Arcadia

I really love the detective series "Endeavour", in my opinion, this is a great prequel to"Inspector Morse" (one of the best detective shows in fact) and a good show in itself. "Endeavour "started with a solid pilot episode and got even better with "Girl" and "Fugue", two very solid episodes of the show, after which the first season ended with two decent episodes of "Rocket" and "Home". The second season got even better and darker, with the only bad episode "Neverland". After the flawed, ridiculous, and wacky first episode of the Ride season, "Arcadia" is a marked improvement and just a good movie in itself. In fact, my only complaint about the episode (as with the entire season 3) is that it's not as dark and stylish as seasons 1 and especially season 2. In this particular case, I would like to see a little more rigidity and tension in the finale, given how superbly intense the episode itself was. However, "Arcadia" does a lot of things well and I really liked the character development of Jakes (in fact, it's one of the biggest advantages of the show that it develops each of the regular characters, which detective shows rarely do). In General, there is nothing to add here - a good episode. 9/10

After a tender love affair between Ms. Hicks and DCI Morse, writers decide to end their relationship without any closure at all. No final conversation? No letter? Not even a messenger bird? While I realize not every relationship ends in a tidy, bow-wrapped package, I never got the sense that these two would end their relationship without even a proper farewell.

Still well worth watching but a couple of slip ups in the usually impeccably plotting of the puzzle. Why Morse chose to go in one direction with Jakes after the discarding of the hold-all, the ease of racing down the tunnels, Jakes miraculous carrying of a torch on a bright morning (ok possibly from the night before) and Morse's unexplained re-attendance at the tunnel entrance (only to miraculously find the battery cable) all seemed a little too rushed. His polite but curt interaction with Monica the nurse (and his former lover) also lacked the nuance required. Perhaps far too many strands in the plot but too uncharacteristically unexplained.

Quibbling I may be but jarring maybe but no failing at all in the enjoyment this series brings though.

This is another episode related to specific political issues again that regarding Southern Rhodesia, by now it's blown up to a full blown international incident involving a trade embargo with Britain.

It impinges on Oxford in a rather tangled web having at its centre a local business family the Richardsons, the seemingly innumerable strands involving a kidnapping of the daughter for a large monetary sum under the pains of death.

A protracted campaign against the company possibly in relation to them trading in embargoed goods, that involved poisoning and contaminating food produce, produced by the company and sold through its stores.

The consequences of everything include explosions, murder and a lucky escape for a young baby from contaminated baby food, an abducted baby, and political intrigue.

A happy and momentous occasion occurs in the life of Cowley stations DS Peter Jakes, something that to all accounts comes completely out of the blue, a new love of his life, and new family, his new Spouse Hope has study, work, and family connections to the States.

Morse seems something of a rum cove, invited to his mates leaving do he prefers to lurk outside the pub, when Jakes asks why he's not inside, he rather lamely cites work.

Most peculiar especially as he has gone out his way to ensure that, he "someone single with no one in his life" should take Jakes place, in any possibility of danger.

Morse is not seen to be working rather lounging in his new home, but when Jakes and his new partner are on the bus out of town, he discovers a good bye note to Peter from Morse, accompanied by some postal orders for their new child's future.

A supermarket, owned by a very rich family, seems to be at the center of some bad doings. Right at the start, a young artist is killed when his apartment is set ablaze. Meanwhile, a young woman leaves the supermarket, begins to gasp and dies on the street. There is also a connection to a commune in the country. A young an seems to be the leader although he says he is merely the one who started it. In the midst, there is a kidnapping and a ransom demand. The grocery guy's daughter has been kidnapped. This man is a tyrant and is in a nasty marriage. His wife is lonely and seems to have her needs met outside the boundaries of marriage. She is attracted to Morse and comes on to him. There is a protest going on outside the store by some Rhodesian students and their sympathizers. It has to do with the purchase of Rhodesian sugar. Anyway, as is usually the case, a series of connections develop and Morse and Thursday are given the task of sorting it out.