I have to start out by saying I did actually enjoy this show. If it had no connection to Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries I would probably have rated it higher despite it's many flaws. For one thing, I don't buy Peregrine's character at all. She can't hold a job to save her life, has no sense of responsibility or ties to home, yet she slots effortlessly into the spot left by her Aunt? All of Phryne's friends love her, the detective immediately loves her, and she just magically has the right kind of thinking to be a good investigator with no effort or study. It strains credulity.
Then there's the way that everyone seems to be so on board with modern (to 2019) opinions from gender to race, unless they're a bad guy. The ladies of the Adventuress Club are complete stereotypes and, while they may mature over the course of the show, they just left me cold.
Then there's the historical era. I will have to take other reviewers' opinions on the (in)accuracy of the portrayal as I was neither alive at the time nor is it an era in which I'm particularly interested. I actually really dislike the "mod" aesthetic from clothing to hair to architecture.
Last but not least, there's the lack of connection with the original. I mean, one of the defining issues Phryne had was the murder of her sister. Do you really think she wouldn't have moved heaven and earth to meet a newly discovered sister? And there's no other ties - no sightings of Dot or Hugh, no connections to Mr. Butler, or Phryne's adopted daughters, or even pictures in Phryne's (now Peregrine's) house. I mean, how hard would it have been for them to have taken shots from the original show and framed them and put them on a mantelpiece? There is absolutely nothing but name to link the two shows. It makes it feel like they stole the name instead of having it be a continuation of the family.
All in all, cute, but I would never rewatch this. I must have watched the original series three or four times through.
Then there's the way that everyone seems to be so on board with modern (to 2019) opinions from gender to race, unless they're a bad guy. The ladies of the Adventuress Club are complete stereotypes and, while they may mature over the course of the show, they just left me cold.
Then there's the historical era. I will have to take other reviewers' opinions on the (in)accuracy of the portrayal as I was neither alive at the time nor is it an era in which I'm particularly interested. I actually really dislike the "mod" aesthetic from clothing to hair to architecture.
Last but not least, there's the lack of connection with the original. I mean, one of the defining issues Phryne had was the murder of her sister. Do you really think she wouldn't have moved heaven and earth to meet a newly discovered sister? And there's no other ties - no sightings of Dot or Hugh, no connections to Mr. Butler, or Phryne's adopted daughters, or even pictures in Phryne's (now Peregrine's) house. I mean, how hard would it have been for them to have taken shots from the original show and framed them and put them on a mantelpiece? There is absolutely nothing but name to link the two shows. It makes it feel like they stole the name instead of having it be a continuation of the family.
All in all, cute, but I would never rewatch this. I must have watched the original series three or four times through.