S9E2, "Dead Letters," was a rather drab episode, but passes the good enough mark. Aside from a few interesting bits, it's a low brow, sleezy character carnival, which I don't usually enjoy. But we've got the handsome faces and commanding voices of Tom Barnaby and Ben Jones to keep us viewing! Joyce makes a brief appearance, but even she seems a bit bothered by the whole dog and pony show.
The only character that lightened up the place with her sweetness was April Gooding, artfully acted by Sophie Thompson. And the well-known characters of Iris and Dennis Rainbird (S1E1 Badger's Drift) are seemingly resurrected (until we find out they're merely just identical relatives of the deceased--confusing? Of course, not. Convenient? Definitely!). Still, the late great Elizabeth Spriggs and the top man Richard Cant convincingly portray them in their familiar haughty and creepy styles. The ending bit when the culprit is captured was one for the books--a parade and a kangaroo costume both? Stupendous! The murders were violent, yet not overly gruesome. There's scenes of skimpy dress spanking (did I just type that?) and cringeworthy bits about a promiscuous village doctor (who is quite the ladies' man-- though inexplicably!), dirty cheating spouses, and gross suggestions of underage girls being raped. Ugh, I change my mind--this episode is not good enough at all. It's just bad. Just scroll this post to get the feel for the episode. We have the good and then the bad including the gross and the fun, take a stroll to see it all!
Well, there's always this handsome devil:
And some lovely exterior scenery to boot:
And interiors:
Gross bits:
And interiors:
Gross bits:
And at last, the fun:
Be sure to check out my INSTAGRAM account @omae.zing for funny Midsomer memes!
Until next time!
