NOTORIOUS: Mysteries and More Mysteries {Recap}

Notorious is digging deep into the murder of Sarah Keaton and how it affects both her husband, Oscar (Kevin Zegers), and the rest of the people in and around LHL. But at the end of this week’s episode, I kept wondering what exactly are we supposed to follow to figure out who killed Sarah.

Before I get into the gritty side of Sarah’s murder, a few facts about me. I love mysteries. I think (and will probably always say this) that Veronica Mars had one of the best mysteries for a show in its freshmen season. Finding out who killed Lilly took a season and weaved in weekly mysteries as well. I want all my mystery shows to live up to Lilly’s investigation and here’s where the problem is with Notorious.

We’re five episode into the show and I already feel like Sarah’s been dead for four months and we’ve already run through two, if not three suspects. I know we need to have all the ducks lining up (or in the air to mix metaphors) to get that answer later, but so far Oscar’s been accused (and is in jail), Levi’s been accused (and now dead) and Jake (Daniel Sanjata) is now a prime suspect because he was sleeping with Sarah before she died.

Tell me, isn’t that too much to think about so far?

But maybe the problem is me. And for that it might be Veronica Mars‘ fault. I want a mystery that compels me to care about the murder victim. I want to know that the people accused of the crime aren’t just one dimensional. Right now, I don’t get that feeling. Sarah’s an after thought to the central characters, one that lacks a clear link to our leading woman (Piper Perabo). Why should I care about Sarah?

This week alone I found myself caring more about the case of the week (pregnant moms and babies in CPS makes a good story) than I did about Oscar finding out that Sarah slept with Jake. If we as the audience are meant to care about Sarah, why is all that we learn about her painting her in a negative light? I want to know she had friends and did charity work, not just that she’d cheat on her husband and not care for how it affected her world.

NOTORIOUS – “Missing” – (ABC/Eric McCandless)
DANIEL SUNJATA, BRENDA STRONG

So I guess at the end of this week, I’m curious about two things: one, am I supposed to want Oscar freed of Sarah’s murder given how little we’ve been given to know about her; two, am I supposed to like out case of the week more than the larger mystery?

Notorious airs on Thursdays at 9PM/8PM Central on ABC.