The Sins of the Fathers

The story opens with a man struck from behind as he inspects a room in a brewery. His body is then thrown into a vat full of mash. Apparently, Morse is put on the case because of his fixation for a pint or two. He finds himself at the home of the victim, a very rich man who was in charge of the family brewery which may soon be sold to a big beer company, Farmers. It turns out that this is a 150 year old operation and the family has grown into mega-snobs. Everyone seems to be lying in some way and there is infighting all over the place. Of course, this will not be the only murder as is usually the case with Morse episodes. Duplicity and also incompetency abound here.

An intriguing and interesting episode of Morse. Considering Morse's love for beer it was inevitable that we'd have a beer-themed episode and here it is - a murder in a brewery. Lewis even remarks to Morse at the beginning that he should be in his element.

In addition to the murder mystery there's a few interesting sub-plots going on. Similar to S3 E1 - Ghost in the Machine - Morse has a run-in with some posh types who think even the police are at their beck and call. This time it's Old Money, rather than the aristocracy.

Some good banter between Morse and Lewis too. Lewis gets in some good jibes.

On the subject of the fun side, Dr Russell and, going back further, Max are sorely missed. They still haven't been replaced with anyone interesting. The pathology side was always a wonderfully engaging aspect of Morse and that has now fallen by the wayside.

Just to second the motion raised by other commenters: This episode is notable for its weird, distracting camera angles; lots of shots in mirrors, through windows, on polished metal signs, etc.; confusing focus on hands, ears, lips, armpits (yes, literally), or other body parts; stiff, stagey, unnatural placement of actors, as if they're posing for a photographer; and many unnecessary, jarringly sudden close-ups.

The result is that you're pulled out of the story by a director who clearly doesn't think the plot is enough to hold your attention on its own, and who, in scene after scene, is practically screaming, "Look at me! I'm so clever! I'm much more interesting than Morse!"

One crucial boardroom scene lacks a standard establishing shot, so that -- except for, briefly, their hands and a bit of the back of their heads -- we never see three of the people sitting around a long table till the end of the scene, as if the director shot just one side of the table and forgot to include the other characters.

I do like the fact that Lewis keeps smiling and continues to hold up well under Morse's perpetual grouchiness, and that he actually gets in a few impish comebacks of his own.

There was nothing interesting or entertaining about this episode apart from maybe one scene with only Morse and Lewis in it. The other characters were deadly boring as was the so called plot. Not even much in the way of beautiful scenery of Oxford. I skipped many parts just to somehow get through it all.

This may be the single most dreadful piece of direction I've seen in an otherwise good television series. Agree with the other reviews regarding mirrors and glass. Add to that artificial, amateurish angle shots and facial closeups. But the worst offender in my opinion was the stilted direction of the actors, especially in the early scenes when the action was "posed", people standing around like mannequins. An otherwise good plot, ruined by horrible direction.

At least Peter Hammond won't ever direct again, given his demise.