TamLynn: PI
Official Site / Listen : Click Here
(Gypsy Audio Productions)

The tagline is “Not Your Mother’s Private Eye” and it pretty much sums up the series. Not only is it mature in nature, and definitely not for family audience, but it also has an extremely unique twist on the detective genre. It combines fantasylike characters– fairies, brownies, vampires and the like with classic noir private eye style atmosphere and style. On the surface, it is a lot like shows such as Black Jack Justice or films like The Maltese Falcon– a hardboiled detective caught up in a mystery that seems too big for them until cleverly deciphering the whole thing. Add in darker than usual plots, a world where literally anything is possible and you have TamLynn: PI.

The writing of the general plots seems to be predictable until some unusual twists at the end which Gwendolyn Jensen-Woodard pulls in. Episode one introduces the main characters of TamLynn and Doyle, as well as sets the tone for the series in a palpable way. If you hear episode one, that is exactly what the series will be like so you don’t have to be guessing about whether you’d enjoy episode two or not. The concept is very complete right from the pilot, with characters firmly established. Unlike season one of many television shows where everyone is clearly still trying to find their feet, TamLynn is fully realized from the very beginning.

The mixing is very amateur in the first few episodes, particularly in the scene transitions, but it slowly begins to improve. While doing a minimalist soundscape sounds easy, it really is not. When there are fewer effects, each one becomes that much more important, so if they are poorly executed it is even more obvious than in a background with tons of effects all jostling for attention. Even with the production issues, however, the show is still quite well written and clever. Personally I find its plotlines too adult in nature for my taste, however I realize that this is not a concern for everyone which is why I included the review. Remember that the content is not PG before you start listening– if that isn’t a problem you’re in for some witty sort of dialogue, unique stories and fun characters. Otherwise, do not listen to the series because it does go places that aren’t entirely appropriate for a general audience.