Magnum Opus: Part 2

I've found the last couple seasons of Lewis to be rather boring. I was able to guess the murderer(s), so that's always a plus, though it was more of a reasonable guess.

The premise of this was rather stupid. Some kind of a weird secretive group looking for forgiveness. This is basic Christianity. I don't know why you'd develop so weird secret society around forgiveness. Just go to any decent church. Maybe decent Christian churches are really rare in modern England?

In case anyone doesn't know, basic Christianity is Jesus died for the sins of everyone. It's a free gift, all anyone has to do is accept his sacrifice.

This one felt more like a bad midsommer murder mystery. Acting was solid as usual.

As others have said, once the murderer is revealed, it seems hard to square their motivation with the elaborate nature of the murders. OK, you could argue that there is a "genetic" predisposition, but it feels more like the elaborate murders are just there in order to make the story more interesting.

I think it's fair criticism to say that it's virtually impossible to work out the motivation for the murders before an essential piece of information is revealed towards the very end (of part 2) of this story. But, there is some signalling that there's perhaps something in the past of one of the characters that suggests that something "occult" -- in the non-esoteric sense -- is actually the driving force behind the murders.

(It was interesting to see Foyle's War's Honeysuckle Weeks here and somewhat ironic in that she played Foyle's driver in that show.)

I hardly ever criticise Lewis, or indeed anything from the whole Morse canon, but this second episode of Magnum Opus had me scratching my head. It's Lewis, so of course it's watchable, will acted, and beautifully made, but the story sucked, I can deal with far fetched, but this one stretched things just a little too far.

The story going in to this episode was good, I was intrigued, and curious, baffled by all of the religious/cult content, but it just all fizzled out, and that ending was absurd.

I am an adoring fan of Honeysuckle Weeks, but I didn't rate her here, for me, she wasn't right for the past.

This is the first time the show has looked tired, sorry, I didn't rate this, 5/10.

A very, very enjoyable episode to watch. Extremely tight script that kept getting better, and better. Again using the "Midsomer Murders" oddball niche theme. Little problem with this is the unlikelihood of finding people to give up their whole lives and unite with other oddballs to follow a lunatic belief. Many of these niche themes aren't harmless but mostly bizarre and life path altering.

The steller group of supporting actors all gave fine performances and were very believable. I epecially enjoyed the stunning Honeysuckle Weeks as Carina Beskin who shines in all her roles. Steve Toussaint as Ch. Supt. Moody added much needed pushback. Hathaway's sister not understanding the demands of his job was somewhat uneven. Paul Greenwood as Father Placid nailed his role.

Again British detective mysteries use Christianity as their religion of choice to invent lunatic fringe .They don't seem to have the courage to use any other religions.

The fundamental reason for the activities of the people involved is so beyond pure reason, it is almost laughable. Still, the writer puts together a tale of alchemy and the religious world, pulling in all elements. I can buy into the skills of detecting, but sometimes Lewis and Hathaway are able to move way beyond the normal realms of possibility. One big problem for me is the portrayal of the one who turns out to be the murderer. He/she is hard to accept when all is said and done. My concern is the incredible expertise and skill that was necessary. I have enjoyed this series, there apparently being only one episode left, but I may find myself on the side of those who say it needed to end. I watched "Endeavour" before the "Inspector Morse" series and am glad that the canon continued, even though we were dealing with a prequel.