ABC’s ‘Whodunnit?’ review: A killer premiere

We have been crazy excited about the premiere of ABC’s new murder mystery reality show “Whodunnit?” since it felt like an opportunity to see the idea behind one of our favorite boards games (Clue) come to life. We’ve seen “Clue” as a a feature film starring Tim Curry (which we loved), but the idea of getting to watch this as a reality show each week is something we haven’t really seen before. It could either be completely brilliant or make us cry our disappointment away in a bottle of whiskey. So how was the premiere?

The premise of the game is that the butler, Giles, is hired by someone he does not know to lead the players in the game because his employer has something over him and that his life is at stake. This storyline is very similar to the film “Clue”, so right away our hope for the show started to dwindle… but then they brought out the first death, Sherri (who was electrocuted after crashing into a fish tank)  and it looked great even though the contestants (and us at home) knew it was faked.

Giles offers the contestants an opportunity to each investigate only one place to figure out who committed the murder and that’s either the crime scene, victims last know whereabouts or the morgue. The crime scene didn’t seem to give a lot of information, but the people that went to the morgue found out some real information. They found what they think is a bullet or a slug in the back of her neck and glass in her head and hair… the effects on the dead body and the detail put into this was top notch. The last known location people found that the door was forced open and they find note written on the shower wall that says “meet me at the fish tank have vital info for you.”

Afterwards people broke off into smaller groups and a few groups tried to push Adrianna out of their discussions because she rubs people the wrong way. Some people decide to throw fake information out there, mostly the people in the morgue. Giles then gives each person a key and riddle and some of the guests find a chest with a sling shot and a crow bar in it.

At the end the contestants speak directly to the killer and tell them exactly how they killed Sherri and who they suspect is the killer. Sasha got a message from the killer saying that she was going to be spared because she got the crime right. For the rest of the contestants they were handed envelopes either revealing that they are “spared” or in “Scared”. Don and Dante were the two that got “scared” cards so they are in trouble. So who was the next victim? It was Dante in what was a dramatic death, running through the house, on fire and landing in a pool. Who killed him? Tune in next week for the answer.

Over all we felt this was a fairly strong premiere as the show has a pretty strong cast of characters, and was fairly engaging with well executed deaths. We also love that this is a very social game and if you don’t make the right connections or alliances then you are not going to do well. We are not completely sold on Giles (the host) at this point and or the idea that whoever has the worst theory is the next victim chosen.

What did you think of the series premiere of “Whodunnit?” and are you hooked already or did it not meet your expectations? Leave us a comment and tell us what you thought of the first episode.

Photo: ABC