If You Like 'Rye Lane's Vivian Oparah, Watch Her New Comedy Thriller Series

The Big Picture

• Dead Hot reinvigorates the mystery genre with authentic portrayals and emotional storytelling as it shows two close friends searching for a loved one.
• The series features a diverse cast with several LGBTQ+ characters whose intense emotions drive the narrative.
• The show subverts genre norms with its relatable characters and inclusive storytelling, providing a new way to do mysteries.

While one of cinema's most successful and famous genres, mystery tends to start looking the same after a while. Though they always feature different kinds of characters and plots, these thriller stories of shocking discoveries rarely stray from their focus on some super-intelligent genius who uses their vast resources to unravel whatever question they encounter. This has led the genre to lack the nuanced themes necessary for audiences to really connect to its stories, which is why Dead Hot, created by Charlotte Coben, is so refreshing. A thrilling mystery-comedy featuring a primarily LGBTQ+ cast, this Tubi series veers sharply away from the anxiety-inducing intrigue of similar tales to create a surprisingly realistic showcase of how the average person would act when thrust into a mystery - namely, how completely unskilled they'd be. Led by the astounding talents of Vivian Oparah and Bilal Hasna, the series offers a hilarious look at two 20-somethings whose flawed but well-intentioned attempts to solve a mystery will resonate with everyone watching. They are a sharp veer away from the suave sleuths that fill this genre. However, by utilizing these authentic portrayals of people whose love for one another drives their mission, the show creates a welcome innovation that completely reinvents how future mysteries are told.

Dead Hot (2024)

Dead Hot explores themes of class, love and identity through the friendship of Elliot and Jess, brought together by the loss of Peter, Elliot's first love interest and Jess's brother.

This Cast Understands What Makes a Good Mystery

While Dead Hot features a fascinating story, so much of its success is due to the exceptional talent at its center. While known for her heartwarming performance as Yas in Rye Lane, directed by Raine Allen Miller, Vivian Oparah has flexed her talents in far more projects than this inventive romantic comedy. From the scientific thrill of the Doctor Who universe to introspective shorts of woodland adventure, the actress has developed a wide range of roles that made her perfectly equipped to play Jess, a young woman mourning the sudden disappearance of her twin. Her partner for the season is Bilal Hasna as Elliot, an actor fans may know most from his role as the time-rewinding Kash in the Hulu series Extraordinary. His time on this superpowered dramedy sees the funny character go to some truly heartbreaking places, and paired with his other work - ranging from a nervous assistant in The 3-Body Problem to a drag queen in Layla - it's clear he has the nuance necessary for intense mysteries like this. Both are astounding performers quickly making a reputation for their versatile talents - which makes them perfect for Dead Hot, a series that subverts its own plot constantly and always keeps the audience guessing.

The program finds Jess and Elliot five years after Jess' twin brother, Peter (Olisa Odele), went missing, the only reminder of him being their memories, mementos, and a severed finger that Elliot stumbled upon in the wake of his apparent murder. They've barely begun to process that he's gone, but after Elliot has an amazing date with a cute man from a club, Will (Marcus Hodson), the pair realize that the only way to grow is to accept that Peter is most likely dead and begin healing. They commit to doing that - until Jess finds out through a DNA site that someone closely related to her is out there, and Elliot's second date with Will sees him stumble upon yet another bloody finger and an empty crime scene. Like any good mystery, this wild set of circumstances snowballs in shocking but interconnected ways, the pair of amateur detectives using tools like gay dating apps and dog grooming records to begin deciphering the tangled web they hadn't known Peter was stuck in. It's an enthralling mystery featuring a variety of jaw-dropping elements that fans of the genre know well, but the show departs from the norm in two major ways: its shocking comedy and the resonant love at its core.

'Dead Hot' Uses Feelings In the Best Way Possible

While the best mysteries use emotions to emphasize the severity of the plot, there's never been one like Dead Hot that uses feeling to drive its entire narrative. Masterpieces like Knives Out or A Murder at the End of the World are extremely innovative, infusing the classic mystery format with modern elements. However, the emotional aspects are often downplayed to focus on the (usually dark) complex machinations driving their investigations forward. Gaining access to the minds of these geniuses is a boon for the audiences, but also a curse. Their unbelievable skills immediately distance viewers, causing a division usually furthered by a lack of emotive storytelling that makes the mystery riveting but not relatable. This is where Dead Hot thrives, as Jess and Elliot's quest for the truth is messy, jumbled, and awkward, a sharp turn away from their contemporary's calm and cool actions. Their constant mistakes and bad judgment are painful to watch, but that's a good thing; not only are these fumbles exceedingly hilarious, but they make each character feel so much more authentic, granting their experiences more levity as audiences quickly learn the heartbreaking, utterly human depths that each character carries.

Where Hasna and Oparah shine is in showing how deeply and how hard each of their characters love not only the lost Peter but each other. They call one another their 'platonic soulmate,' skewing the media's emphasis on romance; while Elliot was in love with Peter on a romantic level, the show spotlights the gravitas of this intimacy as much as it does Jess' love for her brother or how deeply the pair have bonded in the wake of such a tremendous loss. Yes, this intense emotion drives their every action as they want to discover what happened to Peter, but it also grants the other some reprieve, wanting closure for the other person as much as they want it for themselves. By grounding itself in these intense feelings, the show makes each episode immensely relatable, using the endearing nature of its characters and capitalizing on this connection with the audience to make each joke, discovery, and dead end that much more impactful to everyone watching. It's impressive storytelling that is innovative for the mystery genre, with Dead Hot reimagining how these stories can be told and what kind of people can be their heroes.

'Dead Hot' Completely Changes What A Mystery Can Be

Mystery is a historic genre, made famous by classic heroes like Sherlock Holmes and continued by modern legends who still carry the savvy nature that established the medium many years ago. Yet, with any form of media that has persisted for so long, there's a need for stories that subvert the parameters that many creators unconsciously place upon themselves because they believe it's needed to fit within a genre. That is why Dead Hot is such a monumental addition to mystery as a whole. Even beyond this series being one of television's most inclusive in terms of casting, its ability to present a thrilling narrative through the heartfelt lens of two best friends searching for their loved one creates an overwhelmingly engaging plot that your average viewer can find themselves within. Its artful use of these emotions emphasizes the severity of the mystery that carries the plot forward, making it so that even within the series' hilarious comedy, viewers can really understand what's at stake for these lovable protagonists. It is a complex and inventive story - with two icons at its center to boot - and signals an amazing shift for the genre going forward.

Dead Hot is Available to Stream on Tubi in the U.S.

WATCH ON TUBI

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