‘Diarra from Detroit’ Is the Detective Hangout Comedy You Didn’t Know You Needed

While tracking down her landlord's missing desk, a self-appointed P.I. sees her first paid gig spiral into a murder investigation, love triangle, and citywide treasure hunt in Diarra Kilpatrick's fun-first summer noir.

In the wake of big hits like “Only Murders in the Building” and the broader deluge of widely watched crime shows, modern TV is willing to contort genre descriptions into endless multi-hyphenates so long as they include “murder-mystery.” Amid this year’s action murder-mysteries (“Ride or Die”), existential murder-mysteries (“DTF St. Louis”), and “classic” (read: tawdry) murder-mysteries (“I Will Find You,” “Imperfect Women,” “His & Hers”), we’ve been treated (or “treated”) to the increasingly popular sub-genre of comedic murder-mysteries, such as, “How to Get to Heaven from Belfast,” “The Burbs,” “Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed,” and — adding “superhero” to the chain of hyphenates — “Spider-Noir.”

Whether you’ve seen all of these, none of them, or land somewhere in between, even secondhand exhaustion is hard to avoid. Each additional entry seems equally desperate to distinguish itself (by stuffing one more genre into the formula) as it is to achieve universal appeal (by blending in with viewers’ existing favorites). Just bearing witness to the marketing for all these murder-mysteries is enough to make any discerning viewer desperate for Hollywood to hurry up and start chasing the next trend already.

Except, that is, when a breezy new prospect strolls in and reminds us why the genre has been a TV mainstay decade after decade. “Diarra from Detroit” isn’t technically “new.” Originally a BET+ series before the bosses at Paramount consolidated as much as they could into the name-brand streamer, creator Diarra Kilpatrick’s dark-comic murder-mystery noir (I know, I know, another mouthful) debuted at the 2023 Tribeca Festival before finally reaching wider audiences in Spring 2024. It took another year for Paramount to renew the series, and another year before Season 2 was set to premiere.

For those of you averse to simple math (and who’ve never heard of a news peg), that means “Diarra from Detroit” Season 2 is finally here — and worth the wait. Kilpatrick’s original series is elaborate and adventurous, sure, tracing its multifaceted mystery from inauspicious origins to an earth-shaking conclusion, but it’s also funny and fresh; the kind of clever and warm hangout comedy that’s perfectly suited for a summer fling, even if you think you’ve had your fill of genre-mash murder-mysteries.

Season 2, fittingly, picks up at a backyard barbecue, where Diarra (Kilpatrick) escorts Chris (Shannon Wallace), aka Deonte, through a welcome home party thrown by his extended biological family, neighborhood hangers-on, and new friends — aka, Diarra’s crew, Aja (DomiNque Perry) and Tea (Bryan Terrell Clark). But amid the crooning local singers and walks down memory lane, trouble lurks.

For one, Diarra is still trying to track down the Detroit power-player known as The Chief, who put a hit out on her boyfriend. She thinks Chris’ mom, Vonda (Phylicia Rashad), may know more than she’s letting on, and uses the party as cover for a quick peek around her house. All she’s risking is her relationship with the woman who could end up her mother-in-law, and that’s nothing to a dedicated P.I…. right? Right?!

Maybe not, which brings up the other predicament: Diarra is already thinking about dumping her man. After spending all of Season 1 searching for Chris (who she fell for after just one date), she’s finally got him… and he’s a mess. He’s still recovering from being abducted and lied to, and all his anguish — while understandable — is ruining the romance. Is this really the guy she wants to be with? Does she even know him? Or is she just making up excuses to protect herself from exposing sides of herself she’s not even sure are real?

Circumstances won’t let her escape so easily, though, when their landlord, Ron (Glynn Turman), hires Diarra to track down his missing armoire. School is out for the summer, and Chris still doesn’t have a job, so the could-be, would-be, should-be-happy couple embarks on her first paid P.I. gig together — testing their relationship while Diarra tests her developing skills as a semi-professional detective.

And boy are they tested. Soon enough, the simple case of a missing antique balloons into a triple homicide involving warring street gangs and requiring a citywide treasure hunt. Back at home, Diarra’s biological ticking clock goes into overdrive when her doubts about Chris are compounded the reemergence of a matured ex-boyfriend who’s eager to have kids (Cliff “Method Man” Smith) and her lingering feelings for Danger — no, not the thrill she gets from unsafe sleuthing, but her childhood friend (played by Jon Chaffin) who, unbeknownst to Diarra, is alive and well upstate. (His strung-out C-plot, however, is the one Season 2 story that’s D.O.A.)

Like “Detroiters” and “Out of Sight” crossed with “Indiana Jones” and “The Goonies,” Season 2 could easily skew into “doing too much” territory, if not for its dedication to comedy. Episodes engineer as many consistent breaks in the case as they do breaks from the case, usually with everyone sitting down for strong cocktails and social catch-ups. They get meals at a gentrified local club with historic ties to their investigation. They pour each other cocktails at Diarra’s house before poring over new evidence. They’re always finding an excuse to host a happy hour, even when there’s little to be happy about, and their joy is, indeed, infectious.

Forcing fun on burdened people may be a bad idea in real life, but it buoys a summer noir that thrives in the light. “Diarra fom Detroit” may be the latest example of a troubling trend, but it’s so animated and spry that it ends up being just the reprieve we need. Kick back and enjoy the summer, everyone.

Grade: B

“Diarra from Detroit” premieres with two episodes Wednesday, July 29 on Paramount+. New episodes will be released weekly through the finale on September 9.