I'm glad I wasn't the only one Season 3 didn't entirely work for. I was really, really disappointed in this season. I loved the first two so much and I wanted to love this season but I just didn't. My problems with it were:
1. It felt rushed, like there no time to really think about what they were putting on the screen. In the past, I think the care and thought put into the show was very apparent, but not feeling it this time. Maybe this is because they didn't know for a while whether or not there would even BE a Season 3. At first I was really sad when I saw there were only 8 episodes, but given what I see as the problems they had with these 8, maybe that's a good thing.
2. The characters all felt "shallower" somehow. Not that I mean shallow as human beings, just less richly realized than they were in the past seasons. They just didn't reasonate with me the way they've done previously - felt almost "cartoony" to me. To me, it was especially noticable with Phryne. She seemed less real, more forced, almost like a windup toy that got wound up too tightly. This saddens me because I LOVE her.
3. Jack/Phryne - sigh. Oh well. I'm losing interest in them as a couple - not much heat here anymore.
4. No Jane. Too little Hugh, too little Bert and Ces. There can NEVER be enough Mr. Butler. And the father is just AWFUL. The entire episode introducing him was not enjoyable to me. Plus I didn't like the way Phyrne reacted to all the things with/about her father - it seemed kind of forced into a box that didn't feel natural.
5. Was it necessary to kill off Arthur?
6 I did love Dot and Hugh's wedding - I thought they did it perfectly.
I will be really upset if they move the series to London. In order for the series to work for me, I need what I consider to be all the "real" parts: Phryne, Jack, Dot and Hugh, MR. AWESOME BUTLER, Bert and Ces, Mac and Aunt P and I just don't see how they coherently move every sngle one of those characters to London. I could be wrong though - maybe they can.
On one hand, I want to say that some, even imperfect Miss Fisher is better than NO Miss Fisher but I'm not sure I will spend the time to keep watching if it continues down the Season 3 path.
