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Murder in Small Town X: Overview & Strategy
by Jeffrey Clinard
-- 07/10/2002
As the new Fox show, Murder in Small Town X, kicks into gear, this novel take on the reality show concept draws from the likes of Survivor and murder mysteries. Will strategies from other reality shows cut it here?
10 Investigators. 15 Suspects. And $250,000 in reward money.
Murder in Small Town X is a reality show based on police investigation. A serial killer is on the loose and taunting the investigation team. He (or she) has already murdered three people, and invites the team to play "the killer's game."
The killer's game is this: He/she has sent the investigators a film of his first killings, and another claiming to be one of 15 people in a small town in Maine. The suspects range from the chief of police to the boyfriend of the murdered teenage girl. The investigators search out clues and attempt to identify the killer.
The "lead investigator" (aka host) directs the investigators to obtain information and evidence. In addition, each week there is a "lifeguard." The lifeguard is safe each week, as he/she does not enter the field.
Each week, the killer sends a red envelope and a black envelope. The red envelope contains a question from the killer. If the team can answer it correctly, the killer will eliminate one of the suspects. The black envelope is a bit nastier. It contains two locations. One contains a clue. The other; well, is where the killer will bump off one of the investigators.
The investigation team picks one of their own to go to one site. The lifeguard selects the other. Each makes a "last will and testament;" effectively selecting a new lifeguard for the next week.
The show has managed to combine two of my favorite pastimes; whodunit mystery fiction and reality TV. I'm also a fan of real crime analysis. Of course, this is a script, with many players having a part in it, so it falls into the category of mystery fiction, which is actually nice because it's going to be possible for the viewers to solve the case. Each piece of evidence needs to be looked at to see how it fits into the story. So far, we have only a few plots, one around an ex-employee of the murdered man, and another around his business partner and an affair he was having with a (female) mechanic. Juicy, but not necessarily a motive for murder.
As a player, you need a strategy to win. Finding one might be difficult, though. In a way, this is a mix of Big Brother 2 and Survivor. One person holds absolute power over another person; the other has absolute power over the rest of the field. In addition, the eliminated player names the next lifeguard.
In my opinion, the best approach to the game is an alliance. It's certainly not as strong a tactic as in Survivor or Big Brother 2, but it's better than nothing. An alliance will keep you off the group vote chopping block (presuming, of course, the alliance is big enough). It won't protect you from the lifeguard selection – except when members of your alliance are in that position – but some protection is better than nothing. As an alliance member you have three duties: 1) Don't vote one of your own. This is basic; the more of you there are, the more likely you can control the game. 2) If you are selected on a black envelope assignment, name another alliance member to be lifeguard in your last will and testament. You have a 50/50 shot of coming back alive, but if you end up on the wrong end, your sacrifice has not been totally in vain; you have empowered your group (not that it will matter to you at this point, of course). 3) Pool data and theories with each other. If you have a theory of the case, share it, along with the supporting evidence. They might pick it apart, or perhaps it will fire off some light bulbs in their heads and generate further collabaration. In any case, it will help your alliance see ways of interpreting evidence, and may be the key to walking away with the reward money.
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