Possum

I had the exact opposite problem. I was a huge "Morse" fan for years before "Endeavour" came out and found it hard to transfer my affection for the character to young Morse. To this day, John Thaw is still Morse to me. I have grown to like Evans as young Morse, but I think of him almost as a different character. In my mind, he is Endeavour rather than Morse. While based on the same character, the two shows are so different in tone. "Endeavour" is fast paced and although it has good character development, I see it as more of a cop show. "Morse" is slower paced, more aesthetically pleasing (brighter filming and beautiful locations) and more about the intricacies of human nature. Both are very good in their own way and fitting for the time they were filmed. And not to forget "Inspector Lewis", I love that one too. If only they'd bring on Inspector Hathaway now. All had perfect casting for their main characters and were well written. Watchrtina, as you have with young Morse, I had a wee crush on original Morse, so maybe that comes into play too. 🙂

I agree with this. I know many feel that Win should just suck it up and go on, but I understand why that may be so difficult for her. It's like she is dealing with a death -- the death of the future she and Fred had planned together. The fact that Fred gave away her future without even consulting her has to still rankle. How many of us would like to be facing our senior years with no financial security because our spouse gave away all of our money without even asking us? Fred sacrificed his wife for his reckless brother, a brother he should have known would disappoint him. Fred has always been my favorite character, but it is very difficult to feel sorry for him now. It pains me to say this, but I also think that Fred is reluctantly on the path to being a bent copper rather than being undercover. With his marriage falling apart, he is more worried about trying to make that right than being an honest cop. Taking the money is an act of desperation. I also think that Morse will be the one to turn him back to the good side. With Morse's encouragement, I believe that the envelope that Fred accepted will be used to prove that Box and company are bent. Only Morse and Fred will know for certain that Fred was dancing with the devil. Bright was superb in this episode. You could see the hope drain from him as Max told him about the great specialist, the one who just happened to be the doctor who told Bright there was no hope for his wife. I like that Bright only wanted Morse at the scene near the end of the show. Thinking back to the first couple of years of the show when Bright seemed to dislike Morse so much, I never thought that he would eventually come to respect and appreciate him. Now I can't wait for Sunday to see how it all wraps up.

"Apollo" I'm mixed on this one. My favorite thing about the episode was seeing Thursday and Morse working together again. Something rather silly probably, but I saw the retired, beaten up old Jag as symbolic of Thursday's current life. I was hoping at the end to see the mechanic having restored the Jag but was disappointed when that didn't happen. As with last week, the tone was dreary. While it's understandable considering what's happening in the characters' lives, I miss lightness and a touch of good humor. I think Morse got lucky with the basement office -- away from all of the idiots with room to think. Plus, it never hurts being close to the coffee machine. 🙂 When the two thugs beat up Thursday, I kept thinking that Box probably set that up. Box knew that Thursday wouldn't stay in the car when he saw the criminals running by. And, they so conveniently escaped with Box running a few steps after them and then stopping. At least Morse is throwing caution to the wind and talking back to Box. But then, unlike Thursday, Morse has less to lose should he be fired. As for the actual story, I found it OK but a little convoluted. That's fine because I'm always more interested in characters than plot anyway. The characters were more unlikable and sleazy than sympathetic. The whole Morse/Joan thing is becoming overdone. We knew they don't end up together. I know this is out of the blue, but I wonder if she ends up with Strange. While I've seen the original "Inspector Morse" series at least a dozen times, I can't recall if we ever heard Strange's wife's name. Does anyone recall? Overall, it was a decent episode if not a favorite for me. I hope we're working up to some good conclusion where all will be well in the world again.

That's a way of keeping the character consistent. In the original "Inspector Morse" series, even older Morse was always squeamish. There was some teasing him about it by Max and the pathologists who followed him.

