As the episode begins, Henry Scarlet (Kevin Doyle) speaks with an unknown individual. He is shown a picture of himself with Eliza (Kate Phillips) before he pleads with the person to leave her alone. Henry is forced to drink a cup of something to prevent Eliza from being harmed. He tells the person that they will go to hell for this before drinking it. The person holding Henry at gunpoint is wearing one of the fumigation masks. After the intro, PC Honeychurch (Matthew Malone) speaks with William ‘The Duke’ Wellington (Stuart Martin) about the death of Nathaniel Caine. Frank Jenkins (Danny Midwinter) listens as Honeychurch says he was poisoned and woke up on the floor.

Despite the series of events, William is not happy with Honeychurch letting Nathaniel Caine get murdered in his hospital bed. When PC Honeychurch steps out of the room, Frank confirms that there were traces of laudanum in the tea so he believes he was telling the truth. The nurse has already been questioned and anyone could have spiked the tea. Frank is told to find the Jamaican. Meanwhile, Eliza sits around her home until William arrives outside. He tells the guard outside to not drink anything and not to let Eliza leave. Then, he steps inside and speaks with Eliza. She asks about his hand before turning the conversation to the case which William says is the largest forgery operation Scotland Yard has ever seen.

Nothing is known about the gang that is responsible just yet. Before William leaves, he pleads with Eliza to swear to stay inside and she does. He asks her about Moses and she says she hasn’t seen him for some time. The conversation is interrupted with Rupert Parker (Andrew Gower) arrives and the guards refuse to let him inside. William doesn’t want Rupert to enter the house but Eliza isn’t going to let that stop her from talking to Rupert. Once he is allowed inside, Rupert tells Eliza about his urgent personal matter. He reveals that Tilly (Amy McAllister) has proposed to him and he doesn’t know how to handle that.

Eliza wonders if Tilly wants to stay in London since it might be a marriage of convenience for her and Rupert. Then, she asks Rupert if he has her reply from Moses and he does. Eliza gets fed up with Rupert and encourages him to tell Tilly no. Then, she tells him that she needs his help. Next, we join William and Frank as they raid the flat where Moses has been staying. Eliza and Rupert set up a plan so she can escape her house. Before that can happen, they notice that the guards leave. They leave in a hurry believing it is not safe there.

Frank and William find that Moses has several weapons before William finds one of the notes from Eliza. Frank finds something in a bag. Then, William meets with Eliza who is waiting for Moses to show up. She accuses him of dismissing the guards but he denies it. William shows her evidence which suggests that Moses (Ansu Kabia) is part of the criminal gang that killed her father. William and Frank found forged bills of exchange in his room. After that, William returns to Superintendent Stirling (Nick Dunning) and asks him why the guards were dismissed. Stirling says guarding Eliza’s house is excessive and he doesn’t believe the criminal would go after the daughter of a drunk detective.

William takes Eliza food since she is locked in jail. She promises to stay in his office so he’ll set her free. She wants to discuss Moses because she doesn’t think he is part of the gang. William won’t cooperate with her so Eliza gets mad and tosses the plate onto the ground. William tells his comrades about the evidence they have now. He gives them orders. Then, Eliza, Frank, and William search through the evidence together. William tells Eliza that he would like her to stay in his house for security reasons and he offers his room. Eliza doesn’t like that because she wants to protect her reputation. She invites him to her house instead. A man enters and preaches before giving Eliza a note from Moses.

That night, Eliza and William chat and she suspects William paid the guards out of his own pocket. She serves dinner moments later and the food doesn’t look great. William asks her to boils eggs but Eliza isn’t sure how to do that either. They boil eggs together and Eliza learns that William got a new watch. They chat about being like an old married couple before the eggs are finished. Later, Eliza checks on William and finds him sleeping on the couch. She finds Moses in her kitchen and tells him that he is in serious trouble. He says an inspector put the counterfeit bills in his room. Moses denies having anything to do with the men who killed Eliza’s father. They sit down and Eliza tells Moses she doesn’t think Wellington would set him up.

He gives her a note and says it might change her mind. It is a note containing Nathaniel Caine’s address and Moses says someone doctored the records. Someone from Scotland Yard has threatened Benjamin (Will O’Connell) and forced him to keep his mouth shut. In the morning, William finds that Eliza did not boil the eggs enough. She tells him about her encounter with Moses and the fact that Nathaniel Caine had a brother. Eliza is locked away again while Benjamin tries to flee but William gets to him before he can escape. Benjamin denies that someone threatened him because he is scared. William intimidates him to get him to tell the truth. Benjamin admits that Moses was telling the truth.

