Elysium – As the fourth series of Miss Scarlet & The Duke begins, Eliza Scarlet (Kate Phillips) speaks to a journalist, Mr. Godfrey (Matija Zivkovic) about Nash and Sons as well as her role at the agency. Clarence (Paul Bazely) interrupts to get Eliza’s signature on the Whitlock case investigation. Once Godfrey leaves, Eliza complains about Clarence’s performance. He reminds her he was hired by Patrick Nash (Felix Scott) to pretend to be a private detective. Everyone takes their pay and leave. Clarence tells Eliza that Nash’s entire staff of men has left. He believes it is his responsibility to ensure his business is financially viable while Nash is in Paris. He goes on to say this financial practice is not prudent.

Later, Clarence tells Eliza that their financial situation is not as bad as they first thought. It is actually worse. Despite what Clarence thinks, Eliza believes being featured in “The Illustrated Police News” will be beneficial for the agency. They continue arguing about their current situation. Eliza insists things will pick up. William ‘The Duke’ Wellington (Stuart Martin) speaks to his team about their difficult month. They’ll be policing districts in Essex, Kent, Surrey, and Middlesex. As a result, all leave will be canceled. Detective Fitzroy (Evan McCabe), DS Phelps (Tim Chipping), and the others are not happy to hear that. Once the others leave, William tells Charlie Phelps not to give his opinion unless he asks for it. Then, he reveals there has been a shooting in Mayfair at the Temple of Elysium.

Fitzroy is told it isn’t a theater. They go to the brothel to speak to Madam Hera (Lu Corfield) about the incident. She calls it an elite gentleman’s club. Hera explains that a gunman came through the entrance, held the watchman at gunpoint, and made him tie himself up. Then, he went from bedroom to bedroom robbing her clients. The watchman untied himself and ran outside yelling for help instead of tackling the gunman. The watchman is told he’ll need to come to the station to make a statement. The gunman had a black scarf covering his face and was wearing a shabby cloth cap and overcoat. He was of average height, fair hair, and blue eyes. They learn that the gentleman caller was sleeping off some overindulgence when the intruder tried to rob him. A fight ensued leading to the caller being shot.

A doctor was there so he examined him and took him to the hospital. Hera refuses to tell them anything about the injured man. Eliza speaks to Ivy (Cathy Belton) about having no clients. Ivy is too obsessed with her book to listen. Ivy wonders if Moses can help, but Eliza says he won’t be back anytime soon. She also can’t ask William because things haven’t been the same since Arabella. Ivy urges Eliza to go see William. She visits him at his office later that night. William admits it isn’t a good time since they’re experiencing an unprecedented level of cases. He learns she has been reading reports on his desk. Once he figures out that she wants cases, he sends her on her way. Phelps and Fitzroy manage to find the gunshot patient.

The man is not able to talk and he hasn’t disclosed his name. Fitzroy knows who he is because he has seen the man at meetings with his father. He reveals that the man is a government minister. Williams speaks to Mr. Potts (Simon Ludders) at the morgue. The coroner, Mr. Wormsley, is agitated. Commissioner Fitzroy (Stephen Boxer) interrupts to discuss a delicate matter with William. He tells William that the man who was shot at the brothel comes from the Home Office. He was not the only gentleman of influence there. Most of the items that were stolen have personal messages and family crests engraved on them. The Commissioner wants to prevent that from going public. He asks William to lead the case. He will hold William directly responsible if he doesn’t resolve the case quickly.

William visits the injured man, Delaware (Al Weaver), at the hospital to speak about the incident. Delaware isn’t eager to answer questions. He claims he received the gunshot in a hunting accident. Eliza gets a copy of Illustrated Police News. She tells Clarence today is the day their fortunes change, but he says there is no article. He thinks they should’ve kept their advertising account with the newspaper. When she asks why he didn’t leave with the others, Clarence says he isn’t a quitter. William pleads with Madam Hera to help him with his investigation. Hera is convinced her clients will catch the culprit for her. She has heard that the judges and politicians are not happy with Scotland Yard. At the station, William gets snippy with Fitzroy and asks him to tell his father what a mess they’re in.

He apologizes to Oliver who thinks William should get some rest. Oliver argues they’re going to need more men to go through the files. William visits Eliza who is pretending they’re busy again. He tells Eliza about the case. Once she agrees to take the case, William says the files will be delivered this afternoon. Eliza is relieved to get the case. Clarence complains about having to look through the files when he is a qualified accountant. Eliza thinks they can get help without paying so she asks Ivy who is thrilled to be working on an investigation. Eliza argues with Clarence who storms off. Ivy tells her to go easy on him since she only has a single employee. Eliza relents and agrees to speak to him. She apologizes to Clarence. He tells her that Nash has an army of paid informants including girls who work at many brothels across London.

