When a light-mystery show gets to the stage that Harry Wild has, which is beyond its third season, the show becomes as much about the main detectives and the supporting characters around him or her as it is about the mysteries. It’s especially that way when the main detective is played by an actor as magnetic as Jane Seymour.
Opening Shot: A man watches a pub as two couples leave. As he follows one couple walking the dark streets of Dublin, he keeps flipping a coin. He eventually goes to the home of one of the members of the couple, flips a coin, and ends up bashing that person in the back of the head, leaving a coin on the lips of the person he just murdered.
The Gist: Harriet “Harry” Wild (Jane Seymour) is teaching her 18-year-old investigative partner Fergus Reid (Rohan Nedd) how to drive, and having a tough time doing it, as Fergus is way too cautious. When they get back to Harry’s place, they’re greeted by Harry’s son Charlie (Kevin Ryan), an Inspector for the Garda — the Irish police.
Charlie has a thick case file with him; it is notes on seven murders around Ireland, all unsolved. The victims are different ages and genders, the locations are random, and the methods of death are different. The only thing they all have in common is that a coin was left on the mouths of the bodies. Under pressure from the higher-ups to close out this serial killer case, and knowing how good Harry and Fergus are at finding things his colleagues didn’t, he asks them to look at the files and come up with some theories. Because this is on the down low, though, he tells them not to go out and investigate anything.
Of course, Harry ignores all of that. She and Fergus start with the neighbor of the second victim, who told the Guards that he saw her getting out of a cab the night she was killed over a year prior. Through some questioning and a little poking around, though, Fergus finds out that the neighbor was filming the victim. Whether or not he gets in trouble for that is immaterial, though, as it now gives them some video evidence to examine.
This then leads them to give Charlie a not-so-anonymous tip about the cab, which leads to a driver who served a manslaughter sentence. Charlie thinks he’s the guy, but needs physical evidence. Harry, on the other hand, doesn’t think things add up, and she and Fergus are determined to find out what the cab driver saw that night.
What Shows Will It Remind You Of? Like we mentioned during our first-season review, Harry Wild is in the light-mystery category of other Acorn shows like Agatha Raisin. Of course, all of those shows are likely inspired by (and measured against) older mystery series like Murder, She Wrote.
Our Take: Created by David Logan, Harry Wild still rides on Seymour’s copious charms four seasons in. At this point, with her working relationship with Fergus well-established, we also like the grandparental/mentor relationship Harry has with him, as well. It’s also funny that her police inspector son keeps going to her for help and she keeps finding things the Guards missed.
The mysteries are still pretty basic, solved as much via coincidences as they are with old-fashioned sleuthing and Harry’s knowledge of literature, the subject she taught in her old job. In the first episode of the fourth season, for instance, the way Harry and Fergus get led to the serial killer feels way too convenient and easy, and it showed huge gaps in the Guards’ investigation that would border on malpractice. But, because this is more about Harry and her relationships and less about the mysteries, those details don’t matter as much.
In fact, the case in this first episode may carry through the season, even as Harry and Fergus — with an assist by Harry’s granddaughter/Fergus’ girlfriend Lola (Rose O’Neill) — keep solving other murders. Still, given how much time is spent on Harry trying to figure out where her current love, Harry Benedict (Lochlann O’Mearáin) is doing on what seems like a world-hopping investigation, and Charlie dealing with finding that two people under his command are dating each other, it seems like the mysteries aren’t given the attention to detail they deserve.
Sex and Skin: None.
Parting Shot: After putting the serial killer away, Harry speculates the case might not be over. She then finds a coin on the ground at her front door.
Sleeper Star: We bet Rose O’Neill, as Harry’s granddaughter Lola, will get more involved in the investigations as the season goes along.
Most Pilot-y Line: After Charlie expresses surprise that Harry knows that his two detectives have been dating for more than a year, Harry snarkily replies, “And you call yourself a detective?” Way to be supportive of your son, Harry.
Our Call: STREAM IT. Harry Wild now has the “lived in” feel of a veteran mystery series, but it still depends heavily on Seymour’s dynamic performance more than the mysteries and side characters who have actual realistic personalities.
Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.