Although Death in Paradise is a comedy drama, Ardal O'Hanlon has hinted that the series will take a "darker turn", and some fans think that it might mean the end of DS Florence Cassell. The ominous trailer for Thursday's episode hints that someone will be murdered after a gunshot is fired, and some fans believed that it might be Florence who is in danger.
Is Florence in danger?
Taking to Twitter, one person wrote: "Not liking the look of next week's episode, very dark and very bad looking for Florence." Another person added: "Are you kidding me… If ANYTHING happens to Florence…" A third person tweeted: "But the trailer for next week’s episode. It seemed to me like something might happen to Florence!" The official synopsis reads: "A fishing community is excited about the arrival of their festival queen for an annual celebration, but when her boat arrives with only her dead body on board, DI Mooney is left, yet again, with a baffling mystery to solve. What could a missing loaf of bread have to do with the crime?"
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Speaking about how the new series is darker than usual, Ardal told Radio Times: "It's definitely got a slightly darker tone, I would say that about it. There's some really dynamic, very dramatic scenes. Something that you wouldn't necessarily associate with Death in Paradise. It's got all the normal Death in Paradise ingredients, but it's got this other dimension as well. There's also kind of a love story, which is explored in episodes five and six." In the show, Florence is preparing to marry her fiancé Patrice Campbell, and Josephine Jobert opened up about her romance storyline, explaining: "I was a bit afraid because I didn't want her to become the girly girl. But when the producer called me a few months before we started filming… And then he told me what was going to happen with that love story, and I was like, 'It's brilliant, I love this, let's do this. Are you sure? Because it's crazy!' And he said, 'Yeah – we're going to do this.'"