User Reviews

Confection is quite a bloodthirsty episode, which sees Morse and Thursday once again put together to solve a series of seemingly unrelated killings.

It's a good episode, I didn't exactly find it the easiest to follow, and if I'm honest, i'ts my least favourite episode of Endeavour to date, the only episode I've rated lower then an 8. It gets a 7, because it's Endeavour, and still better then 90% of stuff on television.

In truth the tone was quite grim from start to finish, Morse is clearly unsettled, Thursday is in the pocket of his new dodgy boss, and poor Bright cuts a sad figure, and now has the shocking news of his wife's illness to deal with. There really wasn't much to smile about, even Win is cutting a truly sad figure still. Change is inevitable, but it's not always an easy pill to swallow.

What did make the cut for me was the involvement of Strange throughout, who was fantastic, and the superb scenes where Morse was called in to the traffic accident by Bright, next week's conclusion looks like it's going to be big.

Decent, but when it comes to Endeavour my expectations are much higher. 7/10

This episode involves anonymous letters in a small village and thus brought to mind THE MOVING FINGER, a MISS MARPLE MYSTERY. It's not as good, though, in terms of plot cohesion. I found the multiple murders somewhat over-the-top and the motivation for those murders not easy to swallow. Still, I love this series, love the character development, the acting, the cinematography, the music...everything. ENDEAVOR is one of my favorite murder mysteries, along with VERA and SHETLAND. I do expect to learn that Fred Thursday is playing his own deep game with DCI Box. It's unlikely he'd completely breach his character so late in life, after having repeatedly been tested and found true.

This episode opens with two murders in quick succession; first a woman is shot in the back then the owner of a confectionary factory is shot and killed while out with the local hunt. The later victim is discovered first, the latter only found when it is suggested that the two may have been involved thanks to a poison pen letter... one of many that has been sent to people in the village in the previous months. When the woman's husband is found dead it looks like an open and shut case of murder-suicide. DCI Box is certainly keen to wrap things up but Morse wants to find out who sent the poison pen letters. Away from this case there is more information about the ongoing investigation heroin in the Oxford area; CS Bright has to deal with the fact that his wife is very ill and DI Thursday seems to being drawn into Box's circle.

In many ways the main plot feels like it could have been lifted from 'Midsomer Murders' with its rural setting, in a village with a name inspired by three of Britain's best known '70s children's programmes, and the use of 'Happy Family' cards with the poison pen letters. It also features a lot of deaths; six if I counted correctly! All this isn't a problem though; the relative lightness of the main mystery was nicely balanced by the more downbeat elements concerning CS Bright and DI Thursday. The final resolution to the mystery was satisfying even if the identity of the person sending the letters wasn't much of a surprise. Overall I enjoyed this episode; the main story was enjoyable and it set things up nicely for the season finale.

Omg the murders really piled up and I'm sorry did the culprit do them all? No officially only one but always thought that this would be the murderer so ultimately it loses points when I know. I think in the end there were more murders than there were murder suspects so easier to narrow down. Good complex episode up until then. Not sure about comparisons to Midsomer why? Because set in a village also deaths in Oxford too! The saga continues at the end to set up for ongoing investigations I assume.

Last scene, Morse is walking alone on the blinking dim gas light.

I didn't get also real criminals from many hints thru whole this episode. disappointed this, but lovely English detective drama will lead me old fashioned deduction world.

good job.

This was a decent enough episode but something seemed a little off to me. Maybe the style seemed a little like some different series, or maybe it was too complicated or contrived. At any rate I am looking forward to see what develops in the next one.

'Inspector Morse' is one of my all-time favourites, along with Agatha Christie it was the series that made me a fan of detective/mystery and of John Thaw. Also like 'Lewis' a great deal, though do vastly prefer the earlier seasons. Have loved 'Endeavour' ever since it first started, especially Seasons 1-3. As said many times before, as a prequel series it treats 'Inspector Morse' with immense respect and love while with enough of its own style to set it apart and not be too derivative.

Will admit to feeling slightly disappointed by Season 6. Not because the episodes have been terrible, actually they have all been solid with many exceptional qualities. It just is not quite up to the consistently higher standard of particularly Seasons 1-3, though Seasons 4 and 5's episodes are solid to wonderful too though not as consistent. Although some may disagree (as some episodes are more divisive), for me there is not a bad episode of 'Endeavour', and certainly do not consider "Pylon", "Apollo" and "Confection" of Season 6 bad either while having problems with all three. It is hard to say which is better between "Apollo" and "Confection", both have similar problems, though "Apollo" is not as "derivative" feeling, but "Confection" has more emotion and little character moments.

"Confection" is lesser 'Endeavour', like "Apollo". It is still a solid, well above episode with many qualities actually being exceptional, but as 'Endeavour' most of the time is much better than solid and above average and actually being brilliant much of the time it was disappointing in that respect. It is also interesting for its change of pace feel, a darker tone and for having one of the highest body counts of any 'Endeavour' episode.

Again, some of the story writing is patchy. Like "Apollo", there could have been a few less characters and the story could have been more focused with not as much going on. That way, the storytelling would have had more clarity and things developed more, as some parts were on the over-complicated side.

