Reviews

I really enjoyed this season of SNW. It is some of the best ST I've seen in many years. Each episode was a unique and new enjoyment that I haven't experienced since the older tv shows like TNG and DS9.

However having only 10 episodes in a season and ending the finale like they did here is disappointing. Now we have to wait at least a year to pick things up again. While I understand TV shows these days don't do the 20+ episode format this show deserves at least 15 episodes in a season. It would allow some breathing room to explore different plot lines, expand character development, and lessen irritation at cliff hangers.

This episode was interesting but ultimately disappointing in a couple areas. It was pretty neat to see someone actually in Hong Kong interviewing people and talking about how things were there back in the 60's. On the other hand the episode was a major letdown when it came to investigating Bruce Lee's death. People in the episode kept saying figure out why he collapsed the first time and you will figure out how Bruce Lee died when he had the second cerebral edema. Instead they just spend a few minutes on the first collapse and then promptly move on never to address it again. They also spend a portion of the show discussing allergic reactions to aspirin and how it would leave signs but then when they say the cause of death was the other ingredient in the drug they don't explain how they came to this conclusion or what if any medical indications led to this conclusion. Its just something that is thrown out in the last 5 minutes of the show. They also give no explanation as to what common side effects are of the suspected drug and what their thought process was in coming to the conclusion that it was responsible.

I feel compelled to write a review for this single episode because I was so disappointed after finishing the finale. I have been slowly working my way through this series over the past few years and without a doubt this is one of the best detective series of all time.

However this final episode just doesn't do the show or characters justice. It feels disjointed, rushed, and many hanging issues and subjects were never closed. It was almost comical how Morse goes down in the middle of Oxford university. I understand the production budget of the show but it still came off as a bit off the cuff. The whole episode Morse looks like a corpse. He is still hitting the bottle mixed with a tonic here and there despite his constant health issues. The case they are working on isn't all that interesting and attempts to make a connection to Morse's past but again it just feels all a bit rehashed and forced. The subject and tone of the case is over the top and too dark for what should be a sending off. This would have been better dealt with as a mid-season noir episode.

Then Morse is in hospital, the case gets wrapped up, and Lewis says goodbye and then boom cut to credits all in the span of the last 10 minutes. I just sat there a bit stunned at the end. I would have loved there to have been a more poignant or light hearted case. The sending off of Morse's love interest to Australia is really lazy writing and the handling of Strange and Lewis could have used at least one scene where they each get to say their final words.

I guess now that I've finished the series the only option is to go back and start over from the beginning and enjoy it all over again.