As the fifth series of Miss Scarlet begins, DS Charlie Phelps (Tim Chipping) tells Detective Fitzroy (Evan McCabe) that he doesn’t like the new Detective Inspector. He accuses DI Alexander Blake (Tom Durant Pritchard) of taking his job. Blake arrives in a carriage moments later. Before the police can break through the door, Blake checks the door and finds out that it’s not locked. Fitzroy tells Charlie Phelps that DI Blake is impressive and that he spent two years in Hong Kong. Phelps eventually asks Fitzroy to stop talking. DI Blake goes upstairs where he finds a hidden door. Once he opens that door, he finds Eliza Scarlet (Kate Phillips) and a man dead on the ground. Eliza hopes Blake will keep an open mind because what she tells him will help solve the murder. Blake reminds her he doesn’t need help her. He wants to know how she ended up in a locked room with a dead man.

Blake threatens to arrest her on suspicion of murder unless she tells him the truth. Eliza reveals she knows the dead man’s name and she knows who put that knife in his chest. Blake wants every detail. As Eliza begins explaining, the show jumps back a month. Since things had been going well for Eliza’s agency, she was able to rehire a former associate, Clarence Pettigrew (Paul Bazely). Detective Phelps visits to ask Eliza for help on what he calls an intriguing case. Blake stops Eliza because Clarence is a convicted felon and he doubts Phelps has ever been so polite to anyone. He wants the truth this time. In a flashback, Phelps visits Eliza and offers her a case even though he thinks it’s a wild goose chase. Eliza begins learning more about Lord Spencer Bowden who is the 4th Earl of Cheshire. Bowden went missing 12 years ago after being accused of murdering his lover. The lover was his housemaid and she was stabbed through the heart.

Bowden has been spotted in London. Clarence will see if he can find a money trail. As for Eliza, she will speak to Bowden’s daughter, Amelia (Amy Marston). Amelia tells Eliza that it has been 12 years since Edith was murdered. She admits she believes her father is guilty because he caused so much pain to so many. Amelia also believes his actions drove her mother to an early grace. She filed a police report a few days ago after alleging seeing her father on Sunday morning. Amelia explains she was leaving her house to attend a sermon at St. Luke’s when she saw him across the street. She came back inside to collect herself and he was already gone when she looked through the window. Amelia pleads with Eliza to find her father before he does more harm. Later, Ivy (Cathy Belton) tries to talk to Eliza who is absorbed in the case. Ivy gives her a letter postmarked from New York.

In the present, Blake questions the relevance of the letter. Eliza explains that the letter was from Inspector Wellington who was offered a permanent position in the New York Police Department and a promotion to superintendent. Eliza says she was delighted because they’re old friends. Blake accuses her of stalling for time. Eliza eventually blurts out that the dead man’s name is Jonathan Harbourne (Andrej Sepetkovski) and he lives at 215 Cable Street. Blake sends Fitzroy, Irwin, and Phelps there to confirm Jonathan’s identity. In the past, Eliza and Ivy talk about the fact that The Duke is never returning. Ivy tries to cheer her up. Clarence checks in with Eliza at the office even though it’s supposed to be his day off. He talks to her about Inspector Wellington. Clarence admits he’s out of his depth when it comes to matters of the heart. Eliza suspects Charlie Phelps will be replaced now that Wellington is not returning.

She’s concerned that the new man could take them off the case. Eliza goes to HM Prison Newgate where she speaks to Patrick Nash (Felix Scott). She tells him about Inspector Wellington. Nash believes Alexander Blake will take over for Phelps. He warns Eliza that Blake does not use private detectives. Nash suspects Wellington wanted Eliza to join him in New York as his wife. She would’ve been forced to give up everything she’s worked so hard for. Eliza speaks to Blake about her visit to Scotland Yard to see if her contract was still valid. In a flashback, Eliza speaks to Fitzroy outside the police station before visiting Blake. Eliza goes into Blake’s office and finds it empty. She introduces herself to him when he arrives. Blake tells her that he doesn’t use detective agencies, but she will be paid for her work so far. He goes on to say he does not trust private investigators. In the present, Blake asks why Eliza is telling him all of this. He suspects she wanted to find a clue so she could prove him wrong.

Eliza reveals she went to visit Amelia Bowden again and learned about a break-in. Amelia complains that the house was ransacked and the police haven’t arrived. She blames her father who has likely run out of money. There is a safe in his study that was opened using a combination lock. Amelia was out at the time and she only has one housemaid who lives elsewhere. Eliza goes to The Poisoned Parrot Inn with Clarence. She wants to head back to the office and create a plan. Clarence believes Bowden will attempt to make more money than what a pawnshop will offer. Although he knows a place, he’s not used to going there personally. They go to the drug den and Clarence tries to remember the code to get in. Eliza pays the doorman who gives them masks and sends them in. Clarence says it’s like a special auction. Before long, the auction begins. After 14 lots are sold, Eliza begins questioning whether Lord Bowden has even heard of this place.

