ENDEAVOR Season 3
PBS
Just to get it off my chest I have a major problem with this show. I need more than just four stories. Yes, it’s six hours of viewing but I need more.
Why do I need more? Because I really love this show. Inspector Morse was always interesting to me but sometime a bit dry. I like the continuation of the story through Inspector Lewis quite a bit. But there is something about Endeavor with Morse as detective constable working with DI Thursday that I just love. Watching him try and fit in with the system that seems outdated and counter intuitive to his intellect is a big part of the show and I think having seen where he eventually goes makes this look into his early career even more interesting as we see him develop the skills and refine them on the road to becoming a truly great detective.
I also think that the way the show is written and filmed makes it feel almost like lost footage from the late 60s. The clothes and cars of course but also the attitudes and reluctance to progress with the times.
Four tales told this season and all terrific. The first, RIDE, has a feel of the Great Gatsby. Morse is out from behind bars and not sure what he wants to do. He’s staying in a small house on a lake that belongs to the family of a friend. Said friend tries to get Morse out of his shell and takes him around the lake to spend time with aristocratic folk, some of whom are known from school. A murder that may involve drugs and some of the people Morse is hanging out with turns out to be the catalyst to make him realize that being a detective is his true calling. I love the scenes at the fair.
ARCADIA starts with a fire in an apartment and a body in the charred wreckage. The case is a wonderful puzzle and while Thursday and newly minted detective sergeant Strange are good it comes down to Morse to work out the true puzzle here.
PREY is so good, there is a nice nod to the opening of JAWS in the beginning that I loved and then we’re off to the races as bodies turn up that appear to be mauled. Some great suspense and action in this one with trademark family secrets rearing their head to complete the picture and solve the murder.
CODA opens with Thursday saying goodbye to his son as he Joins the army. The detectives catch a murder involving gangsters and leads Morse to a bank to ask some questions. Just his luck he’s there while robbers come in and hold everyone hostage, including Thursday’s daughter who works at the bank.
The great stories are a huge part of why this show works, but also Shaun Evans as Endeavor Morse is perfect. He does such a wonderful job adding to dialogue with body language and expressions you can tell what he’s thinking with no words. Roger Allum as Fred Thursday is also perfectly cast as the veteran detective trying to adjust to new ways of being a copper. Thoughout the season he is also struggling with the after effects of having been shot and recovery is more than physical.
This is some of the best crime television on TV today and one we love having on DVD as we re-watch often.
Jon
