tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post786430550167300840..comments2024-03-27T11:26:20.466-07:00Comments on The Passing Tramp: "Forget It, Morse; It's Oxfordshire." Endeavour: Series Two (2014)The Passing Tramphttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-6759181105766043742020-01-10T22:37:27.659-08:002020-01-10T22:37:27.659-08:00I haven’t seen the last series of Endeavour but be...I haven’t seen the last series of Endeavour but believe we’re getting it here in the US this year, 2020. Normally I would have found a way to watch it when it came out in the UK. My favorites are Morse and then the Inspector Lewis Series. But I care about Endeavour a great deal, although I can’t equate his character or Shaun Evans with Morse no matter how much I enjoy the series. Jan. 10, 2020Elizabeth Gabberhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04755039100900142398noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-43121074077651379172014-07-31T06:08:49.964-07:002014-07-31T06:08:49.964-07:00"and yet virtually every one of them had huge...<em>"and yet virtually every one of them had huge cliffhangers with promised character deaths."</em><br /><br />That's one of the many things I find depressing about modern TV. Killing off regular characters just to prove how dark and edgy your program is. Because nothing is more important than being dark and edgy.dfordoomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02306293859869179118noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-63846439018325370142014-07-30T21:55:25.525-07:002014-07-30T21:55:25.525-07:00Oh, yes: I know what you mean about the plot holes...Oh, yes: I know what you mean about the plot holes! I didn't want to get into spoilers, but my mind was reeling from all the improbabilities that had piled up (even more than the bodies) by the end.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-45962568352639949432014-07-30T21:53:15.191-07:002014-07-30T21:53:15.191-07:00If Roger Allam doesn't return, I hope he gets ...If Roger Allam doesn't return, I hope he gets his own series. He is really good!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-15087824430004996752014-07-30T21:22:28.858-07:002014-07-30T21:22:28.858-07:00Couldn't agree with you more: "Neverland&...Couldn't agree with you more: "Neverland" was screened this evening on one of our local PBS stations and by the end of it we were pretty disgusted, ridiculing the attempt to manipulate us into a craving for the next series. The episode itself was pretty dreffle, and full of implausibilities beyond just the bodycount (e.g., where, in the early 1960s, did she get hold of that gun?) and the very tired theme of past child abuse. The plot had the feeling of a committee effort.<br /><br />Roger Allam rocks, though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-40688180696500077612014-07-30T17:55:32.325-07:002014-07-30T17:55:32.325-07:00Jack, I've reviewed, I think, the first five s...Jack, I've reviewed, I think, the first five seasons of Poirot. I really should do tags, but haven't gotten lazy about that. If you type Poirot or Suchet in the search box, that should take you there.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-18937573647180901412014-07-30T17:53:31.917-07:002014-07-30T17:53:31.917-07:00Oh, yeah, John, I thought too that the thefts plot...Oh, yeah, John, I thought too that the thefts plot was going to be resolved in ep 4 and instead, as you so aptly put it, we got "another egocentric mad killer" talking incessantly and Morse screaming, "You're mad!" We've seen this all before, lol.<br /><br />I assume they're going to do something with the thefts in series 3, in 2016, but that's a long wait. I hope it's better than what they came up with ep 4.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-16908217260921287812014-07-30T17:13:56.922-07:002014-07-30T17:13:56.922-07:00I guess I was typing too fast and my thoughts were...I guess I was typing too fast and my thoughts weren't conveyed properly in my comment above. I meant that the theft of evidence hinted at a police conspiracy. The final episode I thought would further develop that recurring theft motif in the earlier episodes. I didn't really work out the way I expected. I figured there was going to be a story about a secret society of corrupt policemen who were intent on discrediting Morse hoping to get him thrown off the force or get him killed in the line of duty. I wasn't prepared (and was thoroughly disappointed to be frank) for a story about yet another egocentric mad killer (who talked incessantly like the worst of cliche villains in the climax) and a couple of deranged relatives. That's what I meant when I wrote "I wasn't too keen on how that interesting plot thread culminated in the final episode."J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-6192303675641820532014-07-30T16:24:33.011-07:002014-07-30T16:24:33.011-07:00I really enjoy the Endeavour series though I admit...I really enjoy the Endeavour series though I admit the plots are sometimes so convoluted that I have trouble keeping them straight. There does seem to be a bit of a rush to explain everything at the end of each episode. I love the actors but, again, my US ear sometimes has trouble picking up what they're saying due to the accents. I have a friend who watches with subtitles for that very reason. I guess it's my love of noir, but I enjoyed the last episode until the cliffhanger, which had me hollering at the TV!<br /><br />I loved the old Morse series and have been reading the books in order. They are quite good, but I still prefer Detective Montalbano by Camilleri, both the books and the TV shows.