More especially could have gone into the explanations of who committed the killings and why, they were very interesting, clever and mostly surprising (figured the truth behind the poison pen letters too early though) but felt rushed and could have gone into depth more. Others have commented on "Confection" not feeling as much of an 'Endeavour' episode, feeling more serious 'Midsomer Murders' and being indebted closely in places to Agatha Christie.

On the other hand, "Confection" scores highly in many areas. Nothing can be faulted with the production values. It is exquisitely filmed, muted in use of colour yet never cheap as it is a perfect look for a mystery/thriller set in post-war Britain, and the idyllic and atmospheric setting is beautifully evoked. There is something very nostalgic and charming about the atmospherically evoked 1960s period detail. As always, the rest of the music is hauntingly beautiful with the way it's utilised never in question, the iconic 'Inspector Morse' theme will forever be immortal and it has always been a genius move to use it for 'Endeavour'. Would have liked more classical music featured, the most effective use being with "Casta Diva" from 'Norma', but nothing here jars like the use of Led Zeppelin did in the previous episodes. The writing is intelligent and thought-provoking, with some nice tension and moments of welcome and not jarring levity. Loved the conversation between Strange and Max, the highlight being Max's puke witticism.

The darkly elegiac tone of the previous two episodes is also seen in "Confection", with again some nice tension and poignancy. Am really liking what the season is doing with Strange, all the time getting more interesting, and Bright here bags the emotional moments with his heart-breaking and very relatable subplot, notably the dinner scene (tears welling up even thinking about it). Morse and Bright also have some nice scenes. Can never get enough of the dynamic and chemistry between Morse and Thursday, always one of the best elements of 'Endeavour', especially apparent in Thursday's date rebuke and Morse's shocking response. That is also one of the highlights of Shaun Evans' ever charismatic and never less than committed acting in the title role, an ever loyal interpretation without being an impersonation.

Roger Allam is also splendid, love his firmness and sympathetic edge and he has always made Thursday an interesting character. One of his highlights, and a dramatic standout of the episode, is the pub scene between him and Box, an unpleasant character yet not too much of a stereotype (Simon Harrison does a good job with him). As the character of Bright, Anton Lesser has never been as poignant or as understated as he is here. The supporting cast are also fine, if not up to the same level as the regulars.

Altogether, solid but disappointing. Not quite delicious but edible enough. 7/10

Something seems off about this collection of episodes. The episodes are not as engaging and the plotlines are not up to the standards of earlier seasons. It seems odd that after suffering to gain acceptance from his peers in past seasons; Morse should, once again, have to prove himself. Also I'm a bit nonplussed that the character of Thursday should have been given such misfortune by the writers. This character has shown his mettle time and time again thru past episodes only to have his daughter and now wife estranged from him. I believe he has been treated shabbily by the writing team. All in all I fnd this season to be disappointing.

"Endeavour" is one of the best shows, in my opinion, a worthy sequel to "Inspector Morse" and a great show in itself. The fifth season was somewhat erratic, with one brilliant episode, three weak ones, and two episodes that went better. The sixth started well with "Pilon", but falls somewhat down with "Confection". In fact, "Confection" was actually a very good episode and one of the best until the last 15 minutes, which greatly spoiled the impression. This is one of the worst endings in the show, if not the worst, along with the "Prey" and "Coda"endings. It is too boring, ridiculous, unrealistic and annoying, the killer is pathetic and disgusting, and the explanation of the suicide line is a disgrace. There are certainly advantages: good atmosphere, colorful doctor, interesting plot, good entourage. But all this is spoiled by a stupid and shameful ending. Overall, not bad, but somewhat flawed. 8/10

The story was a bit ridiculous, and the surprise twist was very lame. The only person that really seemed like a good soul was the in fact the killer. Like usual, Inspector Morse goes out with a suspect and it blows up in his face. Morse has the worst instincts when it comes to women.

The rest of this episode in regards to tracking down the mystery killer is pretty spotty. Nobody can see who drops off the secret poison pen letters in a town that looks like it has about a hundred people tops.

The beginning of the episode stretched credibility. A fat old man kills his incredibly young and beautiful wife because he gets a message that she is cheating on him. When the scene began with the young woman, I presumed she was his daughter, not his wife. Any old guy that marries a woman less than half his age should be overjoyed that she comes home at all. Why would he kill her?

The meat of this episode came in the sad surprise that Chief Bright discovers about his wife, and the other heart-breaking surprise that DCI Thursday discovers about his wife. Add in Morse's tragic relationship, and it was a grim episode for all of them.

The past seasons of this show were interesting and kept my attention, I liked the characters. It is almost like this season the writers have not seen the past episodes. The characters are not the same. Too much drama. Fred isn't the same copper. Win is dancing! What is next? I think this is the last season for me.

Morse is still charging on in all directions in spite of direct orders which will either lead to his demise or his friends, few that may still exist... sporting a ridiculous mustache along with he doesn't give a damn attitude he pokes his nose in places where it shouldn't be until he raises the ire of his boss.