He went to Scotland Yard to report his brother missing. He heard nothing so he went back again and Stirling told him that he didn’t have a brother. Benjamin was told to go home and stay quite or he’d end up at the bottom of the Thames. William meets with Franks and hears the fire alarming going off. Eliza and William learn that the missing persons files have been burned in an attempt to destroy them. They agree to speak with the bank managers so they can found out which gang was involved with Stirling. They speak with one manager who identifies the Cartwright brothers. The manager says they said they were businessmen investing in railroads and they smelled of excrement.

They tried to disguise the smell with cologne. Then, Eliza and the others check a map in hopes of finding a place where the gang could hide. They wonder if it could be the old tannery since it still stinks horribly. They visit the building immediately and search it. Eliza is asked to stay outside with Honeychurch but she makes her way inside anyway. Before too long, Frank finds Stirling dead at the bottom of a set of stairs. Back at the station, Eliza says they’re going to open a case into police corruption. He goes on to say Stirling had a train ticket to Liverpool. It is believed that the brother double-crossed Stirling and took his share of the gold. Frank enters and says they received a telegram that two men matching the descriptions of the brothers boarded the Rms Umbria bound for New York.

Eliza is worried that her father’s killers are going to walk free but William reminds her that they do not know they were actually responsible. Since they can’t do anything else, William offers to pick up Ivy and take her home. He suspects that Eliza will be safe at home now. She tells him that she is grateful and he asks her to have dinner with him but she wants to meet with Moses first. She is convinced that Moses is innocent and risks his freedom for them. Instead, William ends up spending the night drinking with Frank. They share jokes about marriage while Rupert visits Eliza at home. He tells her that Tilly is mad at Eliza because she told him to say no. William returns home with Frank who admits his wife isn’t coming back home.

Ivy visits Eliza and accuses her of trying to take her fiance but Eliza denies it. William searches Frank’s property and finds the mask. When he turns around, Frank has a gun pointed at his face. Frank approaches William and takes his gun before he is asked about killing Henry. Frank says that would’ve been the end of it but William didn’t keep Eliza in line. William tells him not to blame Eliza for what he has done. Frank admits he killed the Cartwright brothers and that things got complicated after Caine was found. He says he will need to kill William too before someone knocks at the door and it is Eliza. Frank holds them both at gunpoint. Eliza confesses that she is unarmed and she thinks she can reason with Detective Jenkins but Frank only laughs at that.

Eliza says she knows where he hid the gold and that Honeychurch has a group of men going to get the gun. Then, she admits she doesn’t know where it is and that it was only a delay tactic. Moses sneaks up behind Frank and knocks him out. After that, William speaks with Moses and confesses that Frank used him to distract him. Before Moses leaves, William thanks him at Eliza’s request. She also says that William will give him a ride home. Before they leave, Moses tells Willliam that he doesn’t want a ride from him. He says he likes William even less than William likes him. But, he agrees to shake his hand for Eliza’s sake. William tells Moses that he will be keeping his eye on him.

Before Moses leaves, he shows William that he pickpocketed him. Henry tells Eliza that she needs to be satisfied with knowing the truth but she says that won’t bring him back. Henry reminds her that only hopeless people cry. William visits and she realizes that her father isn’t around. William invites her to dinner now that he apologized or thanked Moses. He says they need to go now or they’re going to have another argument and mess that up. He intends to take her to Gilberts.

 

Miss Scarlet And The Duke Review

While there were things I didn’t like about Miss Scarlet and The Duke, I am still going to miss it. I think it was better than a lot of other stuff on television and streaming services right now. As for the finale, I can’t say that it was the most surprising or original ending. I figured from early on that Stirling was somehow involved in the murder of Henry Scarlet. I was skeptical about Frank Jenkins and I figured Moses had nothing to do with it.

They pushed Eliza and William together very quickly there in the end. Despite all of this, I am glad the writers wrapped everything up and I think it was a fitting ending. I wouldn’t be surprised if they renew Miss Scarlet and the Duke for another season though since it had decent reviews. It may be back. Time will tell. The finale scores a 7.5 out of 10.

Previous recaps of Miss Scarlet and The Duke are available on Reel Mockery.