It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

A Brilliant Conflict

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Blistering performances.

First off, let's address the issue of showing the killer at the beginning. Yes, Columbo did this, but so did other classic shows like Hawaii Five-O and Cannon, to name a couple. So what makes Motive different?Simple...the idea of this crime drama is to figure out WHY the killer did what he or she did. It's an interesting play on things...the episode starts out with two different sequences, one ending with the word 'killer' appearing on screen, the other ending with 'victim'. The sequence with the killer usually portrays the person in a positive light, and conversely, the 'victim' sequence may portray that person poorly, creating a sense of sympathy for the killer and maybe a non- sympathetic light for the victim. After the two detectives, Angie Flynn (Kristen Lehman) and Oscar Vega (Louis Ferrara a/k/a Justin Louis) show up and launch the investigation, then we see events unfold as to just how the killer and victim wound up on a fatal trajectory. We gather all sorts of info and see all sorts of obvious motives, but quite often, the real motive for the crime comes out of left field. The motive is quite often something unexpected.This is a Canadian-produced series, and I enjoy the way they tell stories. Between this show, Flashpoint and Rookie Blue, I'm beginning to think that our neighbors to the North are writing better cop shows than we are.

Watched latest episode and remembered why we often skipped this show. The music and droning noise drowns out the dialogue. Can't hear it. So we have to back up often and listen very hard trying to catch the words and still miss it. It's distracting and overpowering. It's not even good background noise, I mean, background "music." You can't even call that loud droning "music." PLEASE, get rid of it and make this show enjoyable on every level.We have liked the stories and the method of solving the crimes. It's a unique approach. But as mentioned, we sometimes skip it or turn it off after we have missed to much of the dialogue because it is unintelligible.

Despite the unique approach to the narrative (reveal killer/victim at beginning, and concentrate on the "whydunit"), the episodic stories are often weak (1), not unique, and incredulous ... one wonders that given the story's hypothetical plotting and circumstance, why a human being would resort to the ultimate crime (2)... That incredulity (i.e., unbelievability) is a big minus in my book ... However (and effectively) .... the incredulous story is encapsulated by a lots of pluses, including:+ Cinematography;+ Editing (tight) -- scene-to-scene "morphed" transitions are effective;+ Direction;+ Actors/acting (especially main/lead);+ Music score (good use of ambient dark/rhythmic composition by Shawn Pierce. I disagree with other reviewers in that there is too much music or it's too loud. Yes, the music track is used more than in other series. However, this adds atmosphere/tonality, rhythmic pace, as well as important emotion/melody);+ ...OTHER: ++ Flow/pace ... camera often moving; pulsing drive of score ++ Temporal economics/efficiency: best use of 43m run time ... scene content/length seems just right. Plotting seems decent, and distinguished from overreaching story elements ++ Nuances: incl. witticisms, dry humor.Some of the guest actors seem to have been selected for image/"presence"/attractiveness ... as is the use of classic cars.Bottom line: Weak stories (3) encapsulated by great music and textbook/cutting-edge film-making .... watch/study this series for these virtues alone.===EDITS/FOOTNOTES===(1) The human story is the CORE component of a fictional program (this includes TV, movies, books/novels and comics). It's also the the hardest component of a program to "pull off" successfully. Suspending disbelief can be a tall order. I think the creators of this series (as well as fans of the genre) want/expect serious realism, and to keep the story entertaining/interesting, on a repeatable basis (weekly ... and not running out of ideas/motivation .. why all series eventually canceled). This includes studio and sponsor demands. Concomitantly, this is tough cocktail to mix by bartenders.(2) Despite popular sensationalism, ACTUAL *motive* for murder in the human species is not that common (although "though-murders" are quite common and natural... evolutionary psychologist David M. Buss topically discussed this in his 2005 science book The Murder Next Door).

Quirky has been in now for quite some time - lately Perception, The Neighbors and Suburgatory, Fairly Legal, Person of Interest, How to Live With Your Parents - all quite successful and, now, from Canada, Motive.Premise is dangerous for two reasons: many cop show fans (as demonstrated by some of the reviews) watch for the mystery and its solution, period. That decimates Motives' potential fan base.Second reason - what the hell do you do with the rest of the 46 minutes, once victim and perp are exposed? You're forced to focus on character interaction and, in that respect, Motive excels. Perkypops' review nails it for me.Kristen Lehman, alone, is worth my 9 stars (actually 10, doesn't get any better) and she gets strong assists from Louis Ferreira and Lauren Holly as well as the rest of the ensemble.Flaws, there are a few (actually a few more than a few) arising from trying to deal with the premise but the strength of the ensemble overwhelms them. It's just plain fun to watch these characters interact.Finally I'll return to a personal tonic: review the show. Many of the negative reviews don't and I particularly note the 'Columbo' comparison. Loved Peter Falk and occasionally enjoyed an episode but wasn't a fan. Too Hollywood, too Desi-Lu like, too just plain blah! Comparing Columbo to Motive is like comparing Cheers to The Love Boat.Kinda, what?