Dublin Murders: Season 1 Videos

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The Dublin Murders: Season 1 Teaser - Reckoni...

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The Dublin Murders: Season 1 Teaser - Perfect...

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The Dublin Murders: Season 1 Teaser - Devlin ...

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The Dublin Murders: Season 1 Teaser - Detecti...

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The Dublin Murders: Season 1 Teaser - Detecti...

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Dublin Murders: Opening Title Sequence

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Dublin Murders: Season 1 First Look

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Dublin Murders: Season 1 Trailer

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Audience Reviews for Dublin Murders: Season 1

• Dec 09, 2021

  Engaging series that is perfect for binge watching which will also help you keep track of all the plot twists. Especially great character developement and acting. Was disappointed with how one or two subplots played out but the character developement arc of 1 particular character who as it is revealed in the end, has a major role was mind blowing. Amazing ending.
  Shivam A
• Feb 23, 2021

  A dark and well-made show about the effects of psychological trauma, but the bifurcated narrative is a significant mistake Airing on BBC One in the UK and Ireland and Starz in North America, Dublin Murders is an eight-part series that adapts the first two novels in Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad series – In the Woods (2007) and The Likeness (2008). And herein lies the show's biggest problem. French's series is pseudo-anthological in design; each novel has a different protagonist, and although there are common characters across all of the stories, each plot is wholly self-contained. In writing Dublin Murders, Sarah Phelps presents the plots of the first two novels as happening concurrently. This doesn't even remotely work, with the events of The Likeness never feeling like anything other than a half-baked B-plot that serves only to detract from the far superior material in the A-plot. Nevertheless, there is much to laud here; the acting, the cinematography, production design, and art direction, the editing and directing, and, when focusing on the first novel, much of Phelps' writing. The show takes place in 2006 and begins with the discovery of the body of twelve-year-old Katy Devlin (Amy Macken) in the woods around Knocknaree, a (fictional) housing estate in Dublin's suburbs. Detectives Rob Reilly (Killian Scott) and Cassie Maddox (Sarah Greene) of the (fictional) Dublin Murder Squad are assigned to the case, which has attracted a great deal of attention, as twenty-two years earlier three young children disappeared in the same woods. One of those children was found a few hours after they disappeared, and although he was uninjured, his shirt was ripped as if by claws, and his shoes were filled with someone else's blood. He swears, however, that he has no memory of what happened in the woods. That child, Adam, left Ireland with his parents and as far as anyone knows, never returned. However, Rob is in fact adult Adam, having secretly returned to Ireland with a new identity, a fact known only to Cassie, and he plans to use the Devlin investigation as a means to delve into the 1985 case. Meanwhile, Cassie is approached by her old boss, senior investigator Frank Mackey (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor), with an intriguing undercover operation. Aesthetically, the show has a lot going for it. To a certain extent, it mixes genres – there's the obvious whodunnit, but there's also a pseudo-Chinatown motif of greed, conspiracy, and corruption, and a vaguely supernatural, otherworldly undercurrent, not unlike Twin Peaks. In terms of narrative structure, although the 2006-set events are presented chronologically, the show makes ample use of flashbacks, which jump around quite a bit in the timeline. That this never becomes arbitrary is a testament to the editing, which always ensures to establish the link between the show's present and the moments to which the characters are flashing back. The cinematography is also worth mentioning, working hand-in-hand with the production design to suggest that things just aren't quite right in Knocknaree in general, and the Devlin home in specific. The acting too is impressive. Scott and Greene have tremendous chemistry, which is pivotal, and although both are initially presented as likeable, if damaged, individuals, as the show goes on, both actors allow us to see a much darker side to their personas, with each turning on the people closest to them in a particularly vicious manner. Thematically, much like In the Woods, the show isn't so much focused on the Devlin murder as it is the nature of lingering trauma. Virtually every character is damaged in some way, but none more so than Rob, who, to a certain extent, never really made it out of the woods in 1985. The show begins with him asking Cassie, "what if the killed are the lucky ones?" And this is a central theme throughout – what if it's those who are murdered who could be considered free, and those who survive that are forever trapped within their trauma? All of which brings us to the show's fatal flaw. Phelps is unable to mould the two plots to coalesce properly, with the characters in Cassie's case never being developed. We're never allowed to get to know these people, as the whole thing never feels like anything other than an afterthought. Splitting the show like this does neither plot any favours – in the novels, each case works by immersing us in the interiority of the protagonist, as the plot unfolds in a manner coloured by that character's subjectivity. Continually cutting away from one plot to show us the other completely breaks that immersion. Nevertheless, I did enjoy the show for the most part. It's well-acted, looks great, and in relation to the murder case, is very well written. A shorter run focusing on just that case would have been infinitely preferable, but that's not what we got. It's absolutely worth checking out, but be prepared to be frustrated once the undercover operation starts taking up so much time.
  Stephen C
• Feb 18, 2021

