“Death at the Grand”
Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries Episode 3.6
Available on: Netflix or DVD (Amazon link)
Rating: Two and a
Half Stars (out of five)
Why must you do this to me, show? After a really good 3.4 and a fantastic 3.5,
you give me… this. Phryne’s father is
back in this one, and neither she nor I is pleased to see him. For the Baron of Richland is not a good
father or a pleasant chap in general. I
have a feeling we’re supposed to see him as an endearing rogue, but as you can
probably tell, he is not dear to me.
There are a few fun moments in the episode, and the main mystery I guess
works okay, but the Baron grates, and that undermines my overall enjoyment of
the episode to the extent that I had to introduce a half star for the first
time ever.
The episode opens with one of the aforementioned fun
moments, as Phryne quizzes Dot on different types of handguns, which are spread
on the table in front of them. Dot is an
apt student, so look out, world! Then
Aunt Prudence arrives with the news that her sister, Phryne’s mother, is out of
money and looking for a loan. This means
trouble, because Phryne’s father was supposed to have wired her a large sum,
courtesy of Phryne, before departing Australia at the close of episode 3.1.
Then the phone rings, and it’s Jack, of course. He needs Phryne at a crime scene; a concierge
has been stabbed on the roof of Melbourne’s Grand Hotel, and a bag bearing
Phryne’s name was found at the scene.
Why? Well, instead of going back
to England, the Baron of Richland has been living it up in the Grand
Hotel. And now we know why Phryne’s
mother doesn’t have any money.
In their quest to figure out who killed the concierge,
Phryne and Jack uncover a robbery, illicit gambling, and old feud between the
Baron and one his associates. There’s
also a second murder and a possibility that the Baron might be a murderer,
either in the present or the past. Could
we be so lucky? Would this show go that
dark? That you might discover the
answers to these questions is the main reason to watch this episode. The solution to this mystery is plausible,
but it’s also clearly more about setting up the last two episodes than it is
about telling a story on its own. Logically,
the last episodes will involve the Baron, and I don’t like it one bit.
We also have a weird side plot involving Dot and Constable
Martin, who spent the previous episode irritating us all with his sexism. That’s improved… but will he be romantic
competition for Hugh? You can probably
guess the answer to that, but just in case, I’m not telling. This plotline does one thing: it makes me
want Hugh back. If that was the point,
writers, you’ve succeeded. Finally,
there’s a bit of romantic banter between Jack and Phryne, but it felt forced to
me, like it was put there just to have it there. This is an excellent example of an episode
where the mystery-solving and the romantic comedy just don’t mix very well.
As you can probably tell, I’m not fond of the episode, and I
hope the writers manage to rescue the Baron’s storyline to give us something
decent for the last two episodes. I’m
not terribly optimistic, but we’ll find out soon.
The next post should be a book post, and I promise I’ll have
nicer things to say!
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