Has the risk of ‘Death in Paradise’s second official spinoff paid off?
There’s a reason Death in Paradise is so enduringly popular. In the U.K., it brings a fair bit of sunshine into our homes during the darkest days of the year, the revolving cast is always loveable, and the cases are compelling enough to keep us on our toes. It’s no surprise, then, that the BBC wanted to build on Death in Paradise’s popularity, and the result is the second of two official spinoffs, Return to Paradise.
The first spinoff, of course, is the Kris Marshall-led Beyond Paradise, which follows the life of Death in Paradise’s second Detective Inspector, Humphrey Goodman, on English soil in the quaint seaside town of Shipton Abbott. Though it features fan-favorite Humphrey, his lady love Martha (Sally Bretton), and lovingly quirky side characters, the formula deviated significantly from Death in Paradise. Hardly any murders occur in Martha’s hometown, for example, forcing the brilliant DI Goodman to solve thefts, arson, and random break-ins instead. Beyond Paradise is an undeniably charming addition to the so-called “Paraverse,” but there was certainly room for more.
That’s where Return to Paradise comes in. The first season, now available in full in the U.K. on BBC iPlayer (new episodes air weekly on Fridays on BBC One), brings back the murders but promises to put its own spin on things, too. This is true, to a certain extent—for one, the new show takes place in Australia, far away from the fictional island of Saint Marie, and while the leading Detective Inspector is still a fish-out-of-water archetype, there’s a twist: she’s actually from Dolphin Cove, the idyllic small Australian coastal town, rather than being sent there to help the local constabulary.
Of course, as it turns out, they do need her help, but she needs their help in return. Detective Inspector Mackenzie Clarke (Anna Samson) is in a bit of trouble with the Metropolitan Police, you see, and her boss (a wonderfully familiar face) has suspended Clarke from active duty while the mess gets sorted out. Dolphin Cove could use a seasoned detective, though, as a murder case surprises the relatively safe community, so of course, in the end, she stays, living in her mother’s ramshackle beach cottage (there had to be some visual parallels, after all).
Is Return to Paradise worth the wait?
There was a bit of a risk in creating Return to Paradise, especially since the episodic formula so closely resembles its predecessor; there are murder cases aplenty, many of them involving the infamous locked-door mystery, and Mackenzie figures out the truth by staring at the crime board, after which she reveals the answers in front of all the suspects. It’s hard not to compare it to Death in Paradise, a show so beloved around the globe. And yet, Return to Paradise feels like a distinctly new offering, not least because a female detective is calling the shots this time around.
Death in Paradise has, famously, been led by a revolving door of white, middle-aged men. While each of these British detectives gave their all to the show and undoubtedly contributed to the series’ enduring popularity, there has always been something slightly … off about a white British male detective coming to a Caribbean island to lead their police force because somehow, none of the other local officers could ever truly become inspectors themselves. Of course, Death in Paradise’s upcoming 14th season looks to change all that, as Don Gilet will make his debut in the Death in Paradise 2024 Christmas special as DI Mervin Wilson, the first time a Black actor has taken on the leading role since the series premiered in 2011 (the rest of the cast has always been reflective of the fictional island’s local population, though).
In light of Death in Paradise’s casting history, Return to Paradise being led by a female character is a welcome breath of fresh air, too, and she isn’t a carbon copy of all the detectives who came before her. She feels much more complex, in fact, though her piercing stare and sullen pout do take some getting used to; this is a woman running away from her professional troubles only to be forced to revisit her personal ones, all the while re-acquainting herself with her hometown and awkwardly learning to work with new colleagues.
She’s brilliant, like all the other Paradise detectives, but in a more analytical, Sherlockian way, and she’s much more excited by the cases she’s involved in, too. She loves the mystery. In that sense, she reminds me most of Paradise’s first detective, DI Richard Poole (Ben Miller), but she’s completely her own character. She has a history with this community, even a romantic one, and there’s so much we have yet to learn about her. The murders aren’t the only mystery here, so is Mackenzie Clarke.
All in all, Return to Paradise is a worthy second spinoff. It builds off what makes Death in Paradise so beloved but makes sure not to replicate the formula too exactly. I can’t wait to discover more about Mackenzie Clarke, and once the show comes out in the States, I’m sure the rest of you will be just as intrigued by her, too.
(Return to Paradise season 1 will likely be released in North America in 2025, though it’s currently unclear if it will be available on BritBox or another service like Acorn TV).
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