I originally came in to write a response that "All Cop and Detective Shows are Colonialist!" The Police are always right and just, except for a few bad apples; prosecuting attorneys agonize over if they're bending the law or not; and defensive attorneys are almost always slick-talking slimeballs any more! As somebody who grew up on PERRY MASON reruns and OWEN MARSHALL, COUNSELOR-AT-LAW, it's...baffling to see how few shows any more concern themselves with defense counsel as the good guys.
The more liberal-ish shows backpedal from outright bigotry by making a lot of the villains non-denominational Straight White Men trying to pin the blame on minority actors: A two-part episode of CASTLE involved Homeland Security, vaguely menacing Syrians, and a militia group comprised of ex-Special Forces types—which is far too much weight for a romantic comedy posing as a police procedural to reasonably carry. But in the end, New York City was saved from a nuclear explosion by troubled-but-hot Det. Kate Beckett who fights crime in high heels(!), and horny, goofy mystery writer Richard Castle who's in love with her literally yanking all the wires out of the bomb at once to defuse it! (Just remember, kiddies—Nathan Fillion's Plot Armor makes William Shatner's look anemic by comparison.)
But in the end, Cops are There to Protect You, Murder Will Out, and The System is Always Right—LAW & ORDER in all its incarnations has been drilling that into our heads for almost three decades now. I realize a part of this is because television drama requires the heroes to prevail in one sense or another all the time, but that narrative need also comes with culture baggage attached. In DEATH IN PARADISE's case, that baggage is in the form of a White Fish-Out-of-Water Detective Inspector from Scotland Yard....
I always felt a little weird about that colonial dynamic. I never paused the show to ask myself about it though.
I originally came in to write a response that "All Cop and Detective Shows are Colonialist!" The Police are always right and just, except for a few bad apples; prosecuting attorneys agonize over if they're bending the law or not; and defensive attorneys are almost always slick-talking slimeballs any more! As somebody who grew up on PERRY MASON reruns and OWEN MARSHALL, COUNSELOR-AT-LAW, it's...baffling to see how few shows any more concern themselves with defense counsel as the good guys.
The more liberal-ish shows backpedal from outright bigotry by making a lot of the villains non-denominational Straight White Men trying to pin the blame on minority actors: A two-part episode of CASTLE involved Homeland Security, vaguely menacing Syrians, and a militia group comprised of ex-Special Forces types—which is far too much weight for a romantic comedy posing as a police procedural to reasonably carry. But in the end, New York City was saved from a nuclear explosion by troubled-but-hot Det. Kate Beckett who fights crime in high heels(!), and horny, goofy mystery writer Richard Castle who's in love with her literally yanking all the wires out of the bomb at once to defuse it! (Just remember, kiddies—Nathan Fillion's Plot Armor makes William Shatner's look anemic by comparison.)
But in the end, Cops are There to Protect You, Murder Will Out, and The System is Always Right—LAW & ORDER in all its incarnations has been drilling that into our heads for almost three decades now. I realize a part of this is because television drama requires the heroes to prevail in one sense or another all the time, but that narrative need also comes with culture baggage attached. In DEATH IN PARADISE's case, that baggage is in the form of a White Fish-Out-of-Water Detective Inspector from Scotland Yard....