La Rochelle – As the opening episode of The Good Ship Murder begins, Jack Grayling (Shayne Ward) listens to his partner perform before saying they should close the show with that one tonight. After the intro, Beverley Carnell (Claire Sweeney) approaches Jack to ask if he should be rehearsing. She explains she is the face of the ship so it is important for her to set an example. Beverley informs Jack that his suit looks like it has been slept in. Nathan Graelish (Richard Pepper) is recorded while talking about the size and capacity of the ship. Captain Gregory Jameson (Vincent Ebrahim) welcomes First Officer Kate Woods (Catherine Tyldesley) aboard the ship and congratulates her on her promotion.

Jack speaks to Maureen Weaver (Karen Henthorn) about cruising. She learns that he is the ship’s performer. When she sees Brenda Donnelly and Tony Donnelly nearby, she decides to leave. Beverley Carnell speaks to Brenda (Charlie Hardwick) who reveals she got married to Tony (Nigel Betts). Beverley introduces Jack to them. Jamil Ah-Rashid (Zak Douglas) interrupts to confirm their reservation tomorrow. In private, Beverley tells Jack that Brenda didn’t waste much time since she just buried the last one 18 months ago. When she sees Nathan Graelish, she calls him a mystery shopper. She explains they’re employed by the head office to keep everyone on their toes. Heads will roll if their approval ratings drop.

Beverley wants Jack to befriend him while she figures out who paid for his booking. First Officer Kate Woods sets the destination as La Rochelle. Jack approaches Nathan to tell him the staff suspect him. Nathan claims he is just a ship stat nerd. They upload all their photos to a chartroom forum. They take a picture together. Jack interrupts Tony’s conversation with Kate to tell her she is needed on the bridge. As they walk away, Jack tells her he thought she needed rescuing. He offers her to get a drink after her shift. Kate believes that officers and ents never mix. Once she leaves, Jamil tells Jack that Kate is the captain’s protégé. He believes Kate is out of Jack’s league. Tony Donnelly finds a note outside his door. Jack approaches Maureen who says she is going on a cycling excursion.

As for Jack, he is going to head to the beach. Moments later, Jamil calls Jack to ask if he is in La Rochelle. Jack explains he is about to head to Ile de Re. Jamil tells him that Officer Woods is running there. Jack stops for a selfie. He runs into Kate moments later. Jack thinks they’re going to need a bigger boat if they plan on avoiding each other for the rest of summer. Seconds later, they learn that someone has died. They rush down to the scene where they find Maureen next to Nathan’s body. Jack says the victim has a blunt trauma wound to the back of his head. He tells Kate that there is no sign of Nathan’s phone or wallet. She soon learns that Jack used to be a copper who handled serious crimes. Jack finds a map of the pine woods in Nathan’s pocket. A bird hide is marked so they suspect Nathan was meeting someone.

Maureen only saw some walkers and a couple of cyclists. She also mentions that a pickup truck passed her on the lane, but she did not see the driver’s face. Jack approaches Captain Lebron to tell him Nathan likely knew his killer. Lebron asks him to find out what he can on the ship. Beverley is told about the discovery. She wants to tell the captain and keep a lid on this. Brenda rushes over to Beverley to tell her that Tony isn’t back from his bird-watching trip and he’s not answering his phone. Tony returns and immediately claims he got lost in the woods. Captain Jameson tells Kate that he is getting Piers de Vreese (Geoffrey Breton) caught up. The ship is being held in port. Piers believes they’ll be able to make up the lost time when they get back to sea. Kate suggests making an announcement to let the passengers know there will be a delay.

Jameson and Piers agree otherwise since they don’t want a mutiny on their hands. Kate visits Jack to talk to him about Nathan’s murder. The last thing she needs is a murder to contend with. Jack doesn’t see any harm in doing some digging. Once they agree to keep this between themselves, Kate says she’ll check in with him after her shift. Jamil and Jack check Nathan’s room to see if they can figure out who he was meeting. Jack thinks he finds BD for Brenda Donnelly in Nathan’s notebook and TD for Tony Donnelly. Jack finds a picture of a man whom Jamil recognizes as Pascal Lavigne. He used to work there as a deckhand a couple of years ago. He was sacked for stealing from the cabins. They find a card that suggests Nathan was a private investigator.

Jack tells Kate about it and that he asked Yuval to try to unlock Nathan’s laptop. Kate knows that Pascal was arrested for theft after stealing jewelry on the ship. He owns a fishing boat in La Rochelle harbor. They visit Pascal (Jean-Philippe Ricci) for a chat. He complains about being set up and spending 12 months in prison. When they tell him about Nathan, Pascal asks what that has to do with him. Jack notices his pickup and says a witness placed a similar vehicle near the scene of the crime. Pascal eventually claims he was digging for razor clams that he sells in restaurants. He insists he doesn’t know who Nathan is. As they leave, Kate says he is drying about the calms because they have to be dug up at low tide. She wonders if Nathan saw something he shouldn’t have.

