User Reviews

Divine retribution?

It's hard to find any sympathy for the dead man, you can't help feeling that there's maybe a bit of rough justice here.

Lewis begins sewing the seeds for his retirement, he sets in motion a plan to hand the baton over to Hathaway.

This Seventh series is excellent, this is another fine episode. The very sight of Alison Steadman means quality, and as you'd expect she steals every single scene, she is incredible. Edward Fox is his usual self, he's great.

I thought this was excellent, 9/10.

I believe this is the last episode of the Inspector Lewis series as the characters' lives seem to be set in various directions.

I'll go on record now and state that this two-part episode (which I saw as one part) features one of my favorite "MI-5" actresses, Miranda Raison, and she gives a good performance here as a student/colleague of the murdered man.

The story actually goes back some years, when a young woman was struck by a drunk driver and killed. The driver, a university scientist, goes to prison. When he's released, he's found dead, having been hit by a car, but he's managed to scratch the number 500 on the car before he expires.

Lewis and Hathaway speak with the sister and mother of the dead woman, and also the wife of the dead man who, strangely, did not hear this awful accident that took place right outside her window.

Lewis & Hathaway find themselves involved in Oxford University politics, find a body long dead, discover the secret of "300," and deal with a suicide and another murder before realizing the identity of the culprit.

I of course knew who the culprit was because I had this on DVD, and when I entered the room, my sisters were watching the very end and discussing the murderer. So I can't say whether or not the murderer was obvious. I'm guessing not. There were suspects aplenty.

Edward Fox, Laurence Fox's (Hathaway's) uncle, makes an appearance.

I thought this was a good episode and a fitting ending to the series. It's an absorbing mystery.

Like many, I feel a connection to Lewis due to the Inspector Morse series. We are being regaled next week with another "Endeavor" episode featuring the young Inspector Morse. So efforts to keep the Morse character going continue. Unfortunately I can't connect the Endeavor series with John Thaw or the older Morse. At all. But I'll probably watch it.

The first half of this episode involves a man leaving prison and being met by his wife. We have no idea why he is in prison, but there is a serious tension when they meet. "What did he do and how long has he been in," are immediate questions. It turns out he has served one year of three for killing a young woman while drunk. It isn't long before he is, himself, run down by his own car, early one morning. Of course, the sister of the slain girl is suspected. But there are broader issues.

(Review is of both parts).

An Oxford chemistry professor is released from jail after serving one year of a sentence for killing someone with his car. That very night he is run over and killed with the same car. Suspicion immediately falls on the sister of the girl who died, especially as she refused to reconcile with the professor.

A great Lewis mystery. Good build up of information and some solid police work behind it. Some good leads and follow ups on suspects. The ultimate backstory and motive makes sense, unlike many Lewis episodes where the backstory is quite far-fetched.

The Lewis-Dr Hobson arc is also gathering momentum.

The episode is also notable for guest starring another Fox. This time it is Edward Fox, Laurence Fox's uncle. Laurence's father, James, and brother, Jack, have also appeared in the show.

Hearing about 'Lewis' for the first time when it first started, there was a big touch of excitement seeing as 'Inspector Morse' was and still is one of my favourites but also a little intrepidation, wondering whether the series would be as good. The good news is, like the prequel series 'Endeavour', 'Lewis' is every bit as good as 'Inspector Morse' and stands very well on its own two feet as a detective mystery and show in general.

'Lewis' was a show that started off promisingly with the pilot and the first season, while getting even better with a more settled Season 2 where the show hit its stride. Season 3 was more of a mixed bag (not a bad season at all, but started a little disappointingly, though better than reputed, with one of the show's generally lesser episodes "Allegory of Love"). Season 4 generally was one of the better seasons of 'Lewis', with all the episodes very good to great, and Season 5 was solid with the only disappointment being "The Mind Has Mountains".

Season 6 started off very well with "The Soul of Genius", while "Generation of Vipers" was even better. Unfortunately, "Fearful Symmetry" was very disappointing and has always been one of my least favourite 'Lewis' episodes. On the other side of the coin, fortunately the season gets back on track with a great finale and its best episode "The Indelible Stain".

The show's seventh season has suffered from the rather bizarre decision to split its three episodes into two halves, meaning having to wait until the next week until the conclusion. In all three of the Season 7 episodes, this has proved to be rather awkward and in "Down Among the Fearful" and "The Ramblin' Boy" ran the risk of forgetting what happened previously and being even more confused by events and who the characters were.

"Intelligent Design" generally is the best episode of Season 7, with the first half showing a good deal of promise. It was touted as the final 'Lewis' episode (though actually it lasted another two seasons) and for a supposed final episode it was quite a quiet inconclusive goodbye in its second half. "Intelligent Design" doesn't have as many of the flaws as "Down Among the Fearful" and "The Ramblin' Boy", neither of which bad episodes, though the episode still being split in half still doesn't really work, when it stopped it didn't feel particularly rounded off and some of the supporting characters were ones one doesn't yet get to know properly.

As always the acting is solid, on the other hand, with Kevin Whately very good and Laurence Fox a breath of fresh air. Their chemistry does convince with a strong contrast between Lewis being the world weary one with the hunches and Hathaway being the more logical and witty. Really like the chemistry between Lewis and Hobson (Clare Holman doesn't disappoint) too.

Production values are of very high quality. It's beautifully shot as always, and Oxford not only looks exquisite but is like a supporting character in itself. Barrington Pheloung returns as composer, and does a first-rate job. The theme tune, while not as iconic or quite as clever as Morse's, is very pleasant to listen to, the episode is charmingly and hauntingly scored and the use of pre-existing music is very well-incorporated.

Some of the writing is thoughtful and fun and the story is compelling, the episode of Season 7 to suffer from pacing issues and convolution the least by quite some way.

In conclusion, solid first half to generally Season 7's best episode. 8/10 Bethany Cox

Inspector Lewis has always been more sizzle than steak. They certainly get an A for effort, but at best a C for execution. They have good lead characters. They try very hard to be intelligent, making "Intelligent Design" an ironic name for the last episode. They have nice music. But the stories are terrible and make very little sense.

It is possible to make such a formula work, as the early Jesse Stone episodes showed. You didn't notice how bad the stories were because Stone was such a compelling character. It doesn't work on Inspector Lewis for two reasons. First, neither Lewis nor Hathaway are quite as interesting. There is no Morse here. Given Lewis's low key, you get the feeling that show called "Inspector Hathaway" might have worked better. Second, also don't focus enough on the lives of the lead characters to make it work as a character-driven show. Instead, they fill up a lot of the time with rather boring college student angst. The secondary characters are not that interesting. The show has never been the same since without Max.

Like most people, I initially expected very little from a show about Morse's dull sidekick when it started, but was pleasantly surprised how well it worked. Then the effect of low expectations wore off. Week after week, you keep hoping for more because there is so little adult TV that you desperately want it to work. It never did. Well, it has lived off being a Morse sequel long enough.

I won't miss it but I will miss what I hoped it would be.