As the fourth episode of Ludwig begins, a man working at a construction site falls to his death. Lucy Betts-Taylor (Anna Maxwell Martin) wakes up John Taylor (David Mitchell) to show him he’s in the newspaper. She isn’t happy that she gave them a quote. Henry (Dylan Hughes) interrupts and reminds Lucy that James told them to leave town. John keeps saying he needs the source code to solve the puzzle. Lucy asks him not to solve any murder today. Before long, John and DI Russell Carter (Dipo Ola) are at the new crime scene. DC Simon Evans (Gerran Howell) tells them that Alice Finch (Izuka Hoyle) is trying to access the CCTV footage. There were only five others here at the time and another man who heard the thud. Connor Merton (Gavin Spokes) takes them up to the spot where the victim fell from. John notices a danger sign.
Connor doesn’t know why it’s up there since the platform is fine. He explains that the Polish kid, Stefan Kaminski (Alex Romashov), got the worst of it. He saw it. The deceased, Marty Symes, is described as a good worker. John freaks out when he sees another sign with a skull on it. Connor admits it’s not supposed to be up either. John notices water on the ground near the equipment. They head back down. John begins looking through the security footage. John and Russell tell DCS Carol Shaw (Dorothy Atkinson) what they know back at the station. John believes the generator thing had been tampered with. He is convinced this was a murder. Later, John calls Lucy and tells her about the case. When he sees Holly Pinder (Sophie Willan) he tries to flee. He says Holly almost caught him going through the Sinclair report this morning.
Connor learns that they’re not going to be allowed to work. John and Russell arrive because they want to talk to everyone who was on site this morning. They start by speaking to Zara Bassett (Natali McCleary) and Gary Jennings (Allan Mustafa). Zara points out that Marty was an a-hole. They went on a date a while back too. Gary says Marty liked winding people up. Zara says Marty’s idea of winding people up was convincing them they were about to be deported. As for Gary, Marty once convinced him their syndicate had won the lottery. Zara says she didn’t see Marty until it was too late. As for Gary, he actually spoke to him. He wasn’t supposed to be on the mixer, but Marty wanted to switch. They don’t think anyone was meant to be up there. Russell and John speak to Stefan and Ojay Turner (Anton Cross). Ojay confirms he spoke to Marty this morning.
Marty tried to swap with him and Ojay refused. Stefan says he saw them twice. Marty was on the third floor testing the pneumatic riveter. The second time was went Marty fell to his death. John begins looking into the chute. He wonders what a water bottle is doing in the skip. John thinks someone poured the water onto the generator. He sees them moving the generator and tries to stop them. John notices that the wires have been changed so he puts them back. He learns the fuse would block like that and the person who pushed the button may get shocked. Connor shows Russell everything that was in Marty’s locker. John finds a Ludwig puzzle collection book. Connor suspects Marty arrived after he did although he didn’t speak to him. He was checking out flights. Connor says he’s been offered an interview for a new job overseeing the construction of a luxury hotel in Las Vegas.
John suspects that was a joke set up by Marty. Back at the station, John and Simon talk about the fact that the workers moved around at will. Holly comes in and reveals that Marty was a catfish. Alice begins poking holes in John’s theory. John begins to wonder if it was just an accident. Henry returns home and joins Lucy. He asks if she’s heard anything. Lucy says she hasn’t and she would tell him if she did. John returns later and worries that he can’t solve the cipher. He believes James has always been better at everything. John explains he can’t solve the latest crime. Lucy tries to convince him that he can do it. John speaks to Henry. John learns Henry has been playing a game of chess with James. John says Lucy has been crying and he’s not good at stuff like that. Henry apologizes to Lucy. John looks at the puzzle book he found at the work site.
Next, John speaks to all of the suspects at the construction site. He explains how the killer managed to manipulate everyone and ensure Martin was at the generator. John says they were all pawns in the game. He goes through all of the details and says the opening move was Zara’s. She was just the first person to move, but it wasn’t her hand that moved it. John thinks Gary made the first move happen. Gary asks why he’d want to kill Marty. John says pride and arrogance. He thinks Gary proposed to his girlfriend but he didn’t have a girlfriend at all. He was one of Marty’s catfishing victims. John admits he saw Marty’s phone and figured it out. He says he was pranking Marty who was also pranking him. John thinks he’s the type of man who couldn’t tolerate being beaten by someone. The water bottle thrown down the chute was tested for DNA and it matched Gary’s.
Gary says he’s never been up to F6 and threw away the bottle from the ground. They go outside so John can show him that is impossible. John gives the puzzle back to Gary and says he signed it for him. Gary is arrested. At the station, John hears Shaw speaking to someone on the phone about his work. She says something is no longer an issue. Holly asks John what he’s got when he leaves the station. She tells him that Ziegler has been accessing a lot of files from his computer lately. She wiped the system, but she’s not going to do it again. John returns home and confirms he’s not giving up on the cipher. He also tells Lucy and Henry about Holly. Lucy is left alone again. John hears the phone ringing. When he answers it, someone asks what he is playing out and why he’s back there. The man on the other end calls him James. John asks who it is. The person hangs up.
John tells Lucy about the call. Henry finds out moments later. When Lucy puts her book down, it looks like she still has the four-leaf clover John gave her a long time ago. Someone is shown looking at pictures of John or James. They have a whole wall of pictures of them.
Ludwig Review
The fourth episode of Ludwig was okay although the series has definitely lost its charm over the last few episodes. John’s unique case solving was interesting the first time around. Now, it feels like those scenes can be skipped without really missing anything. After all, most of us will never fully understand that or care enough to try.
Then again, these are the most entertaining scenes and they’re really the only thing setting this apart from a blue million detective shows. The best thing about the series is that it really doesn’t take itself seriously. Therefore, viewers don’t have to worry about getting all the little details right.
Some of the characters are more sympathetic than others while some are downright annoying. The series is okay and even a little unique thanks to John’s work. However, the episodes really feel like a slog until John begins to work his magic. This one scores a 5.5 out of 10. Recaps Ludwig can be found on Reel Mockery here.
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Jay Skelton is a fan of all television shows and movies. He tries his best to keep up with the latest foreign television shows and movies. Jay loves skinny dipping in the dark too.
