As the third episode of Around the World in 80 Days begins, Fogg and his companions learn they’re going to be reaching the Suez Canal soon. Phileas (David Tennant) is exciting by the prospect since this wasn’t possible a few years ago. Abigail ‘Fix’ Fortescue (Leonie Benesch) knows all about the advancement because she wrote the article about it. While Passepartout (Ibrahim Koma) tries to catch food in his mouth, Phileas excitedly tells Fix about their journey before saying nothing can stop them now. Soon, they reach Al Hudayah in Yemen because pirates have been kidnapping wealthy passengers. They’ll have to rest here for a few days until a British ship arrives to escort them the rest of the way. They agree they’ll have to make alternative arrangements because they’ll miss their next connection.

Fix isn’t sure what that’ll be yet since they just arrived. She is more worried about finding a copy of the Daily Telegraph. After the intro, Abigail finds a copy of the newspaper and shows Fogg the article she wrote about him saving the President of France. She is thrilled her father gave her credit for the article for a change. Fogg finds that the article has obviously been embellished to make him sound heroic. Phileas likes the question about him becoming the next great British explorer and decides to celebrate with a beer. Unfortunately, they don’t serve beer in this part of the world so they’ll have to settle for coffee. Fogg is confident they’ll reach Aden. Abigail spots Jane Digby (Lindsay Duncan) in the distance and tells everyone about her marriages and describes her as the most immoral woman in the world. As Fogg checks his pocket watch, a man nearby pays close attention to it.

Abigail goes on and on about Digby and the fact she gave up her children before Fogg tells her not to gossip. Lastly, Jane ran off and married an Arab camel driver who she is likely with right now. Phileas complains after learning the next boat for Aden won’t sail for three days. When Abigail says Jane’s intelligence is even lower than her morals, Passepartout contemplates whether he should introduce himself. Jane walks over, throws the newspaper on the table, and tells Fogg good luck because he is going to need it. Later that night, Phileas asks Passe not to tuck his sheet in too tightly since he doesn’t want his toes bent back. A local enters and asks about their plan to reach Aden. He offers to take them across the empty quarter for a small fee. When pressed about its name, he admits it is empty because everyone who goes there dies. Passepartout wants to get rid of the man, but Phileas prefers to hear more.

He offers to get Phileas to Aden in two days for 10 British pounds. Phileas refuses to give him any money upfront saying he knows how those chaps do business. Before the stranger leaves, they agree to leave an hour before dawn. Passepartout quickly ridicules the idea, but Fogg believes it’ll get them back on track for India. He makes Passepartout button his cuffs for him. Passepartout reminds Fogg that he promised Bernard (Jason Watkins) he’d look after his daughter so Fogg decides to leave her behind. Passe complains saying she can’t go home without this story, but Phileas won’t change his mind. Seconds later, Abigail walks in on Passepartout as he has his shirt off. He invites her in as she begins trying to explain herself about the article. She explains she grew up without her mother and her father would regularly show her the places he’d been on a giant map. While he always had to leave for work, he hurried back to be with her.

She wishes to repay her father by telling his story. Passepartout walks over to her and kisses her twice. He explains he is French and that is how they say goodnight. Later, Passepartout and Fogg leave with the stranger while Fix sleeps in her room. Before they leave, Phileas tells his valet he has no choice because it is too dangerous for her. When she gets up in the morning, she finds an envelope that has been slipped under her door. Inside, she finds a ticket on a steamboat from Al Hudaydah to London. She checks the other bedroom only to find it empty. Phileas and Passepartout ride on camels with the stranger. As Phileas chugs their water, Passepartout warns him to be careful with it.

The passenger promises it is okay because his people are ahead and they have plenty of water. Abigail is concerned for her friends so she tries to find a guide to track them down. When she offers to pay and flashes her coin bag, she is hounded by people who want some of her money. Jane’s husband stops the men and protects Abigail. After Jane asks what is going on, Abigail claims there has been a terrible mistake because they left her behind. Jane doesn’t think it was an accident and asks whether she was taught not to speak to strange men. Abigail asks the same question before pleading with Digby to help her reach Aden. Jane warns her to go home although Abigail says never. Jane and her husband discuss it and decide to help. Phileas and Passepartout stop so they can use the bathroom. When they get off the camels, Phileas finds a puddle of petroleum and tells the others about it.

He is surprised that Passepartout can use the bathroom so easily. Phileas has difficulty going and decides to leave. Fogg continues watching him and asking him to step further away, but Passepartout is already in the process and doesn’t stop. Once Fogg gives up and Passe finishes, they turn around to find the stranger gone. Fogg looks through their belongings and most is missing, but he does have money. Passepartout isn’t sure how that he’ll though. Meanwhile, Nyle Bellamy (Peter Sullivan) is reminded that he hasn’t paid his bill for the gentleman’s club yet. He gets upset and Bernard has to calm him down. Bernard pays his bill too. Passepartout asks Fogg why he’d risk his life to win a stupid bet. Phileas says it isn’t about the money. As they continue forward, Fogg says they’re going to the oasis and he knows it is there because the man said so. Passepartout isn’t sure they should believe the man who stole their stuff. He tells Fogg he can continue risking his own life, but he wants him to stop risking his.

