Murder in Small Town X


Murder in Small Town X is an American reality television series created by George Verschoor, Robert Fisher Jr., and Gordon Cassidy and was hosted by Sgt. Gary Fredo, a California Police Investigator, that aired on Fox from July through September 2001.
Although classified as a reality television series, given the format's unique nature, it was more accurately described as a hybrid of a reality TV show, game show, and mystery drama.

Premise

The premise of the show was to bring 10 contestants from around the United States of America to the small fishing village of Eastport, Maine to act as amateur investigators to solve a series of fictional murders.
Initially, the investigators were given a list of 15 suspects who were "townspeople" played by actors and actresses. A large number of improvisational actors and actresses were stationed around the real-life town, and their job was to provide clues to the investigators. Each week, the investigators were sent out on varying missions around the town in order to discover clues to clear suspects. Additionally, the murderer would strike again, clearing suspects as well.
In every episode a Lead Investigator, or Lifeguard, is chosen. In the first episode, the Lifeguard is chosen by picking one of ten cards. For the following episodes, the Lifeguard is chosen by the investigator who was eliminated the previous episode via pre-recorded message. For the final two investigators, the previous investigator who was eliminated will determine who gets his or her first choice on which suspect they want to pursue.
Every three days, two envelopes, red and black, would be discovered somewhere in the town. In the red envelope, there would be a question about what the investigators had learned during the day. The question would usually be pointed to one of the track teams, meaning whoever was involved with that line of investigation has the highest potential of answering it correctly. The team's answer would be sent to the killer via e-mail, with the address being anonymous. If correct, the killer would clear one of the remaining suspects. If wrong, the number of suspects would remain the same.
Afterward, the black envelope would be opened. It contains two smaller black envelopes, each containing a map of a certain location. The investigators would go into a separate room to vote for the first person who will play the Killer's game. After the vote, the Lifeguard picks the second person who will play. The two investigators would each choose a map and head out to the two different remote locations completely alone, with their movements recorded only by night-vision cameras. One of the investigators would discover an important clue to the mystery, whereas the other would be eliminated off the show by being "murdered by the killer", with their last seconds seen through the eyes of said "killer" in the manner of classical slasher films.

Story

The game started out with the mysterious murder of a family known as the Flints, on which the investigators would base their investigation. It soon turned out there was much more to this case when suspects started to turn up dead. The solution to the mystery involved the discovery that the members of a local family, the Duchamps, had been murdered together in 1941 just after the Pearl Harbor Attack because they had stumbled onto a town's secret involving illegal liquor smuggling from Canada. The murder had been committed with the assent of many of the town's leaders, who met in a secret lodge, a society called "The Order of the Scarlet Lupine" or the "O.S.L." The family had been bound in a room together, and the room was set on fire.
The "murders" were being committed by a descendant of one of the family members who escaped the fire and who was gaining his revenge against the descendants of the town leaders who had condoned the burning of the family in 1941. This survivor, known as the "Burnt Face Man", left several recordings of himself to his child, which were clues for the investigators. As it turned out, he murdered one of the men responsible for the killing of his family, but he was overwhelmed with guilt and committed suicide. The burnt man's child decided to take up his father's work, attacking those responsible or descendants of those responsible for his family's death. Using a bang stick, a close-range rifle-like weapon used to kill fish, not only was he not overwhelmed with guilt like his father, he found it exciting, and decided to make a game of it, resulting in the creation of the killers game.
The killer was revealed to be William Lambert, a business partner of Nate Flint and a common target of suspicion. He killed the people that were either related to or are the members of the O.S.L. They were Blodgett, DeBeck, Flint, Merchant, Rose, Thibodeaux, and the eliminated investigators, using their corpses to recreate the unfinished family dinner they had before being interrupted by the fire. Samantha "Sam" Larabee was supposed to be William's last victim, but in the finale, Ángel, the winner, rescued her before William was able to complete his final murder. The fictional police chief, Dudley Duncan, chased him up a flight of stairs and shot him in his bedroom, sending him crashing out the window and falling two stories to the hard concrete below.

Contestants

Voting history

In episode 6, a tie vote occurred between Jeff and Kristen. When asked to break the tie as a lifeguard, Katie opted to send both out to play the Killer's Game.
In the finale, Alan and Jeff didn't vote against each other. Because Ángel was immune, there was no reason to vote and Alan and Jeff were immediately handed their maps.

