Mind Games

A quirky man has just been paroled after twenty years. He was convicted of killing a young girl and possibly a second one (her body was never found). This is one of those cases where decisions were made by a young cop, causing him to ignore evidence. The convicted returns to the neighborhood, taking over his mother's house and garden. Of course, there is great resentment toward him. The parents of the girls, are especially upset and the neighbors that are left harass the young man. The problem for Frost is that he has an epiphany at some point when he realizes his bullheadedness and intractability may have caused the conviction of an innocent man. The strength of this episode is the way things unfold and how forensics, now advanced, are used to get to the truth.

As has been said by me numerous times already, 'A Touch of Frost' is a personal favourite of mine, and one of my favourite shows from the detective/mystery genre. Do have a preference perhaps for the earlier-mid-show episodes over the later ones, but none of the episodes are less than watchable and none do anything to embarrass the show.

So much appeals about 'A Touch of Frost'. Love the mix of comedy (mostly through Frost's snide comments and quips) and dark grit, the tension between rebellious Jack Frost and by-the-book Mullet which has led to some humorous moments, how he interacts with the rest of the staff, the deft mix of one or two cases and Frost's personal life, how Frost solves the cases, the production values, music and of course David Jason in one of his best roles.

There may have been people initially sceptical about whether the show would work, and with Jason (a mainly comedic actor) in a departure from usual in the lead role. Scepticism very quickly evaporated, the first six seasons were top notch with a few not-quite-outstanding-but-still-very-good episodes but most of them being near-perfect to masterpiece. Was not sure initially as to whether the Seasons 7-9 two parters would work, having seen two parters not quite work with 'Lewis' for example, but all three worked brilliantly.

Most of Season 10 was of a very high standard, "Held in Trust" was my personal favourite of the episodes but Jim Sturgess' performance in "Close Encounters" is one of the show's best supporting turns. Was a little let down however by "Hidden Truth", which was still decent and much better than a lot of weaker episodes from other shows but considering the high quality of Seasons 1-9 decent didn't seem quite enough. "Another Life" and "Dancing in the Dark" were very good episodes for Season 11, though neither high points. "Near Death Experience" was one of my favourite latter season episodes, while the next episode "Endangered Species", while a long way from bad (pretty decent still) is one of my least favourites of the series.

After a two year absence, 'A Touch of Frost' is back and "Mind Games" feels more like 'Frost' when it first started rather than as feared a show past its sell by date having had a hiatus. It may not be classic 'Frost' but it reminded me somewhat of it.

As ever, the production values as always are incredibly well done. It matches the dark, gritty tone of the episode beautifully with atmospheric lighting and the stylish way it's shot. The music is haunting without being over-bearing, the theme tune still iconic.

Script is very taut and one of the best written episodes of the later seasons, with a few very amusing quips from Frost, and is thought-provoking. Most of it though is a more sombre and more serious tone, and, considering the tone of the episode and Frost's predicament and dilemma of whether the convicted man was innocent or guilty all along, that not only was a perfect fit but necessary, any other way from personal opinion would have jarred too much.

"Mind Games" main case is harrowing and poignant, with an ending that wraps things up neatly but makes an incredibly powerful impact. It was also really interesting to see how the case is solved and how far forensics has come over-time. The second case starting with the prank wasn't quite as interesting, due to featuring somewhat less in the story, but had some nice twists and turns even if resolved slightly melodramatically.

Frost is remarkably well established as a character, with his faults but also good qualities. Even with a more conflicted side, he is closer to the old Frost than the unnecessarily rude and acrimonious character seen in "Endangered Species". The supporting characters are well drawn, with particularly interesting characters in David Crewes and Carl Meyer.

Can't fault Jason as Frost, he is simply brilliant in the role as always with not one foot put wrong. All the supporting cast are on point, like with Bruce Alexander and John Lyons of the regulars and of the guests Jonathan Slinger's impressively ambiguous Carl and Keith Barron's understated David standing out in particular.

Overall, great comeback. 9/10 Bethany Cox

Just when I thought Frost is on the wane - David Jason is starting to look too old for the role - we have this. A superb episode, filled with the usual intrigue but also with fair amount of emotion.

Despite the crime he is convicted of I couldn't help but feel sorry for the released convict as he tries to get his life back on track after 20 years. It also made me think how difficult it must be the average released convict and no wonder they, out of frustration. Then have to turn to crime again.

The attitude of the townspeople and the vigilantism is also very frustrating, adding to the engagement factor.

To my surprise this turned out to be a very good episode. The storyline was good.

And Frost was not on full throttle of sarcasm, obnoxiousness and all the other disgusting traits that he has in all the other episodes.

Most of the episodes seem to have two different cases or stories, and so did this one, and I quite liked both the stories.