There was a very strong reaction to the first episode of Dublin Murders

Paul Moore

Some viewers are already gripped. What did you think of it?

While RTÉ are kicking off their broadcast of Dublin Murders on Wednesday night with a back-to-back screening of the first two episodes, BBC aired the first episode of the eagerly-anticipated thriller on Monday night.

Since being announced, the eight-part adaptation of Tana French’s Dublin Murder Squad novels, In the Woods and The Likeness, has been one of the most anticipated shows of 2019.

The murder mystery is set in the early years of the new millennium, during the height of Ireland’s Celtic Tiger financial boom. The story focuses on two seemingly unrelated murder investigations, led by ambitious and charismatic detectives Rob Reilly (Killian Scott) and Cassie Maddox (Sarah Green).

The victims – a young talented ballerina who is found dead on an ancient stone altar and a vivacious, free-spirited woman who is found stabbed in a roofless famine cottage – are seemingly unrelated, but as viewers will discover, they’re knitted together by powerful shared themes.

When JOE caught up with Killian Scott and Sarah Greene, the duo stressed that “everyone has a secret and a lie in this show,” a point that was evident right from the start.

Much of the drama in the opening episode took place in a small council estate in the town of Knocknaree, nearby to where a child murder has taken place. The same community was rocked by a missing child case and murder in the 1980s. Detectives Reilly and Maddox suspect that the cases are linked.

A large part of why the show has drawn such interest is because the setting is so close to home and numerous viewers remarked on just how quickly the show has gotten under their skin.

However, there were other aspects of the opening episode that audiences were drawn to…

Spoilers are coming.

https://twitter.com/NerdyGirlShay/status/1183842071838375943

#DublinMurders this has me gripped pic.twitter.com/Vifwe3cjQj

— Darren (@EastieOaks) October 14, 2019

If you don't watch #DublinMurders tonight, you're doing your TV an injustice. Also, what a waste of your licence fee to not watch what is possibly the best new drama the BBC have had on this year.

— Elliot Gonzalez (@elliot_gonzalez) October 14, 2019

Loving #DublinMurders so far . It’s got all the makings of a great psychological murder thriller.

— angela thompson🦋📺🎥🎬🦋 (@angelathompson5) October 14, 2019

Very intriguing #DublinMurders
A lot of “characters” hovering around
We’ll go again, round 2 !

— Robbie Whelan (@RobbieWhelan7) October 14, 2019

#DublinMurders superb ensemble cast. Can't wait for next installment.

— Sinéad Cunningham (@sineadmariec) October 14, 2019

I didn't expect to like 'yet another serial killer tv drama series' #DublinMurders, yet its interesting depth of characterisation drew me into it.

— Martin Hammick (@MartinHammick) October 15, 2019

Some viewers, meanwhile, couldn’t help but remember some of the roles that the cast of Dublin Murders have played in the past…

There’s definitely fizzy orange in that cup #DublinMurders pic.twitter.com/CDVvWTByW9

— Simon Murdoch 📻📱🎧 (@Simon_Murdoch) October 14, 2019

https://twitter.com/DearStefania/status/1183947700233834496

Nidge in the public gallery and not in the docks for once 😂#DublinMurders

— Caolán Mc Aree (@Caolanmcaree) October 14, 2019

Given that the books are set in Dublin, audiences had a keen eye on the locations used in the opening episode with Bray, Belfast and Tullymore Forest all being very visible.

However, right from the off, people could only talk about that petrol station.

Watching this Dublin Murders and in the opening scenes it says “Dublin 2006” where it’s meant to be filmed in Dublin but in reality the opening scene is in Belfast at Clifton Street petrol station 🤣🤣#DublinMurders

— emma💫 (@emmamcc_) October 14, 2019

We learned that a 13-year-old girl named Katie died horrifically after her attacker struck her in the back of the head and suffocated her with a plastic bag. Katie’s body was then placed on an ancient stone altar.

However, there was something a little bit off about Katie’s family when they learned the horrific news.

https://twitter.com/ravenwolf68/status/1183842212775202816

That family seem all ok.#DublinMurders pic.twitter.com/2LrSlV0c0c

— Francie Boylan (@FrancisBoylan) October 14, 2019

https://twitter.com/rick2099/status/1183842505038675971

As for the revelation that Detective Rob Reilly was in fact Adam – the boy that survived the series of murders in the ’80s – it surprised some people, while others saw it coming.