Clarence shows her where the safe is hidden so she can learn about the informants. Eliza speaks to Athena (Florence Roberts) who works at The Temple of Elysium. Athena says the description is a lie. The gunman was tall with brown hair and brown eyes. They were told to lie to the cops. Madam Hera is not her real name. Athena says Hera called in a favor to find the gunman herself. She warns Eliza that she’ll cross the madam at her own peril. The watchman Dimitrie found that out. Hera sacked him. Eliza visits Solomon’s Emporium where she learns he has gone back to Jamaica to visit family. Eliza asks Gabriel (Curtis Kantsa) to help her find Dimitrie (Igor Borojevic). She eventually convinces Gabriel to help her. When Eliza steps outside, she is approached by Basil Sinclaire (Oliver Chris).

He complains that she spoke to Godfrey instead of him. Eliza accuses him of printing lies last time. Basil knows she fed Godfrey a pack of lies since Nash’s entire staff and clients deserted her. He will write an article about how the investigation agency is on the verge of collapse and it is because of the lady detective. Eliza approaches William because she has something to tell him. She confesses she hired actors to pose as investigators. Both complain about their jobs before William storms off. Fitzroy checks on Eliza on her way out. She tells him she wants to share information with him about the robbery. Eliza tells him what she knows before asking about William. Oliver is worried about him. Eliza offers to help if Oliver shares his findings with her. He offers to leave the file there so she can read it without his knowledge.

Eliza goes to the hospital to see Delaware after learning his identity. The boss catches her and thinks she is the new nurse. Once she learns that Eliza is a private detective, she has her escorted out. Oliver approaches William to say he has new information about the Elysium case. Once William learns that Hera lied, he decides to visit her. Eliza learns Ivy has left to make dinner for Barnabus. She receives a court summons for rent arrears. Clarence tells her that the watchman is in her office. Dimitrie tells her that he has spent 20 years getting beaten up and shot at as a watchman. He admits Hera told him to lie to the police. Dimitrie reveals he didn’t see a gunman leave and there is no back entrance. He heard there is a secret way in and out upstairs. The building that joins the brothel was once an exclusive gentlemen’s club.

He suspects the gunman escaped through the connecting door. Eliza visits the building and finds the three sons of Titan. She finds the door. Eliza looks around the brothel and finds a bullet hole. Hera tells William that everything stolen has been returned. She claims everything was left in a box outside this morning. Hera says she’ll return the items and the case can be closed. William wants to take the evidence and Hera back to the station. She refuses. Eliza goes back into the old gentlemen’s club and finds what appears to be a bullet fragment in the floor. She goes to William because she knows who the gunman is. Eliza shows him the bullet fragment and the minister’s pants. A piece of fabric attached to the bullet matches the hole in Delaware’s pants.

They visit Delaware who denies staging a robbery. William knows he has been facing financial difficulties. Delaware confesses he needed the money to rise up the ranks. He planned to leave the gunman’s clothes and what he’d stolen in the room next door. He panicked when he heard the watchman screaming outside. When he stumbled and fell, the handgun fired. Delaware told Hera everything because he needed her help. She promised to get rid of the evidence. Commissioner Fitzroy decides that Minister Delaware will resign and go away quietly. He is adamant that Hera should be left alone because she knows too much. William tells him that the expansion is crippling them and someone is going to get hurt. He suggests using this case to negotiate with the Home Office.

The Commissioner orders William to keep his mouth shut about this case. William speaks to Eliza about it later. She apologizes for lying. Eliza tried to lead Nash’s men but they saw her as some bossy woman. William thinks she is determined. He believes she’ll find a way to make it work since she always does. She reminds him that they always dine on the last Wednesday of every month. Once William leaves, Ivy tells Eliza she found something in the files but it isn’t about the gunman. It’s about someone else entirely. Eliza approaches Clarence to say she knows why he hasn’t left. He has been an associate of three criminal gangs as their account and served time for taxation fraud. Clarence admits Nash hired him when no one else would.

Eliza agrees to let him stay because neither of them is perfect. Clarence says they’re stuck with each other. Eliza is confident they’ll make the agency successful. Clarence says Athena said something interesting when she came by for her fee. Eliza approaches Basil who wants to show her the story he just wrote. Eliza tells him the article won’t be published because she knows he is a client of Athena. William logged it as evidence so Eliza can always use it against him. Eliza destroys the article before leaving.

 

Miss Scarlet & The Duke Review

The opening episode of Miss Scarlet and the Duke’s fourth series was really enjoyable, especially when compared to other recent releases. The series isn’t groundbreaking and the investigations can be shallow at times, but it is oozing with charm and charisma. Despite some issues, the show makes up for it with charismatic characters and strong relationships.

In particular, this episode created a compelling relationship between Eliza and Clarence. Even though the series has been running for four seasons, it felt fresh without needing to rehash the same stories repeatedly. The characters really drive the story because they’re so well-rounded and the majority of them are likable.

Kate Phillips is great as Eliza as usual while The Duke is starting to come around. Al Weaver was a fun addition even though his appearance was short. Cathy Belton and Paul Bazely were equally fun in this episode. Truthfully, this was an enjoyable episode that remained one step ahead of everything else on television. You really have to admire the amount of work the team put in trying to make this historically accurate in terms of the props and costumes. They’re spot on.

It scores a 7.5 out of 10. Recaps of Miss Scarlet and The Duke can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our independent work at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here. Discuss this show and others with friends at the Reel Mockery Forum.