Clarence suggests speaking to the auctioneer. Then, there’s an auction for artwork by Thomas Gainsborough. Eliza says this could be it. She sees a man who looks familiar. They keep an eye on the man during the bidding. Eliza bids 750 on the items. Clarence asks what will happen if she wins. Eliza wins the auction even though she doesn’t have 750 pounds. The police raid the facility and the mystery man flees. Eliza catches up with Jonathan Harbourne who pulls a gun on her. She’s apprehended by police and the man gets away. Eliza is taken back to Blake who asks what she’s doing there. Eliza isn’t willing to share that information unless he agrees to honor the original offer. She admits the man who came to sell the stolen goods was not Lord Bowden. Later, Eliza looks through mugshots to try to identify the man. She tells Blake that he’s not in the photos although she remembers him from somewhere.

Blake says he’s had numerous bad experiences with private detectives. He hired one firm that was working for him and the criminals he was investigating. Blake admits he doesn’t respect the profession. He believes Eliza will lie to get what she wants and he can tell when she’s lying. Eliza suggests he moved his office upstairs as a show of dominance. Blake claims he just prefers the view. Eliza believes he reads for self-improvement and not for pleasure. Treasure Island must be the exception since the book has been worn out. Blake grabs the book and says it’s not his. He gets upset and asks Eliza to go through the mugshots again. When she says the man is not in there, Blake says they have no further business. In the present, Eliza tells Blake that she returned to her office to check the Bowden file. The man they were trying to identify that night is the same man who is dead upstairs. Eliza explains that Jonathan Harbourne had no criminal record.

She remembers seeing him in a case file because he was Lord Bowden’s valet. Eliza suspects Blake would like to know who the killer is. She explains that Lord Bowden fled after the murder and his family was forced to dismiss most of the servants including Jonathan Harbourne. Eliza explains that Clarence managed to escape the auction and he followed Jonathan to the address on Cable Street. When Eliza and Clarence searched that property, they found details of this abandoned building. When they came to the building, they found Jonathan dead. Eliza points out that the knife is made of pure silver. The hallmark on the side reads, “City of London, 1836, Robert Kane”. Blake knows it matches the set stolen from the Bowden residence. Eliza says everything was returned to the original owner after the auction was stopped by the police. Eliza believes Amelia arranged for Harbourne to burgle her house and they fell out somewhere. Eliza blames Amelia and doubts her father had anything to do with this.

She also says Clarence hired two associates to help apprehend Amelia and take her to Scotland Yard. Blake says Amelia is there, but she did not arrive with Clarence. He arrested her two hours before he came to the abandoned house. Blake says he needed to decide who to interview after the auction raid. One man, Mr. Grint (Karl Theobald), tells him that he’s looking for number 15. He agrees to get some answers by tomorrow night. Grint met him later after making contact with the man in question. The man found him because he had more things to sell. They were interrupted by a rich lady who said she had followed the man in question. Grint listened to the woman accuse the man of stealing her things. She also said the arrangement was off. The man wanted to sell the things and keep the money himself. In the present, Eliza realizes that woman was Amelia Bowden. Blake says Harbourne stole the items again so he could sell them elsewhere.

The police raided Amelia’s house at dawn and a pair of bloody gloves was found. Blake says they spoke to a driver who picked up Amelia last night. The driver told them about this address. Blake admits he didn’t know the identity of Jonathan Harbourne. Blake is not going to charge Eliza this time. Eliza goes home. She finds out that Ivy has gone out with Mrs. Potts (Simon Ludders). Blake returns home to his daughter Sophia (Ruby Siddle). Patrick Nash tells Eliza he sees more of her now than he did when he was free. He insists she’ll get by, but Eliza says getting by isn’t enough anymore. If she’s going to live alone, she wants to excel in her chosen profession and have some lasting success. Eliza doesn’t think she should think about it too much. Nash thinks she should set her sights on short-term goals such as getting drunk and playing poker. Eliza wants to shuffle the deck because she knows he will cheat.

 

 

Miss Scarlet Review

The first episode of the fifth series of Miss Scarlet & The Duke wasn’t up to par with some of the prior episodes. The problem here isn’t that The Duke is gone. The problem is that the writers lazily replaced The Duke with another variation of The Duke. It may just be a hiccup since it was likely difficult to plan for the addition of a new main character, but the episode overall was lazy and unimaginative.

It’s really questionable whether anyone needed to take the Duke’s spot to begin with. The series was fine with Phelps, Fitzroy, Ivy, Clarence, and the others. As for DI Alexander Blake, it’s hard to tell the character apart from the Duke besides the fact that he’s unrealistically smarter than everyone else and he has a daughter. Much like the Duke and Eliza, there’s no real chemistry between Eliza and Blake so we can only hope that’s not where the writers are going.

On the other hand, it also feels like Blake is replacing the Duke and replacing others who are still present. The amount of time being dedicated to the character is not wise, especially considering the character is fairly dull. To be successful, Miss Scarlet needs to focus on Eliza, Clarence, Nash, and Ivy. It worked previously because those characters received the bulk of the attention. If this becomes the Alexander Blake show, it probably has one foot out of the door.

This episode scores a 5 out of 10. Recaps of Miss Scarlet can be found here. Find out how to support our independent work at this link. Learn more about advertising with us here. Join the discussion here.