Murder in Small Town X

Did You Know?

• In episode 6, a tie vote between Jeff and Kristen led lifeguard Katie to send both out to play the Killer's Game.
• The format was sold to the BBC, which made a British version in 2003 titled The Murder Game.
• The series was not renewed by Fox due to poor ratings.

Premise

The show brought ten contestants from across the United States to the small fishing village of Eastport, Maine, which was called "Sunrise" in the program. There, they acted as amateur investigators solving a series of fictional murders. Initially, the investigators received a list of fifteen suspects played by actors and actresses. Many improvisational performers were stationed around the real town to provide both useful and misleading clues.

Each week, the investigators undertook varying missions to discover clues and clear suspects, while the murderer also struck, eliminating suspects. A Lead Investigator, or Lifeguard, was chosen each episode: in the first episode by random draw, and in subsequent episodes by the previously eliminated investigator via a pre-recorded message. For the final two investigators, the previous eliminated contestant decided who received first choice of suspect.

Every three days, a red envelope and a black envelope were found in the town. The red envelope contained a question about the day's investigation; if the team answered correctly, the killer cleared one suspect. The black envelope contained two smaller envelopes, each with a map to a location. The investigators (except the Lifeguard) voted for one person to play the Killer's game, and the Lifeguard chose the second.

Those two went alone to remote locations; one found an important clue, while the other was eliminated by being "murdered by the killer," shown through the killer's point of view in slasher-film style. Taco Bell promoted the show.

Story

The game began with the murder of a family called the Flints, which the investigators used as a basis for their inquiry. As suspects began to die, it emerged that members of a local family, the Duchamps, had been murdered together in 1941 just after the Pearl Harbor Attack because they discovered a town secret involving illegal liquor smuggling from Canada. The murder was approved by many town leaders who belonged to a secret society called "The Order of the Scarlet Lupine" (O.S.L.).

The family was bound in a room and set on fire. The "murders" in the game were committed by a descendant of a family member who escaped the fire, seeking revenge against descendants of the town leaders who condoned the burning. This survivor, known as the "Burnt Face Man," left recordings for his child, which served as clues. He murdered one of the responsible men but, overwhelmed with guilt, committed suicide.

His child took up the work, attacking those responsible or their descendants. Using a bang stick (a close-range rifle-like weapon for killing fish), the child found the killings exciting and made a game of them, creating the killer's game. The killer was William Lambert (whose real last name was Duchamps), a business partner of Nate Flint and a common suspect. He killed people related to or members of the O.S.L., including Blodgett (killed by his father), DeBeck, Flint, Merchant, Rose, Thibodeaux, and the eliminated investigators, using their corpses to recreate an unfinished family dinner.

Samantha "Sam" Larabee was to be his last victim, but in the finale, Ángel rescued her before William could complete the murder. Fictional police chief Dudley Duncan chased William up stairs and shot him in his bedroom, sending him crashing out a window and falling two stories to concrete.

The game

Each episode, the investigators found a red envelope and a black envelope. The red envelope contained a question about a specific part of that day's investigation, answerable only by the investigators who participated in that part. For instance, in Episode 2, the question was "what was the date of Oscar Blodgett's birth?" and only Andy and Angel, who guarded his grave, could answer. The group emailed their answer to the killer's anonymous address; a correct answer eliminated a suspect, while an incorrect answer did nothing (though all questions were answered correctly).

The fifteen suspects were cleared in order: Kristen found G.D. at the end of the Killer's Game, and because Brian was killed by the killer, G.D. could not be the killer (G.D. was killed that night but not found until the next day). Samantha was to be William's final victim but was rescued. Prudence was cleared because the Burnt Man said "Goodbye my son...", indicating the killer was male. Jimmy was cleared because he was 21, too young to be the Burnt Man's son, as the Burnt Man's final film was from 30 years ago.

Death of Ángel Juarbe Jr.

The show's winner, Ángel Juarbe Jr., had been with the FDNY for seven years. He was a first responder at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, a week after the finale aired. Early reports said he died in the first tower's collapse, but it was later found that he and a lieutenant from his ladder company were caught in the Marriott Hotel's collapse while trying to save another firefighter. He was listed as missing, and his body was identified in the Marriott rubble on November 28, 2001. The show's fisherman statue became a memorial for him.