Crime
Coldwater
Brutal violence, foul language, sex, nudity and bad theology make Paramount+’s ‘Coldwater’ taste a bit more like ‘Sourmilk.’
Gerry Wade is dead.
The coroner has ruled it as a “death by misadventure.” Simply speaking, poor Gerry took too much of a sleeping draught—whether by accident or on purpose seems beside the point to police—and went to bed, never to awaken.
Lady Eileen Brent—“Bundle,” as her friends call her—doesn’t buy that for a moment.
For starters, Gerry didn’t need a sleeping aid. He was a champion sleeper. To that end, on the night of his demise, his friends had been planning a prank: They’d hidden eight alarm clocks in his room in the hope that he would manage to wake up and join them before noon for once.
But Gerry would never hear the bells ring. Never again.
Suicide, the police suggest. But Bundle doesn’t buy that either. Although Gerry had been facing extreme pressure at work, he was also making plans for his future. Plans with Bundle. Actually, Bundle suspected that Gerry was going to propose.
Bundle believes she owes it to Gerry to find the truth. Besides having personal feelings for the man, Gerry was her late brother’s best friend. The two men had fought alongside each other in the war, and Gerry was the one to pull her brother’s body from the battlefield.
And there are other factors to consider, too: Gerry’s friends, Ronny and Bill, hid the alarm clocks around his room. But when Gerry was found by the staff the next morning, the clocks were neatly arranged on the mantelpiece.
All but one, that is.
Bundle discovers the missing clock on the grounds later on. She also discovers a letter shoved into the back of the bureau in Gerry’s room—a letter to his sister, Loraine, warning her to forget his mention of “Seven Dials,” which might refer to a London neighborhood.
Was Gerry murdered? Did his killer arrange the clocks? Why only seven? Do they have something to do with Seven Dials?
Bundle plans to find out. But she needs to work quickly, because more bodies seem to keep dropping.
Mystery author Agatha Christie, who wrote The Seven Dials Mystery in 1929, is perhaps best known for her stories involving Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple. But Seven Dials isn’t about the mustachioed detective or the elderly garden enthusiast.
Seven Dials is told from the perspective of Bundle Brent as she unravels the mystery behind her dear friend’s death. The book and the show are filled with peril and suspicion. As I already mentioned, more death is coming.
We see a few of these deaths occur onscreen. And while the camera doesn’t revel in the violence, we do see corpses, often accompanied by blood.
Sexual promiscuity is kept to a minimum, but Bundle attends a nightclub in the second episode where men dance with men, women dance with women and more than a few people appear to be cross-dressing. Drinking and smoking are rather common—as fits with the 1920s setting of the story. And there’s virtually no language to speak of, though a few people do seem to misuse the Lord’s name.
In summation, Netflix’s Seven Dials is perhaps a bit more risqué than Christie’s original novel—particularly since seeing a death onscreen is more visceral than reading about it in a book. However, it doesn’t delve into explicit territory, and that makes it just a bit more approachable for discerning viewers than many of the other murder mysteries available on the streaming site.
(Editor’s Note: Plugged In is rarely able to watch every episode of a given series for review. As such, there’s always a chance that you might see a problem that we didn’t. If you notice content that you feel should be included in our review, send us an email at letters@pluggedin.com, or contact us via Facebook or Instagram, and be sure to let us know the episode number, title and season so that we can check it out.)
When Bundle’s friend Gerry is found dead after a party, she goes to great lengths to learn the truth of how he died.
A man is locked in a rodeo pen with an angry bull, which gores him with one of his horns, killing him. Bundle stops her car when she sees a body lying in the middle of the road. She goes to help the man and discovers he’s been shot. He dies in her arms. Gerry’s body is found in his bed the morning after a party. Police confirm he overdosed on a sleeping draught. But while they believe the death may have been an accident or even suicide, Bundle debunks those theories, stating it was murder.
Bundle angrily destroys a bureau with a fire poker. When a maid goes to check on her, Bundle’s mother, Lady Caterham, warns her not to, since Bundle is clearly grieving Gerry’s death. Gerry’s friends suggest he might have had bad dreams after fighting in the war.
Bundle wears a backless gown to a party. Couples dance at a party.
Folks drink heavily at a party, and a few are hungover the next day. We see people drinking and smoking throughout the episode. A doctor suggests that Gerry’s overdose may have been due to drinking too much.
A few characters lie. Lady Caterham is rude to the people renting her house (the Cootes) because she thinks they’re classless. (It’s also suggested she’s rude to her staff.) Lady Coote argues with a maid, making the woman cry. The maid later says that Lady Coote was quite mean to her. Lady Coote also cheats at cards. Bundle ignores her mother’s warnings not to investigate Gerry’s death.
We hear a couple of misuses of God’s name. A woman crosses herself at a statue of a cross. Someone says, “God rest his soul,” in reference to Gerry’s death. We hear the phrase “in the devil of a hurry,” when somebody feels rushed.
Brutal violence, foul language, sex, nudity and bad theology make Paramount+’s ‘Coldwater’ taste a bit more like ‘Sourmilk.’
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