The final case for Lewis and Hathaway involves an Oxford professor who returns home after spending a year behind bars for killing a girl while drunk driving and is then run over and killed by his own car. The obvious suspects are the family of the dead girl but there are other suspects too. There is also the final cryptic message he scratched in the paint of the car as he lay dying; it appeared to say '500' but there is no obvious meaning to it. When a long dead body is found in the college's organ loft the message's meaning becomes apparent and more potential motives arise. Before the case is solved more people will die and Hathaway will wonder if he really wants to be a policeman.
After seven (short) series it is finally time for Oxford's longest serving detective to retire and this episode provided a satisfying end. Thankfully it lacked the tragedy of the final 'Inspector Morse' yet still felt sad at the end like saying good bye to an old friend who is going away. The mystery was standard for the series but none the worse for that; there were plenty of suspects to keep the viewers guessing as well as plenty of deaths. The acting was solid throughout although as it is their last outing one must single out Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox who excelled as the two protagonists; they had a great chemistry without replicating the relationship Lewis had with his old boss Morse. I'm sure fans of the series will be sad to see it go but will be pleased with the way it ended.
After seven (short) series it is finally time for Oxford's longest serving detective to retire and this episode provided a satisfying end. Thankfully it lacked the tragedy of the final 'Inspector Morse' yet still felt sad at the end like saying good bye to an old friend who is going away. The mystery was standard for the series but none the worse for that; there were plenty of suspects to keep the viewers guessing as well as plenty of deaths. The acting was solid throughout although as it is their last outing one must single out Kevin Whately and Laurence Fox who excelled as the two protagonists; they had a great chemistry without replicating the relationship Lewis had with his old boss Morse. I'm sure fans of the series will be sad to see it go but will be pleased with the way it ended.