Exeunt

Some complain that it is too formulaic, that the ends are tied up too neatly. As Morse drives away, there is terror and threat around every corner and Thursday and his family are still in danger. We see Morse's bulldog nature not back down for a moment. I've said it before. The quality of the storytelling in a quiet and restrained way works beautifully. Morse is flawed. He is alone against the tide. He doesn't know what is next. And he retreats into the normal things that men fall heir to, but never loses his acuity. A serious mistake needs to be rectified but the implications are so vast that even a solution will never be adequate. That said, I have lost another friend as I bid farewell to this wonderful series.

Bloody hard watch hitting all the grace notes - just perfect. What's next, team? A world without Morse or Morse-adjacent is not worth living! Scene after scene providing the Morse equivalent of fanservice - restraint, words unsaid, love unrequited, duty pursued, self-sacrifice uppermost at all times. Then a quiet departure for each of the characters in turn as the new, harder era of policing hinted at throughout the 9-season run rolls in like the inexorable tide. Body count suitably improbable, as always, and plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing. Poetic and lyrical conclusion with a little homage to Thaw as we depart these civilised, golden-stoned shores forever...?

The topic of concluding episodes keeps TV reviewers and critics busy. The source of the problem requires getting onto the Wayback Machine and returning to 1967, when the final 2-part episode of the hit series THE FUGITIVE aired. It was a great series and a solid final script. But -- and this is now part of TV history -- once the audience learned who the killer really was, interest in syndicating the series fell through the floor. Every TV writer knows that cautionary tale. In the tens of 1000s of shows that followed, final episodes were deliberately written in an ambiguous way. For fan service. But also to preserve the franchise. Since this last episode of Endeavor had no need to preserve the mystery -- because the sequel was also the prequel -- writer Russell Lewis took the opportunity to give the entire planet a clinic on what a final episode should be -- reverent, engaging, easy-flowing, and, most of all, intent on tying up all the loose ends. Hands down the best concluding episode this reviewer has ever seen. ((Designated "IMDb Top Reviewer." Please check out my list "167+ Nearly-Perfect Movies (with the occasional Anime or TV miniseries) you can/should see again and again (1932 to the present))

This episode sees looking into the death of a man who appears to have died in a routine accident. There is however something far from routine about it; his death notice had appeared in that morning's Oxford Mail. It soon becomes apparent that he wasn't the first. Morse hasn't given up searching for more bodies in the grounds of a manor house; and some distinctly unpleasant characters are putting pressure on Thursday to end that particular inquiry. Meanwhile DS Strange is preparing to marry Joan Thursday and Thursday's son may be implicated in the death of a biker.

First we had 'Inspector Morse', then came 'Lewis', by the time 'Endeavour' was announced I though ITV was flogging a dead horse with this particular franchise... how wrong I was! It proved to be a really fine series and this episode gave it the send-off it deserves. We are treated a solid single episode story, the wrapping up of the season long plotline and a farewell to the main characters. Tension was high as it was far from clear whether those characters who don't appear in 'Inspector Morse' would get to walk away or come to grief, especially Thursday who put himself in real danger. As always the cast did a really fine job. Overall I thought this was a really fine episode. I imagine this really is it for the world of Morse and colleagues but who knows, perhaps in five or ten years we'll be getting 'Thursday: The Cable Street Years', 'Strange in Kidlington' or 'Young Lewis'!

'Endeavour' "Exeunt" (2023)

Opening thoughts: At its best (Seasons 1-3), 'Endeavour' is a wonderful series and has always been a major scheduling highlight when re-run. While the eighth season disappointed (especially the finale "Terminus", which didn't feel like 'Endeavour'), many of the early seasons' episodes were absolutely outstanding and worthy of 'Inspector Morse' (one of my favourites of all time) at its best. Also thoroughly enjoyed a lot of 'Lewis' and the three of them go very well with each other.

Was really psyched for this ninth and sadly final season, to see how such a high quality series would go. Was really hoping that it would be closer to the quality of early seasons 'Endeavour' and not closer to the previous one. Both the previous two episodes were wonderful and were closer to the early seasons 'Endeavour' quality thankfully. Even better is the series' last ever episode "Exeunt", what a tense, moving and powerful way to end a mostly truly fine series. So much better than the previous season's finale and possibly the best 'Endeavour' episode since "Deguello." Have seen many season finales ('Game of Thrones', the US 'House of Cards'), but this for me is one of the best.

What makes "Exeunt" a little better than "Prelude" and "Uniform" is that none of the plot strands explored felt underdeveloped, whereas "Prelude" handled two of its cases exceptionally well but could have done more with the other. Plus nothing here came over as soapy and unnecessary, which for me was the case with the Joan subplot in "Uniform".

"Exeunt" is exceptional in every way. The production values continue to be exceptionally high, exquisitely photographed and with a real sense of period lovingly and faithfully recreated. There is also a lot of atmosphere, particularly in the lighting. This atmosphere continues in the haunting music, which never felt overbearing or obvious. The theme music is iconic.

Moreover, the script is intricate and thought provoking, there is a good deal of talk but it is tight and none of it came over as filler. The storytelling is always absorbing, a lot happens with more than one case, but it never came over as disjointed or like multiple stories in one. There are a lot of twists and turns, but it still is coherent and it didn't feel over-complicated or bloated. The police corruption subplot is very brutally suspenseful and intriguing, a real sense of dread here. Corruption is familiar territory in detective/mystery dramas but doesn't feel old here. There is genuine tension here.

There is a lot of emotional impact here too. Loved the affectionate references to 'Inspector Morse', that touch right at the end was very clever and touching, reminding me how much missed the magnificent John Thaw is. The ending is heart-wrenching and also contains the most poignant use of Faure's "In Paradisum" in visual media since 'Inspector Morse's' "The Remorseful Day".

Shaun Evans is as ever charismatic in the title and Roger Allam is wonderful as always, he can do no wrong in my eyes. They have such scintillating chemistry together, their relationship is pretty much the heart of the series and has always been beautifully written even in lesser episodes. Can't fault the supporting cast either, Anton Lesser never stopped growing as Bright and is beautifully understated, even smaller moments tell a lot.

Closing thoughts: In conclusion, what was always a series always looked forward to whenever it aired could not have ended on a better note.

10/10.