Mind the gap

So having watched a couple more episodes of Unriddle, I have to say that while the story looked compelling in the beginning, the series is undermined by murder investigations that are riddled (there’s that word again) with gaps.

Example #1:

So psychopath Shaun Chen believes that he caused the death of his tutor by paying off the boyfriend to leave her. And because of that he goes on a killing spree to assuage his guilt. And it is only after killing so many women that he discovers that the boyfriend didn’t even cash his cheque. And how did he know this? Because the police told him. Now wouldn’t all that psychosis have been avoided if he had only checked his bank statement?

So what is the moral of the story here? When you write a cheque, make sure you check that it’s been cashed before killing girls with moles.

Example #2:

Psychopath Shaun Chen has a gun. The police know he has a gun. But do they arrest him for that? Of course not silly. Otherwise where’s the story? Where’s the drama? Where’s the sense in that? Well, forgive me if I am mistaken but isn’t possession of a firearm against the law in Singapore? Isn’t that alone grounds for arrest? Wouldn’t it make more sense to arrest him for possession, let him fester in jail where he can’t kill more women with molds, gather evidence and then slap on an additional charge of multiple murders?

Well, apparently not because in the world of Mediacorp logic, it makes much more sense to let an armed suspect go on his merry way so he can kill more people until they find enough evidence to arrest him for murder.

In fact, it’s only when the police find a bullet that the gun suddenly becomes important. Why? Because they want to match the bullet to the gun. Not because it’s illegal to have a gun in the first place. Even so, they have to force him into using it by holding him at gunpoint. Only then can they take possession of the gun.

Er…people, ever heard of a warrant? I hear it’s more effective than a standoff in public.

Example #3

Rui En the supercop possesses many talents in this series. She can run, she can fight, she can shoot. She is so talented that all she needs to do is go to a crime scene and we get flashbacks of what happened (since it is not clear if these flashbacks are subjective or objective, it is logical to surmise that they are motivated by her since she is the one investigating and piecing the narrative together).

She is also so deadpan that more often than not she comes across as dead. Why this is so is an absolute mystery. Let’s call it the case of the impeding implants. Sounds like a job for the supercop, no?

BUT nothing beats her skill at forgery in last night’s episode. Rui En is such an expert forger that she expertly forges a letter after only 1 draft! In fact she has forged it so expertly that even psychopath Shaun Chen instantly falls for it. Mind you this is a guy who, by virtue of his obsession with said tutor must already be so familiar with the handwriting that he should be able to recognise a fake when he sees it. My my! Such skill, such talent, such expertise in one so young…it does indeed make you wonder: is it the sunglasses?

I have to say that while it is admirable that Mediacorp is trying out more complex plots, complex plots need more work and more attention to detail that current writing lacks. Otherwise the attempt at complexity is just contrived, with improbable resolutions that are simply unsatisfying.

I just hope that Mediacorp hasn’t made a mess of the storyline with the 5 cops and the missing money. Otherwise watching this riddle unriddle would be as gratifying as asking why the chicken crossed the street.

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