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MISTLETOE MURDERS: Episodes 1.1 and 1.2

"A Compelling Christmas Mystery"

Content: +3 Some minor questionable elements. (Media-wisdom is suggested to discuss.)
Entertainment Quality:
NoneLightModerateHeavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

MISTLETOE MURDERS is a holiday mystery series on Hallmark. The first two episodes follow Emily Lane as she attempts to help her friend who has been accused of murdering her fiancé. Using skills from her mysterious past, Emily investigates herself and works to bring the actual murderer to justice.

The first two episodes of season one of MISTLETOE MURDERS has a high production value, with an engaging, well-written plot that keeps viewers guessing until the end. The series features excellent performances from its lead cast as well. MISTLETOE MURDERS has a moral worldview, emphasizing doing the right thing and helping friends, but Emily often lies to achieve her goals. There are also some brief action violence scenes, so MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger viewers.

Content:

(B, VV, M):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:
A light moral worldview, as the main character is focused on doing the right thing and getting justice for her wrongfully-accused friend; however, she’ll do anything to achieve her goal, i.e. lie, break into buildings, manipulate people/conversations to get information. It contains a strong emphasis on family, as Detective Sam Wilner, a single father, prioritizes spending time with his daughter, as well as being a good friend, ex. Emily accompanies Anna to the hospital after her father’s poisoning, as she doesn’t want her to be alone;

Foul Language:
None;

Violence:
One character threatens another with a pitchfork, a character falls through a barn loft floor and is knocked unconscious, two characters are poisoned, but everything happens off-screen, and the murdered character’s body is never shown;

Sex:
No sex;

Nudity:
No nudit;y

Alcohol Use:
None;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:
None; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:
Emily lies throughout the first two episodes, but always in service of the greater good of clearing her friend’s name, she breaks into buildings, one character is pregnant and has been lying to her boyfriend, telling him that he is the father; however, she reveals the truth and he forgives her, one character is shown to have a drinking problem and a serious gambling addiction, another character blackmails somebody to get money to pay off a debt

More Detail:

MISTLETOE MURDERS is a holiday mystery series on Hallmark that follows Emily Lane, a new face in her small town — with a mysterious past she’s reluctant to share. After a friend is accused of murdering her fiancé, Emily steps in as an amateur sleuth to find the murderer before they strike again.

The first episode of MISTLETOE MURDERS introduces Emily Lane, a Christmas shop owner in the small town of Fletcher’s Grove. Everyone in town is getting ready for the holiday season until Marcus, a bank employee and fiancé to Emily’s friend June, is found dead on a local Christmas tree farm.

Emily is pulled into the investigation after a cookie wrapper from her store is found by the body, and she starts sleuthing, using skills she picked up in her mysterious past. Emily talks to various townspeople, trying to put together what happened, but her investigation takes on more urgency after June is arrested by Detective Sam Wilner for Marcus’ murder.

After breaking into Marcus’ house to look for clues, Emily uncovers a flash drive with Marcus’ work from the bank — including a paper that says Marcus recently bought the Christmas tree farm where he later died. Emily speaks to one of Marcus’ co-workers, who shares that Marcus was acting strangely before he died, quitting his job and withdrawing all his savings. She heads to the Christmas tree farm to talk with Gordon, who still owns the property now that Marcus is dead. Just before she’s about to leave, she discovers Gordon unconscious — he has been poisoned, just like Marcus was.

The second episode picks up right where the first left off. The police are investigating Gordon’s poisoning after he’s rushed to the hospital. Emily continues to investigate and learns that Anna is to get the farm when Gordon retires—a plan that wouldn’t have come to fruition if the sale of the farm had gone through.

Emily meets with Ray, a furniture salesman with underworld connections, who informs her that Gordon recently paid his gambling debts. Her investigation stalls until she meets with Marcus’ ex, Lizzie. Lizzie reveals she was being blackmailed, and Marcus was helping her, which is why he was in the woods the night he was killed. Emily convinces her to tell the police, which exonerates June.

Emily returns to the farm and confronts Anna about her father’s gambling debts. Anna reveals she was the blackmailer to pay off the debts but denies killing Marcus. When Emily goes to leave, she decides to investigate the barn and discovers that Rowan, an employee, has been living there. He catches her and, after falling through the barn loft floor and being knocked unconscious, ties her up. The murderer is soon revealed.

MISTLETOE MURDERS is a very entertaining mystery series with an intriguing plot and excellent performances from its cast. The first two episodes center around a murder and the well-written mystery will keep viewers guessing until the very end.

Overall, MISTLETOE MURDERS has a moral worldview. Emily is dedicated to doing the right thing, ensuring the guilty party is brought to justice, and saving her friend from being wrongly imprisoned. However, throughout the first two episodes, she lies to many people to get information and frequently breaks into buildings to find clues. Despite centering around a murder, MISTLETOE MURDERS features no real violence, but there are some scary action scenes, so MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for younger viewers.



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