While cleaning Donnelly’s room, Jamil finds the note and what appears to be heart supplements. Jack finds Tony getting drunk and playing casino games. He asks him about the note. Tony claims he didn’t know who he was meeting because the note was anonymous. Tony admits he recognized the lad from the ship. Nathan told him he was there on behalf of a client, Ray Weaver’s sister. Tony explains that Ray was Brenda’s second husband. Ray’s sister got it in her head that Brenda killed him. Nathan claimed to have the residence to prove it. Ray supposedly slipped on the step leading down to the sundeck. It happened on the anniversary cruise. Tony thought it was strange that she wanted to get back on board, but she said she needed closure. He denies Brenda had anything to do with Ray’s death and insists he only warned off Nathan.

Tony didn’t share any of this with Brenda. Jack catches up with Kate to tell her what he just learned. Kate believes Ray Weaver’s sister is somewhere on the ship. Jack remembers seeing that Maureen’s last name is Weaver. When he confronts her, he finds her trying to attack Brenda. She insists someone needed to warn Tony that he was going to be next. Maureen couldn’t confront them on the ship because Brenda got a restraining order. Nathan found out that Brenda had taken out a life insurance policy a few weeks before Ray was killed. The insurers paid out half a million. Although they claimed Ray was drunk, Maureen knew he barely touched alcohol. Maureen goes on to say that Brenda showed no remorse at the funeral. She doesn’t remember Nathan mentioning Pascal although Nathan said he was onto something big.

As Maureen is escorted to her cabin, she pleads with them to look into Brenda. Jack goes to the clinic where he tells Brenda that Maureen has been confined to her cabin. He knows what happened to Ray. Brenda says Maureen had a bit of a breakdown after Ray passed. She admits she wasn’t there when Ray fell. Ray had been having some issues and was set to file for bankruptcy. His health was also suffering. When Tony arrives, Brenda says it’ll take more than Maureen to ruin her holiday. Once they’re alone, Dr. Sharon Tan (Yuna Shin) tells Jack that they called a code Alpha or male fatality on the night of Ray’s death. Witnesses confirmed he was intoxicated. The PM test showed high levels of ethanol in his bloodstream. There was something that troubled her.

Sharon explains Ray dropped into the medical center the previous afternoon complaining of feeling unwell. She prescribed seasickness pills and told him to get some rest. Later, Kate tells Jack that police have charged Pascal with murder. They found traces of blood on his clothes that matches Nathan’s blood. Pascal was picked up in a bar with an envelope full of cash as if he was going to flee. Piers says they’ve been given permission to sail. However, Jack and Kate believe there is more to the murder case. Once they’re alone, Jack tells Kate he didn’t realize she and Piers were together. She tells him he tends to miss things despite being an ex-copper. Later, Jack tells Jamil he doesn’t feel like singing tonight. Jamil informs him that Yuval finally cracked Nathan’s laptop. On the laptop, Jack finds police reports and a picture of Pascal meeting a woman who looks like Brenda.

Tony talks to Brenda about the insurance policy she took out for him. He suggests he might be worth more to her dead than alive. Brenda thinks they should try the Jacuzzi so she asks him to get it fired up. Jack and Kate check out the stairs where Ray supposedly fell. Jack finds it odd that Brenda had already gone to bed. He theorized that Pascal could’ve killed Ray for her. He believes they were going to do the same thing to Tony. Jack goes on to say Pascal killed the wrong man because they were wearing the same baseball caps. They go looking for Tony and find him drowning in the Jacuzzi. They manage to get to him and save him. Jack sits down with Brenda and says an overdose of amlodipine. He says Ray was suffering the effects of a slow-release poison on the night of his death.

Kate says they’ve got Pascal in custody. He has named her as an accessory to the two murders. Brenda claims the problem with men is that they always end up letting you down. Later, Jack learns that Brenda will be formally charged in the morning. Kate wants to make sure he knows he wouldn’t have solved the case without her. She still thinks he is self-centered. Jack asks if she wants him to save her a front-row seat. Kate says another time maybe. Once Jack takes the stage, he sings The Monkees Daydream Believer.

 

The Good Ship Murder Review

The opening episode of The Good Ship Murder was a mostly enjoyable experience that never really seemed to take off. The episode saw singer Jack Grayling team up with First Officer Kate Woods and Jamil to investigate a possible murder. Together, they discovered that Brenda Donnelly had killed her former husband and was preparing to kill her current husband with help from Pascal. Based on the first episode only, this obviously isn’t meant to be taken literally because some scenes were unrealistic.

For instance, Jack pulled out the map from Nathan’s pocket and contaminated evidence despite being a former cop. It is also unreasonable to believe they would’ve found Tony with just seconds to spare. On the other hand, The Good Ship Murder tries to be cheerful yet it doesn’t match the charm of the recently released Beyond Paradise. Nevertheless, The Good Ship Murder has the potential to improve and become more charming as the story progresses and the characters develop.

The show is very easy to watch and digest because it requires so little from the viewer. It may not leave a lasting impact, but The Good Ship Murder is a decent way to spend an hour. The opening episode scores a 6 out of 10. Recaps of The Good Ship Murder will be available on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent site at this link.

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