Phileas is confident he can get them out of this. Jane and her husband guide Abigail through the desert. When Abigail asks what she misses about England, Jane responds nothing. Then, Fix rattles off a list of things she has to miss about it. Jane pulls out a gun and scares her when she shoots a snake on the ground. Her husband finds camel tracks and says only one camel is carrying a man. He argues they should go back right now. Passepartout and Phileas continue before they camp in the middle of the night. As Passepartout tries to start a fire, he complains about not listening to himself and coming with them. As they sit around, Fogg says at least Abigail is safe. He believes she is returning to London to her father. In the morning, it is day 18 and Fogg and Passepartout continue on their journey. Phileas drops to the ground and asks to rest while Passepartout encourages him to get up.

He tells Phileas he is a hero before trying to pull him to his feet. Phileas begins apologizing for getting Passe into this mess. He goes on to say Passepartout is the best valet he ever had although Passe admits he isn’t a valet. They believe they see someone in the distance, but there is nobody there. Passepartout looks around and realizes a sandstorm is coming toward them. He quickly covers Phileas’s mouth and takes cover. During the chaos, the postcard with “coward” on the back is blown to the ground. Phileas retrieves it and sticks it in his shirt. He looks around and sees a horse walking around him. When he returns to reality, he finds himself being carried by a horse. He joins Passepartout who is standing near an oasis. Once he drinks some water, he walks over to Jane and her husband to thank them for saving him. He is surprised when Jane pulls down the cloth on her face and reveals herself. She calls him an imbecile and surprises him by saying Abigail saved his life because she would’ve left him.

Phileas is left speechless when he sees her. Bernard plays pool before receiving a telegram from his daughter that confirms they’re heading through the desert to Aden. He reads it to Nyle and reveals Jane is his daughter’s traveling companion. Nyle is surprised she has the audacity to leave the tent after the way he exposed her to the world. Bernard leaves in a hurry in the middle of the game. While Phileas says it was too dangerous for Abigail, she says he is pathetic and only alive thanks to her. Passepartout tries to calm her so she turns her anger toward him. Fogg agrees with Passepartout that this is no place for a woman. He is adamant that he is going to send Abigail home when they reach Aden whether she likes it or not. Jane’s husband says nobody is going to Aden.

Phileas knows they’re only a short distance to Aden, but Jane says there is a dangerous tribe there so they likely wouldn’t make it. Abigail says her father will pay her handsomely if she takes her and they can leave Fogg to the vultures. Phileas argues otherwise suggesting there is no trip without him. Abigail says she’ll take up the 80-day journey. She even offers to race him there. Jane asks Abigail about her father and recognizes him because he lived in Damascus, Syria. She claims the journalists embellish the stories and send them to London. Although Fogg and Abigail refuse to believe that, Jane says many of the things said about her are horrid and untrue. She tells Abigail she has never met a more disgraceful man than her father. He wanted Jane to run away with him. Abigail lashes out and calls her a liar. Her husband says Bernard became more obsessed with her as she continued resisting him. When she finally refused him, Bernard wrote a vile article about her in his London newspaper and it turned her country, children, and gender against her.

He reveals he isn’t a camel drive. Instead, his name is Sheik Medjuel El Mezjuel Mezrab (Faical Elkihel) from the great tribe of Anizzah. He has never driven camels although he doesn’t think it would matter if he had because he is going to be with Jane until death parts them. He says they’re going to leave for Al Hudayah when the sun goes down. When he walks away, Phileas says the wager is lost so Passepartout tells him to screw the wager. While they wait, Abigail asks Fogg whether he believes the things they said about him. He would’ve said no a few weeks ago, but he isn’t sure now. He reminds her of everything that has happened and suggests his friend might not be a hero after all. He is just a man who made some mistakes. Abigail apologizes that he won’t win his bet. Phileas says he is sorry for underestimating her and hopes she’ll forgive him. He hopes she’ll forgive her father too, but she says there can be no forgiveness for him. Abigail tells Jane she’ll go back to London, argue with her father, and return to writing about dogs and flowers.

