Return to Paradise Season 2 review: head-scratching twisty TV

If you’ve even glanced at the ABC at any point during the last decade or so, then you’ve seen Death in Paradise.

You know the drill: on a gorgeous tropical island one dour UK copper after another finds themself assigned to be the local fish out of water, looking firmly out of place to varying extents as they work with local law to solve a non-stop run of convoluted murders that seem to have no impact whatsoever on the island’s reputation as a holiday destination.

It’s a rock-solid set-up for a mystery series that can run forever; so why is the Australian version nothing like that?

Forget the fish out of water element. Here Detective Sergeant Mackenzie ‘Mack’ Clarke (Anna Samson) is returning to her home town rather than trying to figure out somewhere new. In fact, the producers like that angle so much they’ve used it twice: Season 2 begins with her back in Dolphin Cove yet again, having given up the chance to take back her old job in the UK for the possibility of reuniting with former love and local forensic pathologist Glenn (Tai Hara).

That’s also new, by the way; one of the strengths of Death in Paradise is the way it pushes pretty much all the personal subplots into the weeds in favour of serving up fresh murders each week. If someone starts showing signs of a personal life, that means they’re on the way out; with Return to Paradise, it’s a core part of the premise.

Return to Paradise: where’s the island?

The result is a series that may have Paradise in the title, but in its first season it often felt closer to any number of other local crime series where the lead returns home to a small town where they no longer fit in only to discover the embers of true love still flickering and a bunch of crimes going on. It’s not even set on an island!

One thing this series does have going for it is Anna Samson. As Mack, she’s both on the ball when it comes to solving crime, and in over her head when it comes to everything else. It’s a familiar combination, and not just from Death in Paradise, but it’s a tricky one to successfully pull off. Even when Mack is struggling – with dating, with friendships, with human emotions in general – Samson makes it look easy.

Watch the Return to Paradise Season 2 trailer.

Another area where this version flips the franchise script is with Mack’s offsider. The traditional take is a local cop who’s supportive, has the local knowledge, and occasionally has a little chemistry with the lead as a bonus. Here we get UK expat Detective Senior Constable Colin Cartwright (Lloyd Griffith), who might be good at his job and a decent (if a bit stuffy at times) guy, but still wishes Mack would shuffle back to her London gig so he could take her job.

The twist here is that he’s more of a comedy character than the usual Paradise offsider. He’s still good at his job but he’s also a bit of a stickler, whereas Mack gets to go on instinct. Griffith himself is a charmer and the dynamic works well (even if the characters sometimes don’t), locking in the light tone the franchise requires.

Return to Paradise: stand-alone murders

But none of that would matter in the slightest if the mysteries weren’t any good. Each episode is built around a stand-alone murder – the ‘previously on’ clips that start each episode are entirely of the ongoing saga around Mack’s struggle to move on as Glenn’s marriage to surf club manager Daisy (Andrea Demetriades) looms.

Each week someone figures out a way to murder someone that produces a long list of suspects – and if the murder itself seems impossible (poisonings, locked rooms, and deaths where every suspect has an unbreakable alibi are commonplace), so much the better.

The mystery pretty much plays fair with the audience: if you pay close attention, keep track of all the clues, and refuse to rule out the most unlikely explanations, it’s possible to solve the puzzle before Mack brings everyone together to do the big reveal and throw the killer in jail.

Return to Paradise: all-new cast of suspects

The need for an all-new cast of suspects each week provides plenty of opportunity for familiar faces to show up and ham it up: episode two alone features Justine Clarke, Tim Rodgers and Zoe Carides. Just to underline the series’ light touch, there’s a number of familiar comedy faces across this season, including Roz Hammond, Annie Maynard, Susie Youssef, and Frankie McNair. Even Ardal O’Hanlon, one-time Death in Paradise lead and Mack’s former boss, turns up again in the first episode back.

It’s debatable whether the will they or won’t they subplot between Mack and Glenn adds much to the series. It’s possible to argue both sides when it comes to having Mack being an outcast in her own home rather than going with the usual fish out of water angle.

But the whodunnits are always head-scratchers with plenty of twists, and that’s more than enough to get Return to Paradise over the line.

Though the real mystery is, what kind of small town paradise has at least six brutal murders a year?

Return to Paradise starts Saturday 15 November at 7.30pm with new episodes airing weekly and the complete series available to stream on ABC iView.

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