The Jewel Of The North – As the finale begins, Eliza Scarlet (Kate Phillips) returns home and finds a package in front of her door. After she takes it in, Patrick Nash (Felix Scott) rushes over to tell her not to open the box. They set it down on the desk carefully. Patrick removes the lid and says thank god. He explains the bomb won’t go off because the timer isn’t linked to the detonator. Eliza learns that Moses (Ansu Kabia) received a bomb as well. Patrick and Moses think they should look into it themselves, but Eliza didn’t listen and wants to talk to The Duke about it. The Duke (Stuart Martin) reveals that he received a bomb too.

William claims to know exactly who is doing this. He explains that they all received devices, but he was the primary target. His package contained a note in Irish Gaelic that says “we’re watching you”. The Duke says the movement for Irish home rule has become more than political with certain groups making it an armed struggle. In the last year, they’ve planted bombs in barracks and government offices. Eliza that Moses has worked for Nash who has worked for William several times this year. That could explain why Moses was targeted too. William had to contact the Special Irish Branch so the head of investigations is on his way.

Arthur St John Hudson (Sam Hoare) enters and begins learning about the bombs as well as the message. He wants to discuss the chain of command before doing anything. Hudson makes it clear that he will take full control from this point. He agrees that they’ll be cooperating, but they’ll be under his command. He hates to pull rank but explains the orders come from the Home Secretary himself. He knows it is difficult since they were in the running for the same job. Hudson hopes there will be no lingering resentment that he was picked instead of The Duke.

William is asked to supervise the collection of the devices while Hudson begins interviewing people. Hudson interviews Eliza and tries to find out why she was targeted. She has to tell him that her relationship with the inspector is purely professional. When Patrick is interviewed, he admits that Eliza is good. Although Patrick is Irish, he insists he had nothing to do with this. Moses tells Hudson that he was born in The Parish of Manchester in Jamaica. He won’t say how long he has been in the country. Hudson wants a list of people who have employed him. Moses and Eliza tell him he is wasting his time.

Eliza thinks he should focus on why the bombs weren’t set to explode. Hudson doubts it was intentional since many of their bombs have failed to detonate in the past. Hudson refuses to let her investigate by suspending her license. She complains about it to Moses who says things are far from alright. He explains that certain events played out in a way that he had to leave Jamaica a few years back. Although he planned to keep moving, he has been in London for three years now. Moses doesn’t believe the men who are following him sent the bombs. He is more worried about Hudson since he will be making inquiries about all of them.

He may send a telegram to Jamaica with Moses’s description. Word will get around where he is and that would be very bad. Eliza visits her business and finds an order on the door closing it. She removes it and goes inside. Patrick catches up with her and says they ransacked his place as well. They suspended his license as well. Patrick asks if she read about the train robbery last Thursday from London to Liverpool on the Great Northwest Line. Eliza mentions the Jewel of the North. Patrick offered his services because the train company isn’t happy with how the case is being handled.

The train robbery has similarities to one in Bristol a few months back that was carried out by Irish nationalists. Some groups have turned to crime to fund their cause. Patrick suspects someone wants to scare them off the investigation. The case went to Scotland Yard a few days back so William should be leading it now. Patrick may have implied that Eliza was working for him. He was trying to win their business because no one ever suspects a woman would be undercover. When Eliza asks how many times he has told this lie, Patrick says he wouldn’t have to lie if she came to work for him.

He argues that they should find out who is behind this themselves. Fitzroy (Evan McCabe) tells William that Hudson is bringing more of his men there. He also has a box full of suspect files of known Irish extremists since Hudson has ordered him to help with the investigation. Hudson tells William that they believe further attacks are imminent in the near future and he has been ordered to expand his operation. William reminds him that he and his men have work to do. William visits Eliza who is busy cooking. He reveals he has been told to take a leave of absence. He suggests working together.

William soon learns that she is working with Patrick and Moses on the bombing case and train robbery. Moses tells everyone that the Jewel of the North is a daily service from London Euston to Liverpool Lime Street. It usually carries passengers and post, but was carrying something else on the day of the robbery. It was carrying a lot of cash that was being sent by the Great Northwest Railway Company to a construction site near Liverpool. It was the wages for hundreds of new workers they’ve hired to build new lines across the northwest. The robbers broke in during a scheduled shop.

Someone had to know when the train would stop so they’re going to need a list of staff members. Since Patrick is still working for the train company, he is sent to the head office with Moses. Eliza and William will go to the bank that delivered the wages to the train. As they leave, Eliza and William talk about Arabella. William says she is well and Eliza would know that if she accepted her invitation to dinner. She claims she is glad for them and didn’t accept because she has been busy. They speak to James Bamford (James Barriscale) who says he oversaw the delivery of the money himself.

He insists they didn’t see anything suspicious and the money was delivered. Eliza tells him that Mr. Basil Sinclaire is a close personal friend and she suspects he’d like to avoid bad publicity. He agrees to give them a list of everyone who was working on the day of the robbery. When Moses and Patrick arrive at the head office, they find that another bomb has been delivered to Enoch Lyndhurst (Paul Putner). Despite going through all the people who worked at the train and bank, they don’t find anything helpful. When William says he had dinner plans, Eliza tells him to go ahead.

Patrick suspects he was late for his lady friend, but Eliza insists she wouldn’t know. Moses suggests taking the bomb to Solomon (Brian Bovell). While Solomon checks it out, Moses tells Eliza that Nash is opening an office in Paris and offered him a job. He isn’t sure what he’ll do after that. Solomon doesn’t think the Irish Republicans made the bomb because it is brand-new and military-grade. William apologizes to Arabella (Sophie Robertson) for being late. She says they’re here now and that is all that matters before they get a glass of wine. Arabella learns about William and Eliza working together.