She believes she is a fool for believing she could do something different. Jane says she was 18 when she was married to Lord Ellenborough. He was twice her age, barely talked to her, and preferred his horses and mistresses. She cried herself to sleep every night before asking her mother what she could do. Her mother told her she couldn’t do anything and should be grateful for her husband. Jane swore she’d live her life and nobody else’s. As Passepartout gets everyone ready to leave, Abigail admits the journey was important to her, but it isn’t anymore. Jane suggests she was undertaking it for the wrong person. Jane says it is her choice whether she takes her back or leads her to Aden. They find themselves heading toward Aden seconds later. As they continue, Passepartout tells Abigail it wasn’t his idea to leave her behind. She calls him a man of straw and alleges he cares only about himself. Medjuel warns them to stay closer together and quiet if they want to survive the night.

They stop and he again instructions them to stay quiet and close because it is dangerous from this point forward. Medjuel tries to give Passepartout a gun although he isn’t eager to take it. Passe says he isn’t killing anyone for a rich man’s wager, but Medjuel says he won’t lose his wife because he believes in nothing. As they slowly move forward, they spot several figures in the distance. They get off their camels and prepare for a likely attack. Phileas sees a puddle of petroleum on the ground just before he is nearly attacked. The shooting begins as Jane and her husband try to gun down their attackers. Passepartout shoots wildly before he is told to be careful because they’re trying to get them to waste their ammunition. He complains he can’t see them. Abigail is grabbed by one of them on a horse so Passe shoots him. Jane tells her to run back to them.

As they get close to running out of bullets, Fogg lights a match and throws it into the petroleum puddle. The fire lights the area and makes it easier for his friends to take out the attackers. As they ride away, Medjuel says they’ve gone for reinforcements so they have to go immediately. Passepartout seems to have a difficult time dealing with the fact he had to kill someone. Once they reach Aden, Phileas says they should go buy their tickets right away. He wonders whether they could use the petroleum for other purposes while asking Passepartout to run him a bath. Passepartout complains about having to kill someone. Fogg admits he knows circumnavigating the world is going to require them to deal with extremely serious obstacles. Passepartout asks if Fogg is only worried about the wager. Phileas knows he is upset about killing someone and is glad he is, but he thinks they should put that behind them. He tells him to look forward to the future and India before saying he’ll get the cabins and meet them at the market.

When Fogg leaves, Thomas Kneedling (Anthony Flanagan) calls Passepartout by his name and says his friends seem really interested in themselves. He offers Passe a drink. Meanwhile, Abigail sends a message to the office of The Daily Telegraph confirming they’re safely in Aden. Abigail apologizes to Jane on behalf of her father and offers to tell him to his face when she gets back. Jane says that doesn’t matter to her anymore, but she’d like Abigail to talk to her children for her. In the message, Abigail calls Jane a marvel. Before Jane goes, she tells Fix that she made every decision for herself. Bernard is surprised that the message from his daughter calls him a liar. Abigail has decided she is going to let Phileas continue with her around the world so he agrees that is acceptable. Thomas tells Passepartout about his friend who wants to make sure Fogg doesn’t make it back to London on Christmas Eve. Passe only needs to delay him in India and ensure he misses his sailing to Hong Kong.

Thomas gives him an envelope with money in it and says the rich get all the money and the poor get all the work. Passe says he won’t betray his friends although Thomas describes them as his master and mistress. He tells Passepartout that money is freedom and one small favor for him will buy him a lot of freedom. Passe continues thinking about the man he killed while getting a cigar from his new acquaintance. He asks Thomas what he needs to do as the episode ends.

 

Around The World In 80 Days Review

When considering how great Around the World in 80 Days could’ve been, it is an uninspiring drama without any passion or love for the story. While the episode had some intense moments, they mostly felt dull because I didn’t care about any of the characters. Even with the current cast and changes to adapt to the liberal audience, it could’ve been so much better than it is.

The biggest problem might be the fact that they’re trying too hard to diversify the lead characters. Originally and following the novel, Phileas Fogg should’ve been the main character and the one who mattered the most. It wouldn’t be wise to solely blame the actor because there has been no character development or character building. Nobody could’ve done anything better with the role when they’re constantly being belittled, ridiculed, beat down, and turned into a sniveling coward.

On the other side of the coin, Phileas seems to excel when he orders Passepartout around. I question whether this was intentional since it is part of the agenda they’re trying to push and the story they’re trying to tell. After three episodes, not enough has been done to make Phileas a sympathetic character even though he wasn’t abused as much this episode. It is clear that Abigail Fortescue and Passepartout were intended to be the real stars of the show.

This wouldn’t be an issue if the show had skillfully handled these characters and juggled all three effectively, but it hasn’t. It also likely wouldn’t be an issue if the characters weren’t embedded into the fabric of society since so many grew up reading the novel. The characters aren’t likable although Phileas has meticulously been shaped into the worst of the bunch. When overlooking everything else, this is the show’s biggest issue and I am afraid they won’t be able to salvage the lead’s reputation before everything is said and done.

Surprisingly, they’ll have a second season and a second chance to try. The episode scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps of Around The World In 80 Days can be found on Reel Mockery here.