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Last week I watched the first chapter of a murder mystery in FOX's first episode of Murder In Small Town X (hereby referred to as MSTX). I watched the show even though I was a bit skeptical about how it was going to work. I watched knowing what the show's participants didn't: this was all a set up. I watched investigations take place. I watched actors attempting to make this "game" seem real. I watched as the non-obvious clues were pointed out. I even watched the ending with my hands clutched to my chair. But I watched.

MSTX, while being young and inexperienced, has put together a combination of realities that no other show has. Big Brother, Survivor, and The Real World are some of everyone's favorite reality shows because they center around real people and real conflicts. But in MSTX you take that conflict and you throw it into a gigantic chess board of possibilities. Here you have the alliances and deceptions of Big Brother, the determination to be the last Survivor, the "you best get out my face before I kick yo a--" conflicts of The Real World and Road Rules, and the isolation of MTV's Fear. Combine all of that with some actors and a mystery, and you've got MSTX.

The reviews of the first MSTX were mixed. Some called the show unoriginal and too acted out, while others praised the show for its freshness and ability to pull in the viewers.

Me? I thought it was fun. Sure the story line is written and the actors are acting. We all know that there wasn't really a murder in Sunrise, Maine. And even if it was real, would the town's only policeman (yes, one) just let ten nobodies conduct the investigation? No. And would the leading investigative officer (Fredo) just appear and disappear off and on throughout the show leaving hints about important clues? No. And ultimately, would one of the contestants really get killed at the end of each show? No, of course not, we're still in television land, people.

Even though we know the show isn't real, why do we watch it? Why do people watch movies? Why do people read books? Why do we watch reality shows on television? Because we all have imaginations and we enjoy imagining ourselves in those various situations we read about or see moving before our eyes.

When I watched The Blair Witch Project, I knew it wasn't real, but I've been in the woods at night and I've heard strange sounds; it's scary. When I read books I feel as if I'm with those characters in that story, living what they're living, feeling what they're feeling. And when I watch reality shows on television, I watch them because I can relate to some of those situations they're going through (like eating bull testicles... wait, not that).

I enjoy MSTX because while I'm being nervous for those people I'm also trying to figure out the mystery in my head. The contestants know they're not going to die, but when they're sitting in a graveyard alone at 11:00 PM or walking through an abandoned mill and it starts up suddenly, they're scared. They know they have to buck up and concentrate on solving the case, but they're scared. They know the town is full of actors, but when they see their own faces in some video footage sent by the killer, they're scared. That's what makes this show fun to watch.

So what happened this week?

I'm not going to say much because you can read more than you want to know at this address, http://www.fox.com/smalltownx/. But to quickly round up the episodes main events, the scooby gang:

• attended a funeral
• searched a cabin, found some blood and a shrine
• dug up an empty grave
• questioned some people
• chased someone into the woods, eventually arresting him
• yadda yadda yadda... read the recap

What I really want to look at is the team's dynamics thus far.

Last week Andy was the lifeguard, and he chose Kristen to go out and investigate on the third night. The group selected Shirley. Shirley and Kristen went to their designated areas, and Shirley (the show's only African-American contestant) was eliminated. Kristen came back pissed off at Andy and vowed to get him back.

Last night we found out that Shirley had chosen Kristen to be this week's lifeguard. And it was obvious whom Kristen was going after when it was time... poor little Andy. But when the time did come, the group all voted for Andy so that Kristen would have to choose someone else: Brian.

It was beautiful to see Kristen squirm; I'm not a Kristen fan. She was a real queen in this episode. At one point Angel and Andy were at the graveyard and had to split up to patrol two separate graves. Andy called in to HQ and told Kristen that they should get two people down there so that neither he nor Angel would be alone and vulnerable to the killer. Kristen hung up on him.

What in the world, Kristen? The game is to figure out who the murderer is, not allow your teammates to be picked off one by one. The fewer number of people you have because of personal vendettas, the harder your work becomes. If you know that at least one person is leaving the show every three days, then why chance losing a second because you're mad at Andy? Haven't you watched these types of shows before? Don't you know it's hard being the leader and making decisions like Andy did? You need to start playing as a team member Kristen, it won't work another way this time. It's like my old football coach used to say, "Team before me." You can find the word "me" in "team" Kristen, but not the other way around.

Kristen and the rest of the gang will need to start acting more like a team or they're going to find themselves short some team members fast.

And now for my Killer Guess of the Week:
I'm still with Rusty Crandall. I don't know why, though, yet.

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