Who Killed Harry Field?

An episode that sees Morse and Lewis investigate the death of an artist. This leads to some fascinating discussions about art and famous artists, to the point that I wish I knew more about the subjects. The investigation itself is just as interesting as Morse and Lewis get drips of information and it seems that they'll never unravel the case.

The ending initially feels a bit flat as there's a few unanswered questions. The series does this a lot, leaving things up in the air, to it's detriment. However, this time it's okay as the mystery is largely resolved (unlike many of the previous examples) and crime investigations are often not neatly tied up to the extent that all events are known.

The episode marks a turning point in the Morse-Lewis relationship. After generally treating Lewis with contempt before, Morse now starts to be kinder, for a variety of reasons.

The episode also produces one of the funnier scenes in the Morse series. Morse and Lewis are heading to a garage to interview the owner. Morse knows the owner as he takes his car there to be serviced but asks Lewis to conduct the interview. This is strange but Lewis goes ahead. Turns out the owner is also a Northerner and Morse can hardly understand what's he's saying (neither could I, for that matter)! Morse is essentially using Lewis as an interpreter!

One of the best Morse episodes which I have just noted has a neat visual trick to enhance the idea that all you see is not always genuine. I have watched this episode 6 or 7 times over the years and only on the last viewing noticed that the scene where Morse and Lewis confront Harry senior in the Oxford art gallery shows Harry senior filmed apparently in the same spot with an old master painting behind him but each time the camera cuts between Harry and Morse or Lewis there is a different painting behind him! I counted 5 changes of background paintings and Harry senior had not moved nor had the camera angle altered. Clever way to highlight the recurring theme of the story.

This is the first - and only - episode of the Morse series I'll comment upon, as it is easily my favorite. I rarely watched them when they first appeared here, and only after enjoying for years the Inspector Lewis corpus first, and then Endeavor through seven seasons so far, did I ever go back, find the old dvd's, and re-watch all the Morses, more than once now, too.

In this episode, the murders themselves are secondary - in fact the second one almost ignored - as it is the wonderfully bittersweet mood of this most observant and life-wearily intelligent episode that matters, often filmed late in the day in setting sun and fading light. I think this kind of sad sagacity and introspection is only reached, and perhaps only appreciated, later in life, as I am reaching now. I doubt I'd have been as profoundly struck by the melancholy feel of this episode had I watched it on its first appearance years ago.

Harry Field, the original victim, is barely seen alive in this, yet his rather raffish life is revealed in retrospect, peeled away in layers, as an art restorer such as he had been would do, revealing flaws as well as attributes. He slowly appears as a man who, failing professionally but beloved by many, we wish we could have known, just as we wish we could have had a pint in those peaceful country pubs shown here (and we get a rare inside view of Brocket Hall, a country house owned by two Victorian prime ministers, Lords Melbourne and Palmerston, a nice little bonus). There is a massive sense of loss in this episode, hanging over everything.

The acting is always impeccable, and Morse actually laughs at something funny, the delightful faux family crest mottoes for gullible Americans that Harry Field had cooked up, like the one when translated goes: "At Night, Put the Cat Out". Guest performers are memorable, with Geraldine James's angry grief quite profound, and Freddie Jones, the deceased's father, giving a spectacular diatribe on fraud and fakery in Art while standing in the Ashmolean Museum. So intense was this that I'd not noticed at first, had a previous reviewer not alerted us, that in the background the show's director delightfully rotates five different works of art hung behind him between takes while he never moves - the vagaries and shifting reality of Art and forgery going on right behind, and before us, even as it's being explained... what is real, and what is not? We only see what we are meant to see.

It is not even explicitly explained to us who the second murderer is, although it's fairly clear to me. As Harry's father says himself about his son's suspected murderer - "he MUST have done it." Or did he? The vagaries of art, and life. A supremely impressive, and memorable episode, one that in its own thoughtful way celebrates past lives both real and imagined, and by far my favorite of the lot.

As this show progressed, we get to see a sophistication that is marvelous. An unbalanced painter is found dead. We have been made privy to his drinking and dalliance; we are also treated to his talent. The problem for him and eventually for Morse is that he is, Kris Kristofferson would say, a "walking contradiction." His excesses and questionable virtues, led to a great deal of anger. His talents also led to reprisals from some very powerful people. His wife has a heavy burden but is damaged herself. We get an education in what is in the artist's soul and also into the commercial world of art. Excellent.

This is one of my favourites, definitely one of the better episodes. if they hadn't made Promised Land, then this would have had my pick for the best episode of the 5th series, instead it has to be content with an extremely close second, with Second Time Around closely behind. The episode has some truly beautiful scenery, and definitely one of the more intriguing Morse plots, and it isn't even based on any of the books by Colin Dexter. An episode like Last Bus To Woodstock is still very intriguing, but compared to other Morse episodes it feels too bleak. John Thaw and Kevin Whately are excellent in the title roles, and they are almost overshadowed by the scene-stealing performance by Freddie Jones as the victim's father. I found his final scenes, not only moving but also the highlight of the episode. Geraldine James is also excellent as Helen, and also worth noting are roles from Ronald Pickup and Vania Vilers. All in all, a truly fantastic entry to the best crime drama series ever. 10/10 Bethany Cox.