wondering if this is going to be the norm for the series. I sincerely hope not, I think they are rough at best, and it’s not like they can’t give us good endings like they did this week. Only time will tell there I suppose.
On the positive side of things, the VAs continue to be absolutely fantastic. I know that I’ve been harping on about this since the show began, but seriously. Aya and Tsugaru just blow me away every single week. Their snappy dialogue, clever retorts, and natural chemistry. The way the giggle and chuckle at each others jokes, clearly having fun at the expense of all those around them. It’s just so great how little of a shit either of them give, yet how they still work to solve the mystery. It’s an interesting mix of confidence, bravado and nihilism of not caring what actually happens to themselves. Simply put, despite that fact that I’ve only known these two for 3 episodes now, they’ve quickly become my favorite leads of the season by a wide margin.
As for the episode itself, the murder mystery, this was another episode of figuring things out. Of interviewing the family, walking them and the audience through the steps, slowly narrowing down the list of suspects. Things like noticing that none of the vampires had wounded hands, meaning it couldn’t be any of them as simply holding the silver stake would scar them. Similarly it couldn’t be the Hunter in the woods, as he wasn’t anywhere near this place when the murder occurred. That of course leaves the human servants, the maid and butler, with one of them not having any sort of alibi. Personally though? I think that’s a bit to obvious. I’m leaning more towards this being a suicide then anything else. One where Hannah couldn’t live this life anymore and just chose to end it. That seems the most likely option at least.
What I liked the most about the whole process though was how as our leads were figuring out the family, they were figuring out our leads. As Aya prodded so did they, either defending themselves or casting doubt on them. Questioning their abilities or how seriously they were taking the case. In one instance the eldest son even threatened Tsugaru directly, commenting on how easily he could break his neck as well as his own strength. It was a nice reminder actually of just how dangerous the Vampires are, as until now Undead Murder Farce has played them more like humans than monsters. So scenes like this, or with the Father going all “King of the Monsters” on the Hunter, are show us just how dangerous this could be for our leads if they were to anger the family.
All in all I think this was a pretty solid episode for Undead Murder Farce. Some nice mystery, some danger, some setup for what is to come. I will admit, I’m sort of looking forward to when this one ends so we can get to some kind of larger mystery/plot, as I think that’s where the show will start to get really interesting. Give us something with lasting consequences that personally affects our leads, set them on the path to conflict with people/things that are more of a threat to them. Basically I’m looking forward to the introduction of a Moriarty to their Holmes. Not because this is bad, it’s not, but because I want to see what the show is like when it really gets it’s engines going.
The interruption in the six points divided four things you are being told to clarify the puzzle from two clues that you need to pick up yourself during the first episode. It doesn’t make sense to cover them until the big reveal.