Death and Other Details Season 1 Episode 5 Review: Exquisite

Death and Other Details Season 1 Episode 5, “Exquisite,” gives viewers a chance to stretch their legs and visit shore while also adding more clues to the mystery.

With Imogene in Malta with Sunil, it’s Leila teaming up with Rufus this time. Her revelations about her investigation into Viktor Sams sheds a whole new light on the character and you better understand who she was before the accident.

You’ll feel even more sympathetic for her learning that her paranoia is all real and Viktor Sams did try to kill her for speaking to a source. Pardis Saremi deserves credit for toeing the line so carefully in her performance as Leila that you were never really sure whether to believe her until now.

The whole thing might seem a little too Bond villain (really, he’s powerful enough to infiltrate the NSA?) but it’s still the best thing Death and Other Details has going for it. It’s also a good way to bring characters like Teddy more into the fold as she tries to get Winnie to come to her senses and reveal who she’s working for.

If we can’t get the most well-rounded, interesting characters then at least we get a good mystery to solve with them.

The episode (written by Jess Kimball Leslie and directed by Yangzom Brauen) still suffers from Death and Other Details‘ biggest fatal flaw, which is the bloated supporting cast.

Did I need any scenes with Tripp? No. Do I keep forgetting Tripp’s name until someone else on the show says it? Yes.

Not to mention Lawrence Collier apparently only shows up long enough to berate his children then disappears back into the shadows. He better be hiding something good otherwise what is the point of spending runtime on him? 

Between the business deal and murder investigation, there is just too much going on for a dozen other subplots. Maybe some of these subplots, like the governor’s blackmail, will eventually pay off but as for now they just feel like filler in a show that’s already stuffed full.

The only reason I give Anna and Leila’s marital drama a pass is because both characters are integral to the main plot. Anna has always treated her with some condescension in the season but now it feels even more cruel to watch knowing the truth about Leila’s accident. Get that divorce girl!

By the end of the episode the World’s Greatest Detective finally earns his title by connecting the maps on the ship to the testimony of one of Viktor Sams’s victims. A few chops of the axe later they discover a hidden room where there is a computer server set up to run his whole operation.

This leaves two major questions. Who else is working with Sams? And relatedly, does the owner of this ship know that he’s secretly running his operation from the ship?

If Sunil cares as much about the details of his vessel as he claims to it would be pretty hard to miss a secret room being set up. The fact he tells Imogene he’s broke raises more suspicion because it means he’s vulnerable to bribery.

I hope this isn’t the case because Imogene having two love interests who aren’t who they say they are is certainly a downer. Especially after we get a little bit of romance between them after their excursion to Malta.

Then again, the show doesn’t seem to care that much about Imogene (or any of its characters) so I wouldn’t be surprised if it dumps more trauma on her. Let’s hope I’m wrong.

What did you think of this episode of Death and Other Details? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Death and Other Details airs Tuesdays on Hulu.

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