<br /><br />Do you plan to review the new Poirot series? Those of us without Acorn only get 2 eps.Jack Seabrookhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02216640325305820140noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-52511382808837176512014-07-30T13:38:12.122-07:002014-07-30T13:38:12.122-07:00Yes, Jeff, we do not seem to live in an age of res...Yes, Jeff, we do not seem to live in an age of restraint, when it comes to the visual arts! I think people have gotten to expect more and more blood, bodies and foreboding, but I don't believe that's what Morse should be about.The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-74834016290711718202014-07-30T13:35:44.281-07:002014-07-30T13:35:44.281-07:00John, frankly, I didn't quite understand how t...John, frankly, I didn't quite understand how the theft plot thread culminated in the last episode, or even if it did, but then there was a lot about that last episode that didn't make sense to me! <br /><br />I thought his relationship with the nurse was appealing, but, as you say, that just piffles away. I think in Season One they did a better job of exploring Morse's personal life. The best personal story went to DI Thursday in Sway, which also had some really good supporting performances.<br /><br />There's quite a bit of difference between the books and the films, with the latter being more emotionally engaging.<br /><br />Yes, the ghost story in Nocturne was quite neat. Thanks for mentioning that, I didn't quite make that explicit above. I thought that episode was wonderful. It would have made a great novel!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-74319280602892125832014-07-30T10:54:11.299-07:002014-07-30T10:54:11.299-07:00The final episode was hinted at in the previous ep...The final episode was hinted at in the previous episodes as there was important evidence that kept disappearing form the police station, notably evidence Morse himself collected and was holding. The inference beiong that someone in the police station was trying to cover up murder investigations and make Endeavor look bad. I wasn't too keen on how that interesting plot thread culminated in the final episode. The body count was a bit too much, as you say above. I have to as say my favorite of this l series was NOCTURNE. You can imagine why it appealed to me. It has all the trappings that I love in detective fiction -- haunted house, ghost legend, children in peril, etc. I would have enjoyed more between Endeavor and his nurse neighbor in the final episode. Their relationship just sort of piffles away and is dismissed with in the last episode. I've never read any of the Morse books nor do I know much of the series. Was the nurse ever talked about or mentioned? Or was she an invention by Russell Lewis?J F Norrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06473487417479127354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-78544879493698978612014-07-30T06:22:58.947-07:002014-07-30T06:22:58.947-07:00Yes, it was nice to have the reference to McNutt, ...Yes, it was nice to have the reference to McNutt, wasn't it?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-79349550160111721232014-07-30T04:25:13.752-07:002014-07-30T04:25:13.752-07:00Sergio, here would be a grade breakdown from me:
...Sergio, here would be a grade breakdown from me:<br /><br />Endeavour (Pilot Film): A<br />Girl: A<br />Fugue: A<br />Rocket: B<br />Home: A<br />Trove: B<br />Nocturne: A<br />Sway: A<br />Neverland: D <br /><br />So if you look at like that my overall grade for the series probably would be a B+ or more likely an A-. But I really hated the last episode of Season 2! I'm hoping Morse will wake up in bed and start telling Monica about ep 4 and she will tell him, "it was just a dream."<br /><br />Yes, I did like the bits about The Wolvercote Tongue. There was a lot of clever stuff in eps 1-3 of season 2, no question. I don't hold some of the modern stuff against them, like the ubiquitous serial killer plots. Serial killer plots often are quite good, and after all in Masonic Mysteries "Inspector Morse" helped get the ball rolling a quarter century ago (by the way I see Masonic Mysteries is hinted at in this series).<br /><br />By the way, surely the battered nose bit in Trove was a deliberate nod to Chinatown? I wonder what Colin Dexter makes of all this? I see he's still doing the cameos!The Passing Tramphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09830680639601570152noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-66868033408270505202014-07-30T03:27:13.286-07:002014-07-30T03:27:13.286-07:00I agree, I don't know what it is about modern ...I agree, I don't know what it is about modern TV, but the dramas have really crossed the line into melodramas. I only watch a handful of programs, and yet virtually every one of them had huge cliffhangers with promised character deaths. I'm more than a bit annoyed with it. Jeffrey Markshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08422459407138331707noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-137677673775151256.post-17248358748246081602014-07-30T02:05:43.992-07:002014-07-30T02:05:43.992-07:00So Curt, to be clear, you really liked the first 8...So Curt, to be clear, you really liked the first 8 stories but not the 9th? From your preamble I thought you were going to slam the entire show (all of which has been written by Lewis, which is incredibly unusual for this kind of series, even in the UK). You seem to have retrospectively been harsher on the whole thing just because of the finale. I agree, the last story is overdone - but they decided to build on the conspiracy arc and I also enjoyed some of the other nods to previous stories (did you spot in 'Nocturne' the references to the 'Wolvercote Tongue' and the character later played by Geoffrey Palmer in 'The Infernal Serpent'? I thought these were very well done). As you say, it's not like we don;lt know how this will eventually turn out - but yes, less melodrama next time would be good (and I did like the steadily tarnished poster, a very nice touch). Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com