  I liked all the main characters and the quirky characters they were. People with different agendas are trying to solve a murder mystery. Interpersonal entanglements abound. I want to know when the next season will start filming!!!! The ending was a complete shock with some unfinished stories.
  Allan F
• Aug 05, 2020

  Excellent Cime series
  Thamindu K
• May 31, 2020

  There are about three plots in this show. I think it could have lost one of them (the most tangential one) and the show would have been better. But the ending makes the wait worthwhile, although loose strings remain...
  Christine S
• May 07, 2020

  Based on the Into the Woods and The Likeness novels by Tana French and set in 2006 Ireland, two detectives are investing the murder of a girl in the outskirts of Dublin. Hauntingly, the same location is notorious for a number of unsolved crimes that took place in 1985 where three children entered the woods but only one returned. Which begs the question, are these events interlinked? Weaved in are personal stories from the characters as the town's secrets begin to unravel. The characterisation was key to the success of executing this plotline. Morally grey characters and intricate backstories in their relationships ensured we were sufficiently distracted to any clues placed regarding the core murder. Killian Scott and Sarah Greene had intense chemistry, their partnership was ideal in carrying the show through its 8 episode run and it was great to see Scott lead a police procedural after his supporting role in Strike, also as a detective. An underdog of the series was Tom Vaughan-Lawlor. Upon first encountering his character Frank I didn't anticipate him changing the dynamic of the show so drastically, as a rather impudent character, Frank brings an almost dangerous attitude towards his work and often operating in the grey. You can expect lots of questionable undercover work to pique your interest. While some episodes required forcing your attention to truly focus as the twists slowed down, it was all worth it for that finale. As secrets become unravelled, landing our characters in quite deep water, my imagination was running rampant. It is so satisfying to feel as though there is true pay-off from a twist. The setting of Dublin adds to the fantasy as being able to experience a police procedural though a different culture to the usual London set was a treat. Creepy towns with a history are always bound to be entertaining but they require unique depth to stray from other productions in the genre and Dublin Murders is sure to keep you addicted to the very end with its constant intrigue with plenty of stones left unturned for a possible sequel. I am now quite desperate to pick up the novels, so props to Sarah Phelps for creating an adaptation that can stand on its own yet is bound to attract readers to the books the show is based on.
  Olivia G
• Apr 25, 2020

  Was really enjoying the first rate script, acting, story....everything, until suddenly there is a totally inexplicable segue midway to a secondary plot involving Cassie going through what seems like an awful lot of trouble to find the killer of her doppelganger -- a member of cult-ish houselhold. Suddenly becomes mix of Mission Impossible and Young and Restless soap opera, and gets away from the intriguing initial plot of the unexplained Dublin murders. With the advent of binge watching, it seems that writers feel the need to stretch out what would have been a taught feature film into multiple episodes, with many "filler" moments.
  Arya S
• Mar 22, 2020

  A bit slow, with good and ok acting performances, but it picks up towards the end.
  Paul D
• Mar 14, 2020

  I think this is an excellent show! I'm so tired of American shows! The casting is marvelous; this is not the same old thing. Very true to the novels, and very good! I am reading every Tana French novel I can get my hands on. Love it!
  

  Ruth E
• Feb 23, 2020

  Watched the first episode and was hooked. And then...... it was all down hill from there. Stuck with it until the end hoping for redemption but, alas, it was not to be. At the end of the last episode we looked at each other and said 'that's it???". What a disappointment. I believe I saw an ad for a second season and we have zero interest in watching any additional seasons. Watching this made me appreciate how well done season 1 of True Detective. Demand better quality writing. Don't waste your time
  CrashN T

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