Loveday Writing

The job of a season finale is to close off the season’s story arcs and establish new arcs for the next season (if there is one). My Life is Murder has always been self-contained with no season-long story arcs, however this finale is unique as it is the final part of the series’ first ever two-parter episode.

The episode kicks off with Harry giving Alexa the details of the case of the week, Ray’s death, except she is now the prime suspect. Alexa tells Harry that they both know that she didn’t kill Ray, despite evidence mounting against her, such as the broken golf club in the woods, which is believed to have caused the blunt force trauma to the head which killed him. Alexa tells Harry that the broken club isn’t the murder weapon as the user of the club threw a tantrum and broke it. Harry tells her that he has to officially interview her as a murder suspect at the police station.

With Alexa currently the prime suspect, Madison has to step in and investigate Ray’s murder, with Will assisting her at the Club. When Phoebe confronts Alexa in the Club parking lot, Alexa tells her that Ray apologised for killing Gary and she left. Later, Will tries to sweet talk Phoebe, but when the widows see Will and Alexa at the Club, they take Phoebe and leave. Later, Harry tells her that the broken golf club was ruled out as the murder weapon by forensics, however he has a search warrant for her house. Alexa leaves so the police can do their search, as she knows Harry is just doing his job.

Alexa leaves and sneaks into Phoebe’s garage where she finds that Ray was designing a custom golf ball finder, only to be caught in the act by the widows. She tells Harry to look for it as it would be the murder weapon, only for Harry to tell her that he’s been suspended. Alexa tells him that now he has been suspended, he can help her find the killer.

The next day, Madison calls Alexa to let her know that Donovan has gone to Australia to get away from Nadia, as he’s afraid he is next, and that he thinks being a widow is more glamorous than a divorcee, giving Nadia and Iris a motive. When Madison tries to talk to Nadia and Phoebe about Charlie’s death, Phoebe gets upset and walks out onto the Club’s balcony, Will finds her and offers to buy her a drink.

Later, Harry goes to Iris’ house to interview her, whilst Alexa sneaks in and snoops around. Alexa finds various university degrees hanging on the wall and a big red file in her desk. Alexa tells Harry that Iris’ husband had a PhD and Iris nearly got hers in linguistics and was offered a job in Japan, but she never took the job or got her PhD because her husband was diagnosed with prostate cancer. However, Iris loved her husband, which makes her different to the other widows.

Meanwhile back at the Club, Will and Phoebe are flirting on the balcony, when Ricardo asks Phoebe to reconsider his offer, which is revealed to be burying Ray on the golf course, as that would make it a cemetery and provide the Club with a huge tax write-off. Later, Madison and Reuben snoop around Ricardo’s office and find a rubber doorstop, which would have been used to wedge the sauna door shut, and a notebook which has notes on members. Madison shows Alexa the notes, which reveal that Iris stole one of the Club’s blankets and Charlie was behind in his membership fees.

Later, Alexa goes to the Club’s driving range to get Ricardo’s attention. When Alexa accuses him of both locking the sauna and cashing in on people dying, he tells her that he’s just trying to keep the Club afloat and mentions that the Club bought a new hyperbaric chamber through the insurance money after the explosion of the previous one. He tells her that members use the chamber with a woolly blanket to keep warm. Alexa asks him if she can take a blanket home, but promises to bring it back, and calls Madison to tell her to get herself invited to Iris’ house. Madison manages to get herself invited for a yoga session at Iris’ house. Madison doesn’t find the blanket, which Alexa hoped for.

Alexa then goes to the Club and confronts Iris with the blanket she borrowed. Alexa tells her (and the audience) that Iris stitched her late husband’s hearing aid into the blanket and put it in the hyperbaric chamber along with Charlie. Later, in the middle of the night, Alexa and Madison hear Chowder meowing outside and bring him inside.

The next day, Alexa watches Ray’s funeral from afar and Iris finds her, accusing her of being a dangerous woman. When Alexa tells Iris she doesn’t know how to read tarot cards, Iris disputes and invites her over for a card reading. When Alexa accuses Iris of her reading being on the nose, she also asks her if she used her tarot reading to convince Phoebe to take her on a European holiday.

Later, when Harry calls Alexa at home, she tells him that Iris asked the girls to order lunch for her, giving her the opportunity to set up the hyperbaric chamber for an explosion. Alexa then finds the golf ball finder in her garden.

Alexa goes to the Club and approaches Iris on her walk and tells her (and the audience) that Iris killed Charlie to spare Phoebe from having to nurse him, but Charlie also took away her fun by having Phoebe care for him, and that she killed Ray to frame Alexa. Alexa then tells Iris to explain how her DNA got under Chowder’s fingernails. After Iris tries to fight Alexa, she runs away and nearly runs off a cliff. To convince her to walk away from the edge, Alexa tells Iris that she didn’t let Gary’s death define her and the wretched times don’t last. Harry arrives, Iris walks away, and Alexa prompts him to arrest her.

Towards the end of the episode, Alexa invites Will to go to the beach with her, however he declines to enjoy his free trial membership at the Club and tells her Phoebe invited him on her European holiday.

The episode and season ends with Alexa, Harry, Madison and Reuben hanging out at the beach. Alexa then thanks them for standing by her, for better or worse, and they have fun in the ocean.

Overall, I felt that this was a solid conclusion to the two-parter. Iris was a good choice as the murderer as her motive could have been a misguided attempt to help a friend, but in reality was her trying to drag down Phoebe into her widow misery. I personally didn’t see Iris nearly running off a cliff coming (worst place to put a golf course if you ask me), it was a good way to briefly keep me on the edge of my seat. I also enjoyed seeing Madison and Will working together, as well as a slightly less serious Harry, thanks to his suspension. Although I personally don’t understand how Harry can be suspended because Alexa is a murder suspect as she works for the New Zealand Police Force, not just him. I also appreciated the exploration of Alexa’s past and grief, which shows us how far she has come as a character over the last four seasons.

Speaking of seasons, in terms of season four as a whole, there were a wide variety of cases to keep viewers entertained, and I appreciated that Reuben experienced some character development this season with some fascinating tidbits revealed about himself, as well as his increasing involvement in Alexa’s cases. I also appreciated the reappearance of Will and his continuing character growth as he simultaneously admits to his criminal past without shame, whilst helping Alexa and Madison solve crimes.

One glaring disappointing absence for me was that of Olive, especially as she wasn’t even mentioned by Will or Alexa when Will made his appearances, it’s almost as if she never existed. I can understand that sometimes actors just aren’t available, but inserting a line of dialogue about her and her absence couldn’t have hurt.

One noticeable pattern that developed over the course of the season was Alexa pointing out to each murderer that they always had other options. This pattern emerged more towards the end of the season, but it’s still an interesting observation nonetheless.

As the finale had Alexa revisit her grief from Gary’s death and even admit how far she has come since processing that grief and moving forward in her life with great friends by her side, I wouldn’t be surprised if this is where the series ends. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t want it to end, but I felt, if it wasn’t renewed, this finale is a good note to end on.

I enjoyed reviewing the fourth season of My Life is Murder and I hope there is another one to review in the future.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “It makes a change, hey? Me picking her up from the cop shop.” (Will to Madison on picking up Alexa after her police interview)
• “Don’t break anything and don’t let my cat out!” (Alexa to Harry when Harry tells her he has a search warrant for her house)
• “Innocent people do go down, it’s not unheard of.” “Any innocent people in particular?” “What? Me? No, no. Guilty as charged. Plus, some other stuff they never got me for.” (Will-Alexa-Will)