Line #29 Series/MurderInSmallTownX


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/smalltownx.jpg]]
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3	->''"In the quiet town of Sunrise, Maine, a killer is on the loose. A reward has been offered to 10 ordinary people. They have been sent to Sunrise, to play the killers twisted game."'' ''"Now, they must enter a mind of a killer, and solve the mystery, before they are eliminated, one, by, one."''
4	-->-- '''Opening narration'''
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6	''Murder in Small Town X'' was a one season reality/game show mystery where a group of contestants try to solve a grisly murder in a small [[CaliforniaDoubling fictional]] town in Maine, on the East Coast of the United States. Throughout each episode the contestants would go through clues but eventually two contestants would be sent off to two different locations. One would retrieve the next clue, while the other would find the killer waiting for them, [[VotedOffTheIsland never be seen again...]]
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8	Winner Angel Juarbe Jr., a New York City firefighter, died in the collapse of the World Trade Center only a week after the final episode was broadcast, which has probably accounted for a lack of any sequel, though the UK did see a different version in 2003 known as ''Series/TheMurderGame''. Also compare and contrast ''Series/Whodunnit2013''.
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11	!! This show provides examples of:
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13	* AlasPoorVillain: The killer's motivation is understandable, if ''way way'' past the line of DisproportionateRetribution, [[spoiler: (Killed 15 people, and most of them unrelated to the OSL, only due to a deadly game YOU caused.)]] and his/her death ends the show on a note of melancholy.
14	* AnyoneCanDie: The point of the show, as the murderer can pick off any contestant.
15	* AxCrazy: Rev. Rusty Crandall becomes more and more unhinged as the series progresses. [[spoiler: In the penultimate episode, he claims he committed the murders, but when he's interrogated by the investigators his story doesn't match up and is subsequently cleared.]]
16	* BlackDudeDiesFirst: Shirley, the lone black contestant was voted into the killer's game and the first one murdered by the killer.
17	* ButtMonkey: Kristen, one of the investigators/contestants, is perpetually sent by her peers to look for the killer's clue in hopes that she gets ambushed by the killer (she eventually did). Jeff, another investigator/contestant, especially had it out for her.
18	** Only once was she not sent out, at the discretion of the first investigator to be eliminated.
19	* CoolOldGuy: C.R Flint, at least at first.
20	* {{Cult}}: One of the suspects has a cult full of people [[OurZombiesAreDifferent dressed in suits and who constantly sweep the sidewalks]]. When said suspect eventually gets killed, his followers go nuts and start burning and breaking everything.
21	* ExactWords: Subverted. The killer promises to eliminate one suspect from the dossier given if the investigators correctly answer his question every three days (all of them based on the investigation tracks they performed that episode). He doesn't ''actually'' mean he's going to immediately kill them, just provide evidence that said suspect is not him. That doesn't mean cleared suspects won't wind up dead later, however...
22	* {{Foil}}: The contestants here can be seen as this for the ones in ''Series/Whodunnit2013'', a similar MurderMystery RealityShow. Rather than being focused on getting ahead (with the exception of Kristen) they focus on finding the killer and solving the mystery. It's pure blind luck and the nature of the Killer's Game that gets them [[DwindlingParty dropping like flies]]. They also correctly latch onto the killer's identity early (albeit for the [[RightForTheWrongReasons wrong reason]]), and are able to successfully narrow down the suspect pool by correctly answering the killer's questions, forcing him to give out information on which suspect is innocent, minimizing casualities. By constrast the cast of "Whodunnit?" is largely clueless as to the killer's identity from start to finish, start missing clues towards the end of the series, and the one person who caught on to the killer's identity ultimately ''loses'' the competition.
23	* FriendOnTheForce: Dudley Duncan, the police chief of Sunrise.
24	* JigsawPuzzlePlot: It's practically impossible to deduce who the killer is because most of the truly incriminating evidence doesn't show up until the final episode.
25	** One of the clues recovered at the murder scenes is actually a Jigsaw Puzzle.
26	* KillTheCutie: Some of the killer's victims, including his/her first one Abby Flint.
27	* LargeHam: So many of the citizens of Sunrise, almost to the point it becomes a WorldOfHam. The most notable examples though are Rev. Rusty Crandall and Gen. Hayden [=DeBeck=].
28	** This also applied to the investigators as well. Jeff, in particular, spent his first two trips on the Killer's Game hooting and yelling at the killer to come get him. [[spoiler: For his third time, he has a feeling that he picked the map where the killer would ambush him and is much more quiet and reserved. He does indeed get axed.]]
29	* LuckBasedMission: What the killer's game boiled down to. Two contestants (one voted out, and the other picked by the lifeguard) were sent out to two locations, one with a vital clue, the other has the killer lying in wait to "kill" the contestant, thus eliminating them from the game. There was no hint or clue as to which location contained which, so contestants had a 50-50 shot of being eliminated.
30	* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: The Burnt Man murdered Oscar Blodgett, and became so consumed with guilt that he killed himself.]]
31	* PointOfView: You know the killer is near every time you see a POV shot through the night vision camera.
32	** The investigators also wear Blair Witch-style cameras when playing the Killer's Game.
33	* ProductPlacement: In every scene at the main house, at least one investigator has a Taco Bell cup. Taco Bell was the show's major sponsor.
34	* RealityShow: A mix of reality and game show. The murders of course are fictionalized.
35	* RedHerring: [[spoiler: G.D. Thibodeaux is an aggressive, creepy {{Jerkass}} with an obvious motive. However, he is not the killer.]]
36	* RightForTheWrongReasons: [[spoiler: The killer is William Lambert, who ''was'' always viewed as one of the more shadier suspects. However all of the possible motives the investigators floated for him were business related, when the true motive was a RoaringRampageOfRevenge. The fact that the victims also happened to be standing in the way of his business aspirations was more of a coincidence than anything.]]
37	* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: We eventually find out that the killer's M.O is to avenge the murder of his/her family.
38	* TheScrappy: A rare ''in-universe'' example in the form of Kristen who was pretty much hated by everyone after the first episode (she would later reappear on The Apprentice with similar results).
39	* TownWithADarkSecret: Pretty much ''everyone'' in town has some sort of shady past.
40	* TrapIsTheOnlyOption: The investigators pretty much need to play along with the Killer's Game, despite knowing it could lead to their deaths, as it's the best chance they have of solving the case.
41	* WrenchWench: Prudence Conner
42	* WrongGenreSavvy: Subverted with Kristen, who treated the show (particularly her interaction with the other investigators) as a Survivor-like affair where the goal was to be the last person standing. The problem was that was more or less ''all'' she treated it as, while the rest of the team was more concerned with trying to solve the murders. [[spoiler: Also note that she wasn't particularly effective either as she was sent out to play the Killer's Game ''five times'' before finally getting axed.]]

Context Series / MurderInSmallTownX