As this episode begins, Luke Fitzwilliam (David Jonsson) attends the funeral for Reverend Humbleby. Mrs. Humbleby (Nimra Bucha) and Rose (Phoebe Licorish) invite him to join them since they’re speaking to Dr. Thomas about the autopsy. In private, Luke tells them about the victims and how Dr. Thomas attended every one of them. Luke knows that Dr. Thomas is fond of Rose, but her father would’ve never allowed the marriage. He shows them Thomas’s book about race hygiene. Luke tells them about Miss Pinkerton and suggests the reverend’s medication was tampered with before Dr. Thomas arrives. Mrs. Humbleby admits her husband never took the penicillin.

Dr. Thomas (Mathew Baynton) tells Rose to stop when she begins searching for similar books. She gets upset and storms out with Mrs. Humbleby following her. Dr. Thomas blames Luke who says nothing and leaves. Outside. Mrs. Humbleby admits it could’ve been murder so she urges Luke to keep looking. The locals gather to discuss the situation. Rivers (Jon Pointing) complains there is an investigation when one of them dies, but not the other way around. He goes on to say Lord Whitfield should fix Ashe Bottom because his tenants are living in a slum. Rivers calls this place rotten to the core. Outside, Luke apologizes to Bridget (Morfydd Clark) before they agree to find the murderer. Bridget says she is throwing a party with Gordon this afternoon.

They sit down and begin discussing the murders. Luke realizes he doesn’t have power there. Bridget checks on him before saying Dr. Freud is ready if he cares to explain. He begins talking about the dreams he has been having since he came to England. He keeps losing an Ikenga which is considered his potential to succeed. Bridget believes he is a little lost in the forest. She thought she’d be content there, but she doesn’t know anymore. They hear a screen before finding Rivers with a serious head wound. Lord Whitfield told the police not to make a fuss about it. Luke speaks to Major Horton (Douglas Henshall) about the murders. Horton asks if Pinkerton had a theory about Lydia. She wasn’t entirely sure.

Luke suggests the car that hit Pinkerton could belong to someone in Wychwood. Horton will try to find out the registration. Before the party, Miss Waynflete (Sinead Matthews) talks to Luke about Lord Whitfield and his religion. She confirms she knew Whitfield before the war when he was only a boy. They go inside moments later. Luke looks around and finds an Ikenga like the one he dreamed about dropping. Bridget tells him that Gordon likes collecting nice things. Luke remembers that many of the victims spoke out against respectable men. Bridget is adamant that Gordon couldn’t have done this. She gets upset with Luke for suggesting such. Luke speaks to Mrs. Pierce about Rivers speaking out.

She isn’t eager to say anything out of fear of repercussions. Dr. Thomas tries to speak to Rose, but she wants nothing to do with him. Rose speaks to Luke about how her father said Thomas wasn’t fit to serve on the New Town board. She thinks they should use this opportunity to find out what he is up to. Luke leaves and breaks into the doctor’s office. Bridget walks in on him. She says she has a confession to make. Before she can say what, they hear someone so they have to hide. It turns out to be no one. Bridget says she can’t marry Gordon. They make out before looking around. Thomas had information about the Whitfield New Town account. Someone has forged Gordon’s signature and they’re made payable to Dr. Thomas.

She thinks they should tell Gordon what they know. Luke finds the heel of a shoe in River’s blood. They begin wondering whether the murderer might be a woman. Bridget mentions she, Mrs. Humbleby,  and Rose can drive. Luke confronts Mrs. Humbleby to ask her where she met her husband. She says in India where he was stationed. Luke asks if she went with her husband to the Derby. Humbleby refuses to answer and leaves in a hurry. Gordon grabs Bridget and introduces her to everyone. He says it is time for her surprise before showing her a fancy ring. Dr. Thomas gets ill and falls down the stairs. Luke notices a red mark on his neck as Rose leaves. Luke watches her drive away. Major Horton joins him and says it was a Rolls-Royce that killed Pinky.

Luke finds one nearby and looks in the back. Bridget comes out to ask him about the sores on Thomas’s neck. Luke asks her if she thinks Lord Whitfield could be trying to frame her. She refuses to believe he had anything to do with it. Luke leaves. Bridget checks the back of the Rolls-Royce and finds shoes with one missing a heel. Later, Detective Bull (Brian McCardie) approaches Luke and mentions he was at the scene of many recent deaths. Major Horton interrupts and refuses to let Detective Bull confine Luke to his room. Luke tells Horton he needs to get to the manor because he has questions for Lord Whitfield. Horton gives him his keys. Whitfield invites him in and questions why he is there. He asks if he was researching Conway. Gordon says he stands alone and is beholden to no one.

