If you’d rather wait and watch all 13 episodes of the limited series at once, you can pick up the DVD set on September 8th.

Here’s a scene from last week’s episode. It’s a bit of a shocker at the end and will spoil the episode if you haven’t seen it.

Did you catch that? There’s. Someone. On. The. Roof. It’s almost as cliche as the phone call coming from inside the house.

I’m trying to remember which characters are alive without referring to an Internet source for fear of being spoiled. Abby (played by Elaine Cassidy) is still kicking as are the bride (played by Katie Cassidy) and groom (played by Christopher Gorham). And the bride’s sister and her daughter and the British guy and his girlfriend. And two of the groom’s friends. Oh, and Abby’s townie friend/bartender.

But the bride’s father is dead, as is her stepmother. So are the groom’s uncle, cousin and brother, plus two of his groomsmen. At least two bridesmaids bit the dust. Not to mention the poor sheriff. And the minister, the wedding planner, three deputies, the bride’s ex-boyfriend, one or more townies and probably a few more characters I’ve forgotten.

At first, when there were too many characters to keep track of, each new death wasn’t all that shocking. As the series progressed and the body count rose, I actually starting worrying about the remaining characters. I didn’t think the groom’s brother would be killed and I certainly expected the sheriff to survive. His death was perhaps the most gruesome in that he obviously knew he was going to die and knew there was nothing he could do about it.

I’m trying to keep my expectations low because it seems increasingly unlikely that the finale can deliver a compelling ending. I just don’t see how the killer can be revealed as one of the surviving characters. And if the killer is some random stranger, what’s the point? There’s supposed to be a mystery to Harper’s Island and it seems to me that the mystery aspect has been downplayed in favor of gore.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Still, the show is surprisingly entertaining if watching ditzy blondes fall into holes and be lit on fire is your kind of thing. Here’s a trailer courtesy of CBS.com:

The reason there wasn’t an open discussion for the latest episode, “Thwack,” is because I didn’t think CBS aired an episode this past weekend. It turns out I was off by a week. This coming Saturday, May 16th, Harper’s Island is being pre-empted in favor of a repeat of The Mentalist. But the following week, on May 23rd, it will be back with its sixth episode. If the ending of “Thwack” was any indication the show is going to be getting good and gory.

One of the complaints I’ve raised about the show thus far is that there are too many characters and many of them look the same. Especially the blonde bridesmaids, one of whom fell into a hole and was lit on fire. And nobody noticed. Other characters have been cut in half, decapitated, shot in the face, sliced apart by the propellers of a boat. Oh, and that one guy shot himself in the leg and bled to death. And presumably, Thomas Wellington (the bride’s father) had some sort of sharp metal thing fall on his head during the rehearsal ceremony. Ouch.

I’ll admit that many of the subplots aren’t very interesting. And it’s really a pity that Elaine Cassidy, who plays Abby Mills (and is not related to Katie Cassidy who plays Trish Wellington), can’t use her native Irish accent. What a shame. On a totally unrelated note, co-executive producer Karim Zreik has a wonderful blog at Television Without Pity where he discusses the production of each episode.

Finally, I defy anyone to watch the following scene and tell me you’re not the least bit intrigued to see more:

If you are interested in catching up on Harper’s Island you can watch full episodes here.

HARPER’S ISLAND is a 13-episode murder mystery about a group of family and friends who travel to a secluded island for a destination wedding. They’ve come to laugh… to love… and, though they don’t know it… to die. As the wedding festivities begin, friendships are tested and secrets exposed as a murderer claims victims, one by one, transforming the wedding week of fun and celebration into a terrifying struggle for survival. Henry, the boy next door, is marrying the woman of his dreams, Trish Wellington, a beautiful and wealthy heiress. But as the wedding week begins, people start dying. Every episode, someone is killed. Wedding guests and island locals, every person is a suspect. No one is safe. No one can be trusted. By the end of the 13 episodes, all questions will be answered, the killer will be revealed and only a few will survive.

The thirteenth and final episode is set to air on June 2nd, 2009. The official CBS website for Harper’s Island can be found here. Lower Decks won’t be reviewing the series but we will be trying something new: open discussions for each episode posted at 10:00PM ET every Thursday.

According to this post at The Live Feed, although Harper’s Island will end after just thirteen episodes, the “concept” may continue:

If the show survives, future seasons will start fresh, with a new cast attending a different kind of gathering (such as a bachelor party, or high school reunion, says CBS entertainment president Nina Tassler).

In fact, the show will also change locations — which could make for a challenge when trying to retain some consistency with the show’s title. Turteltaub joked future rounds could take place on a rocket ship or on a safari.

Among the cast of Harper’s Island are Katie Cassidy (who played Ruby on Supernatural), Gina Holden (she was Dale Arden on SCI FI Channel’s Flash Gordon series) and Christopher Gorham (the star of UPN’s short-lived Jake 2.0), plus Harry Hamlin, Adam Campbell and Elaine Cassidy.