The game

The Killer's Questions

During each episode, the investigators would find a pair of red and black envelopes. While the black envelopes were for the Killer's Game, the red envelopes contained a questions for the investigators. The question usually pertained to one specific part of the day's investigation, and was only able to be answered correctly by the investigators that took part in the investigation at that point. For example, in Episode 2 the question was "what was the date of Oscar Blodgett's birth?" Andy and Angel were guarding his grave plot after it was vandalized and would be the ones who could answer it. When the group decided on an answer, they would email the answer to the killer's anonymous email address. The killer would then send them confirmation of a correct or incorrect answer. A correct answer eliminated a suspect, while an incorrect answer did nothing
EpisodeQuestionTeam's AnswerCorrect/WrongCleared Suspect
1"Because there were no bodies found, what did I wrap the bodies into to remove them from the house?"Bed LinensCorrectDudley Duncan
2"What was the date of Oscar Blodgett's birth?"1924CorrectX-Ray
3"What is the daily tidal variation in Sunrise?"23 feetCorrectLeita Rose-Blodgett
4"What is Pavor Nocturnus?"A sleeping disorder involving night terrorsCorrectDrew Chambers
5"How many sweepers were at the pier when Connor and Lambert killed the shark?"12CorrectDeanna Harris
6"What rank was Connor's father?"Master SergeantCorrectSamantha "Sam" Larabee
7"What Bible chapter says: 'When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous.' ?"Proverbs 21:15CorrectEmerson Bowden
Finale"What year did my father die?"1971CorrectRusty Crandall

The Suspects

These are fifteen suspects, in the order they were cleared of being the killer.
SuspectPlayed ByOccupationSuspect StatusLife Status
Dudley DuncanTerence Paul WinterPolice ChiefCleared Episode 1
Killer's Question		Alive
X-RayShishir KurupTaxi Cab DriverCleared Episode 2
Killer's Question		Alive
Leita Rose-BlodgettJoy ClaussenMail Center Operator, the Flint's neighbor,
Oscar Blodgett's widowed wife		Cleared Episode 3
Killer's Question		Murdered Episode 4
Drew ChambersRonnie WarnerClub OperatorCleared Episode 4
Killer's Question		Alive
Deanna HarrisJennifer TungSecretary of The Sunrise Press, AttorneyCleared Episode 5
Killer's Question		Alive
G.D. ThibodeauxPat BattistiniFerry Boat Captain, Fisherman,
Vietnam War Veteran		Cleared Episode 5
After Killer's Game		Murdered Episode 6
Samantha "Sam" LarabeeHeather CampbellDiner Owner, Frank Kovick's FianceéCleared Episode 6
Killer's Question		Alive
Kidnapped and Rescued
Hayden DeBeckDon ChastainGeneral, Mind/Science LeaderCleared Episode 7
Murdering		Murdered Episode 6
Noted Episode 7
Mary-Elizabeth MerchantJennifer DibertAbby Flint's best friendCleared Episode 7
Murdering		Murdered Episode 7
Emerson BowdenTim WalkoeTown MayorCleared Episode 7
Killer's Question		Alive
Rusty CrandallKent GeorgeChurch Reverend and Pastor
of The First Church of Sunrise		Cleared in Finale
Killer's Question		Alive
Prudence ConnorCaitlin KeatsGarage Owner, Nate Flint's MistressCleared in Finale
The Burnt Man's last film		Alive
Jimmy TinkerCory PendergastHardware Store Employee, Abby Flint's boyfriendCleared in Finale
The Burnt Man's last film		Alive
Frank KovickChristopher Liam MooreLocal Newspaper Reporter,
Samantha Larabee's Fianceé		Cleared in Finale
The Final Confrontation		Alive
William Lambert
Tom StechschulteNate Flint's business partner, owner of 2 Dollar Bill,
later owner of The Sunrise Press		The KillerKilled in Finale by Dudley Duncan

Kristen found G.D. at the end of the Killer's Game. Because Brian was killed by the killer, G.D. could not be the killer. In addition, G.D. was killed that night, but not found out until the next day.
Samantha was going to be William's final victim, but Angel rescued her before he could kill her.
Prudence was cleared because the Burnt Man says, "Goodbye my son...". This indicated that the killer had to be male.
Jimmy was cleared because he was too young to be the Burnt Man's son. He was 21, as the Burnt Man's final film is from 30 years ago.

Episodes

Season 1

Controversy

A running coincidence throughout the show's run was that Kristen had burnt bridges with almost all of the contestants, so she was continuously voted out to play the killer's game. She was sent out a total of five times she was on the show. She also had furious clashes with fellow investigator Stacey, up to the point where Kristen and Stacey were both sent out together in Episode 4, in which Kristen eventually returned again. She returned every time until her demise at the "Sunrise Junkyard".
Kristen appeared in the 3rd season of the NBC reality series The Apprentice as a brunette, in contrast to her bleach-blonde hair, where she was again notable for having established contentious relationships with the other contestants. She was fired at the end of the fourth episode as the Project Manager of her team, where both teams failed for the first time in The Apprentice history.
The show winner, Ángel Juarbe Jr., being a seven-year veteran of the FDNY, was a part of one of the first units to the World Trade Center emergency. He was caught in the collapse of the first tower*. On November 28, 2001, his body was found and identified in the Marriott hotel rubble next to the World Trade Center towers. He was laid to rest on December 1, 2001. The show's primary icon, the fisherman statue, now serves as memorial to Angel.
Early in Episode 1 the lead detective Gary Fredo identifies himself to the group of contestants then slips up and identifies the murderer as a male. "Your job is to figure out who the murderer is before he..." and then the screen cuts away. In older versions of this show he continues talking. But newer edits of this show found on youtube cut him off as the previous quote shows.

Cancellation