ABC’s Whodunnit? Mysteriously Intriguing

In ABC’s new reality show Whodunnit? 13 contestants showed up in a mansion, and right from the start, it was unclear what to believe.

They all claimed they signed up for a mystery-solving competition without knowing the type of mysteries they would be solving.

They introduced themselves, and many tried to hide what they do for a living, including Don, an ex-homicide detective who claimed to be a football coach, a lie that no one believed.

During the first mixer, Sheri, a cheerleader–who didn’t know a single cheer when asked to show one–dropped a champagne glass supposedly by accident.

It seemed fishy, however, because there was a close-up shot of the glass breaking, something that the cameras wouldn’t have caught if the glass dropping had actually been an accident.

When the creepy butler, Giles, suggested that everybody settle their things in their rooms and come back later to learn the nature of the game they would be playing, all the contestants split up.

A loud crash brought everyone back to the main lobby, where the large fish tank had broken, with the faux-cheerleader’s body convulsing on the ground beside flopping fish (who I dearly hope were fake) because of the live wire laying in the fish water.

The contestants were shocked and scared, or at least pretended to be, as they were ushered into the other room and told about their purpose in the mansion–to stay alive long enough to discover which among them was the murderer.

This is where it got a little creepy. The killer sent them a message that began, “Hello, Mortals,” and explained the set up of the show to which ex-beauty queen, Cris later said “Greetings, Sociopath.”

They could choose between viewing the crime scene, the victim’s last known whereabouts, and the morgue to view the body in order to get clues to solve the crime. Some of them teamed up to compare notes later, while others tried to go to the same place as people they trusted to get the best clues from being there.

In the morgue, the sleuths examined the body, which appeared to be Sheri who I’m guessing had to just stay as still as possible and pretend she was dead. They noticed that the victim had something like a musket ball in the back of her neck. But there hadn’t been a gunshot sound.

In the last known whereabouts, the contestants found a message written on the bathroom mirror that they discovered using steam that had told the victim to go down to the fish tank, and in the crime scene, they figured out the victim hadn’t fallen from above the banister, like many people had originally guessed.

Then the sleuths had lunch, tried to get information from other people, but didn’t know who to trust. One woman, Adrianna, a crime reporter, took the lead a couple times and was a bit pushy, which caught people’s suspicions early on, so no one wanted to include her on their discussions. This, to me, meant she definitely is not the killer, because she’s too conspicuous. One man, Kam, tried to make an alliance with a couple other men, which didn’t pan out when Geno didn’t share all his information.

They were then given a riddle to find a last final clue, keys with the number 13:17 on one side, and two crowns on the other. While some contestants searched for clocks and chests to open, others found a Bible. Ronnie, a bounty hunter, figured out the clue was in Second Kings, which lead them to a window where a pane was knocked out, that overlooked the lawn with a chest where a slingshot and crow bar were hidden.

While most people had followed Ronnie’s lead, a couple missed the final clue, and when the contestants had to individually give their statement and guess at who the killer is, the ones who didn’t know about the sling shot, Lindsey, Dontae, and Don, were way off in their guess.

At dinner that night, Giles handed out cards that said either “spared” or “scared,” and Dontae and Don got the “scared” cards. All the sleuths were given pajamas and the promise of a pajama brunch in the morning, but one of them wouldn’t survive the night. In fact, when a fire alarm went off at 4 am, they soon realized the alarm was set off by the contestant who was going home, and the next murder victim, Dontae who ran out of the house on fire and extinguished himself in the pool.

This show is interesting because you get to solve the murder along with the contestants, and you don’t know who to trust. From the very beginning, the contestants lied about who they were, and you get the impression that anything could be fake, or anything could be real. The murders look eerily real, and the contestants who die must be good actors, which makes it hard to believe they didn’t know what type of show they were signed up for. It’s hard to tell who is in on it, and who is in the dark.

They also all act as if they are really fighting for their lives, and that people really are dying. Only once did someone acknowledge that the death wasn’t real. Because of this, the show actually has a bit of a creepy edge to it, but it’ll be interesting to find out how the show progresses, and who dun what.

My early guess is the sweet flight attendant, Melina, who seems to get an awful lot of screen time and supposedly doesn’t have any investigating background skills.

Who do you think is the murderer? Let me know what you think of ABC’s Whodunnit? in the comments!

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