I enjoyed this episode of Midsomer Murders.
As I am watching these episodes in chronological order, I want to add my agreement here, that I am going to miss Detective Sergeant Dan Scott. Barnaby's next partner may well be terrific, but I will still miss Scott's slightly "cheeky" demeanor, well played by John Hopkins.
I do have to smile a bit at the criticism by several reviewers here that this episode was "confusing".
It strikes me that "confusion" is Midsomer's "stock in trade". If the writers don't have us befuddled by the time Barnaby steps up to explain what we have been watching for the past hour plus, they probably feel that they have failed in their mission!
This episode did have a slower, more laid-back feel to it, which I took to match the music that featured so prominently in this episode. The focus on lost relationships, sudden appearances by folks thought dead or did not even exist added to the confusion, but more importantly I thought, to the mellow melancholy atmosphere of the episode.
I will say that I found some of the casting confusing, with one character looking similar enough to another that I sometimes had to look twice to be sure who I was watching. The characters of Noah Farrow and Joe Smeeton were, for me anyway, two such characters. Laura Crawford and Melody Thorpe were, at times, another pair.
I would agree that the murder of Harvey Crane was one of more memorable ones, on a par with the deaths in the "Hidden Depths" episode.
All in all, I found this a satisfying finale for Season 8, the only real negative being the lack of any real "send-off" for the character of Sergeant Dan Scott.
As I am watching these episodes in chronological order, I want to add my agreement here, that I am going to miss Detective Sergeant Dan Scott. Barnaby's next partner may well be terrific, but I will still miss Scott's slightly "cheeky" demeanor, well played by John Hopkins.
I do have to smile a bit at the criticism by several reviewers here that this episode was "confusing".
It strikes me that "confusion" is Midsomer's "stock in trade". If the writers don't have us befuddled by the time Barnaby steps up to explain what we have been watching for the past hour plus, they probably feel that they have failed in their mission!
This episode did have a slower, more laid-back feel to it, which I took to match the music that featured so prominently in this episode. The focus on lost relationships, sudden appearances by folks thought dead or did not even exist added to the confusion, but more importantly I thought, to the mellow melancholy atmosphere of the episode.
I will say that I found some of the casting confusing, with one character looking similar enough to another that I sometimes had to look twice to be sure who I was watching. The characters of Noah Farrow and Joe Smeeton were, for me anyway, two such characters. Laura Crawford and Melody Thorpe were, at times, another pair.
I would agree that the murder of Harvey Crane was one of more memorable ones, on a par with the deaths in the "Hidden Depths" episode.
All in all, I found this a satisfying finale for Season 8, the only real negative being the lack of any real "send-off" for the character of Sergeant Dan Scott.