“Blood and Money”
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, Episode 3.4
Available on: Netflix
(DVDs will be released on October 27, 2015)
Rating: Four
Stars (out of five)
For me, this is the best episode of the season so far. The mystery has a lot of twists, but it isn’t
hard to follow and the solution makes sense.
Also, while Phryne and Jack have some nice personal moments, those
moments are driven by the story rather than the other way around. Things between Dot and Hugh aren’t so good,
though, and the manufactured drama between them keeps this from being a
five-star episode.
The plot concerns the murders of two boys from Melbourne’s
impoverished Collingwood district, where Phryne spent much of her childhood. Phryne is drawn into the case when Paddy, a
young homeless boy, asks her to find his missing brother. The boys are part of a gang called the Bottle
Top Boys, and the case concerns medical research and a drug-and-jewelry-theft
scheme as well as the murders. Paddy
approaches Phryne because she’s legendary in Collingwood, and she takes the
case because she wants to help people from her old neighborhood. I like it when the show references Phryne’s
origins, and they used those origins particularly well here.
The subplot involves Hugh’s mother’s opposition to his
conversion. There were always religious
tensions between Dot and Hugh, but we haven’t heard a lot about this until now,
and we certainly haven’t met his mother.
That Hugh’s mother opposes the marriage isn’t all that surprising, but
it’s really irritating that he
chooses not to tell Dot. He tells her
nothing—and does not adequately explain why.
Clearly, the writers wanted a reason to delay Dot and Hugh’s marriage
without breaking them up. It feels
manufactured and can you tell I find it irritating? Frankly, Hugh is a jerk in this episode, and
he’s been a jerk all season. I hope they
redeem him in the remaining four episodes.
Mac is great in this episode. We see her in her non-ME professional capacity,
and she also assists in the investigation.
I love her and Phryne’s friendship, and I’m glad we get to see more of
her this season. Jane, on the other
hand, is still totally MIA. Everyone
seems to have forgotten that Phryne had an adopted daughter, and I can’t help
but find this odd.
Overall, I really enjoyed this episode and hope the show
continues on the trajectory established here in the second half of Season
Three.
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