It crossed her mind that he might’ve lost interest in her although William says that is far from the truth. As they prepare to eat, William tells her about Eliza being determined and trying to cook. The next day, William offers to come back to work to help with the investigation. Hudson refuses that offer because it’d be safer for William to be away from Scotland Yard. He pretends to take a drink before leaving. Outside, he gives a key to Fitzroy and asks him to get the conviction records of individuals or gangs with knowledge of explosives.

William also wants the case notes from the train robbery. He gives the notes to Eliza later and says there is an interview with the porter who was working that day. He mentioned that five men delivered the money although Bamford told them there were only four. When they confront him, he claims it was just an oversight. William asks if the missing man’s name is Jack Fenton before Eliza reveals he had convictions for armed robbery. Then, Bamford is forced to admit Jack is his brother-in-law. Jack got kicked out of the army before doing time in Newgate.

Bamford can’t say whether he was involved in the robbery or where he is right now. He heard he was working at a jeweler’s in Hatton Garden from time to time. Eliza sends a message to Nash so he can Moses can start looking for Jack. They decide to visit the jewelry shop to see if Fenton is there. Once they get there, Eliza pretends they’re engaged and she is looking for a ring. She tries to find out more about upcoming deliveries. Meanwhile, Patrick and Moses wait at the pub to see if Jack will visit. When a man matching Jack’s description ends, they end up getting into a fight with him.

The man runs away when the cops come leaving Moses and Patrick to get arrested. Fitzroy informs William and Eliza. He also tells them that Moses said they also found someone they were looking for. Once Fitzroy leaves, Enoch arrives looking for Eliza. He tells them that this robbery felt different than the crimes before. This morning, he learned that the chief conductor of the Jewel of the North remembers a suspicious encounter with a fella in a public house in the days before the robbery. The conductor was invited to his house which was a room over a shop and they continued drinking.

Then, the stranger started asking questions about train timetables and signals. The stranger gave the name Jack Fenton. Eliza asks about an address. While they check the flat, Eliza admits she doesn’t have expensive tastes in rings. Her favorite part of Christmas was unwrapping rather than the present. She thinks Arabella would be a different story. William finds another bomb before trying to convince Eliza to leave. She refuses to go. Eliza has been reading about explosives so she may be able to defuse the bomb. She successfully saves him by cutting all three wires.

They suspect that this bomb was meant to go off. The manufacturer’s name, Galton and Hobbs, is on the stick of dynamite. Eliza visits Enoch to ask him about the company expanding northwest and using dynamite to create tunnels. She says she visited Galton and Hobbs earlier today and the company was very helpful. Eliza knows he oversees the buying and transportation of the explosives so she suspects he knows Jack Fenton. William enters with Corporal Fenton’s discharge sheet in hopes of getting Enoch to talk. They served together in the First King’s Dragoon Guards.

Eliza asks if he sent himself that bomb and tried to blow them up in Fenton’s bedsit. Enoch says he never intended to harm anyone and that was Fenton’s idea. The bombs he sent weren’t prime to explode so they were meant to be used to misdirect. They take him to Scotland Yard for an interview. William suspects he did it for money. A man like that won’t hold anything back because he is so afraid of prison. William promises to set Moses and Patrick free since it is his case now. He knows things can be complex between them, but he misses her company.

He knows how she feels about Arabella although he hopes they can still go out for their monthly dinner together. She questions whether Arabella would be okay with that. William goes inside and tells Hudson that his work is done. Eliza finds Fitzroy training with Moses. She tells Moses about the arrests and gives him a French dictionary. He admits he is still thinking about Paris and might be around for work in the meantime. When she says she wants many things, Moses urges her to choose just one. Once William arrives late again, Arabella tells him to sit down. She tells him that she had a father who lacked the capacity to love his children and a husband whose only interest was money.

She suspects Eliza is the reason he is late because he talks about her constantly. Although he says they’re only friends, Arabella argues he is in love with her unless he can convince her otherwise. She warns him that Eliza’s ambition will outweigh everything including her feelings for him. Eliza finds a box of business cards on her desk so she confronts Patrick. He says he is going to Paris to set up the branch and he needs someone to run the London office. He explains that she’ll be working with him so she can choose the cases and clients. She’ll have a full-time staff of 20 men and can work on bigger cases.

He tells her to think about the signal it would send if a woman was running an agency of that size. She’d want her own office with her name on the door. Patrick already has that covered. Nash asks if they have a deal just before the episode ends.

 

Miss Scarlet & The Duke Review

The finale of Miss Scarlet & The Duke may not have been the best episode of the season, but it did a great job of justifying and setting up yet another season. It created a lot of interesting storylines for a fourth season while keeping the hope of romance between Eliza and William alive. After everyone received unprimed bombs and Arthur St John Hudson came to town, they start investigating a train robbery linked to the bombs.

Ultimately, it was found that one of the business partners for the train company was responsible. Enoch Lyndhurst agreed to confess and tell William everything he knew about the bombs and robbery. Arabella began questioning William since he was frequently late and constantly talking about Eliza. She eventually decided it was best to end their relationship, but warned William that Eliza’s ambition would outweigh her feelings for him.

Patrick Nash is going to Paris to set up a branch. He offered to let Eliza run the London branch and be in control of 20 or so men. These storylines will hopefully be carried over to a fourth season instead of starting from scratch. While certain episodes were more enjoyable than others, it was a good season overall. The investigations sometimes feel a little too stretched out, but the show excels when it focuses on the relationships and dramas of the characters.

The finale scores a 7 out of 10. Recaps of Miss Scarlet and The Duke are available on Reel Mockery here. Want to support an independent voice in entertainment? Follow this link.  Learn more about advertising opportunities on Reel Mockery here.