God and his own hand didn’t raise him from Ashe Bottom just to be cast down by someone like Luke or Rivers. Luke thinks Ashe Bottom made him something, but Gordon refuses to give it any credit. He believes Rivers was struck down by divine wrath. Gordon says he has done right by his creator and his creator has done right by him. His enemies are always exterminated. Bridget listens to their conversation as they begin talking about Reverend Humbleby. Gordon checks the box Miss Waynflete brought and finds a piece for his collection. He begins talking about how she was clever and handsome in the day. He sometimes wonders what she thinks of him now. Luke asks how this divine justice is accomplished.

Gordon says that’s up to God. Bridget talks to Luke about that outside. Luke tries to convince her that Gordon is the killer. He believes he should get her out of there. As they drive away, Luke says Bull will never believe him because he wants to arrest him. He quickly comes up with an idea and who can help. They go to Ashe Bottom where Bridget tells the women they need their help. They go back to Whitfield’s place and begin cleaning while Luke questions him. They overhear Gordon saying Tommy’s death satisfied him. The women hear him and pin him to the ground. When Bull arrives, he is told that Gordon has confessed to multiple murders and should be arrested. Luke tells them about the Rolls-Royce and convinces them to check the registration.

Bridget asks Waynflete who ended her friendship with Gordon. She says Gordon asked her if she loved her canary more than him. He wrung its neck and the look on his face did it. The registration is confirmed to be the one belonging to Gordon. Horton arrives as Gordon begins denying everything. Waynflete admits she suspected it was Gordon but no one would’ve believed her. Luke receives a letter from Bridget, but he says she didn’t write it. He notices that the knife is missing. Gordon says Waynflete took it home to clean it. Bridget notices that Algernon has something wrong with its ear. Bridget becomes suspicious of Waynflete but ends up poisoned. Meanwhile, Luke learns that Gordon was employed by Miss Waynflete’s father.

Bridget goes outside with Waynflete who says she is not a woman scorned. She only wanted independence. Gordon says she told him her secrets and how she was going to run away to Cambridge. He had to tell her father who threatened to sack them. Gordon says they locked her up like a prisoner in a cage. She crushed her bird with her hands. Honoria Waynflete tells Bridget that she needed Gordon to suffer so she decided to make him the murderer. Luke checks the note which asks Gordon to meet Bridget near Ashe Woods. He runs out because he knows she has Bridget. When Waynflete grabs the knife, Bridget knocks it out of her hand. A struggle ensues. Luke makes it in time to pull Waynflete off of her.

Waynflete admits to poisoning the Reverend’s drink with strychnine during tennis. They go over the other murders and how Waynflete managed each of them. She admits to killing Lydia Horton with arsenic. Waynflete followed Pinkerton to London where she pushed her in front of the car. Then, she gave the police Lord Whitfield’s registration. She took the knife covered in Gordon’s fingerprints so she can kill Bridget and frame him. The police arrive to take Waynflete into custody. Later, Luke gets a letter confirming he can begin in Whitehall on Monday the 14th of June. Bridget says goodbye to Gordon and steps out with Luke who confirms he gave Mrs. Pierce Pinkerton’s derby money. Luke says he should be in Nigeria for independence.

Bridget discusses the possibility of traveling or becoming a detective. She drives away moments later. Luke goes to Pinkerton’s grave and remembers what she said. He is back on a boat as the episode ends.

 

Murder Is Easy Review

The final episode of Murder Is Easy was arguably worse than the first. Three-quarters of the episode felt so drug out and tedious with very little happening. The character development was nonexistent making it impossible to genuinely care for any of the characters, including Whitfield or any of the murdered characters. If the story had been done correctly, it could’ve easily stretched into three or even four episodes. At this rate though, it only needed one episode considering how incredibly slow this one was.

The series followed the basics of the Agatha Christie original but only marginally because the mystery, thrill, and overall feel changed dramatically. A lot of the aspects that were changed didn’t really work and everything was thrown away with the cop-out ending anyway. The whole thing just didn’t seem convincing and it lacked any purpose and emotion.

The appearance of the series wasn’t spectacular either because it often looked incredibly cheap with too many up-close shots. The highlight of this episode was the soundtrack which was only noticeable during the song at the party. It is really unfortunate that this wasn’t better considering that most of the cast was good and the story was already laid out for the production team, but the sabotage was deliberate.

It is always baffling how these things can go so wrong when all the work has already been laid out before you, but here we are and a solid cast was pretty much squandered. And, those in charge of the Agatha Christie rights don’t seem to care as long as a paycheck is involved. The finale scores a 4.5 out of 10. Recaps of Murder Is Easy can be found on Reel Mockery here. Find out how to support our work at this link. Learn more about advertising on Reel Mockery here. Discuss this series and more at the Reel Mockery Forum.