There are too many excellent comments here to quote them all. I'll just give my thoughts, which mostly are duplicates of what has already been posted. When husband and I first saw Morse in this episode, we looked at each other and said "porn star" at the same time. That big old caterpillar on top of his lip was kinda distracting. I thought it didn't fit the Morse character and certainly didn't fit Evans. The new jerk cops are so horrible that their eventual downfall will be so much the sweeter. I hope that by the end of this season, Thursday gets a chance to pull out that right hook again on both of them. Plot wise, this episode was one of the better ones. I am sorry to see the main characters in misery, though. I realize that all of the characters are upset because of everything that happened last season, but I like a touch of humor and lightness. I guess the pornstache was supposed to be the humor. Thanks for posting the missing scene between Morse and Max. For years I've been completely frustrated with PBS for cutting scenes, but even loudly complaining falls on deaf ears with them. There is no excuse for it. Thursday has always been my favorite, but he seems to be at the lowest point in his life. Poor Win seems about ready to have a breakdown. The best scene of the show had to be where Morse laid it on the line to Thursday telling him that he was better than all of this. It's good that Strange was the one trying to make things right. He's the organizer, and now I can see why he climbed the ladder. Well, besides the Mason angle, of course. He might not have Morse's brain, but he has other skills that Morse never will. I could go on and on but won't bore anyone any longer. I'm looking forward to next week to see how everything plays out.

This time it will probably be Baby Bates on trial for murder. No Bates escapes the threat of the noose! I'm just happy that most of the cast is back, but I'm especially happy Maggie Smith is on board. I worried they might kill off her character if she hadn't signed on. Hopefully they don't do that in the movie. It's been more than 15 years since I've been to a theater to see a film, but I will go to see this film. It just happens to be released in September during my birthday week, so that will be a nice way to celebrate.

Mother Mildred is a breath of fresh air. Her high energy and spunky ways remind me of Sister Evangelina. "Call the Midwife" has been missing a character like this for a while now. I do like the current bunch of nuns and nurses, but some of their personalities are almost interchangeable -- overly nice and mild-mannered. Mother Mildred is like a strong wind blowing in to clear out some of the mundane that has creeped into the show.

At this point, Laurence Fox as Lord Palmerston is the only reason I keep watching. All of this bickering between Victoria and Albert isn't entertaining. I've liked Albert only in rare moments anyway, and he is becoming more insufferable with each episode. Plus, there's too much focus on the kids. I realize they had more than their fair share of little ones and they have to be a part of the show. However, too much focus on kids makes this less of an adult drama, IMHO. Some of the more interesting characters are gone this season, such as Diana Rigg's Duchess. Her daughter was set to marry Lord Alfred and although we see him, there is no sign of her. Did I miss something? They're also really light on servants now, and I'm bummed with what they did with Skerrett. I know, I sound like such a complainer. But at least Fox as Palmerston keeps me watching, and I only hope they bring his wife on more.

The ending was a little much for me too. There was just too much detail on what happened to the characters. A little would have been great, but they didn't know when to stop. I never want to see a show in reruns when you have specifics on the characters' endings. As silly as it sounds, I can always imagine they still exist unless I am told that they no longer do. Sir Richard was not shown in the last series, unless I missed him. He was talked about as someone being on the hospital board, but that was all I recall. I also was waiting to see him get it one more time, especially if Elizabeth would be the one to do it.

We had been anxiously waiting for the third season of this marvelous low-key show and fortunately saw it this week thanks to Acorn. The quality remains high and we were immediately sucked back into the world of Andy, Lance, and all of the other wonderful characters. Since this has been newly released in the US, I won't go into many specifics for those who haven't seen it. The only thing I will say is to watch for the nod to the movie "Witness" in the final episode. The music was close to that in "Witness" while they are building a gazebo, their version of a barn raising. We also have the drinks being passed around and I really loved it when a former enemy shared a drink with a new friend, just like Harrison Ford's and Alexander Godunov's characters in "Witness." This scene just made me smile. Lots of great moments this season. I only hope they make more episodes.

I was disappointed in this Christmas Special, but then, I've been falling out of love with this series slowly with each new season. My husband gave up on it completely after seeing part 1 of this Christmas Special. I saw part 2 last night, and that will probably be my last tango in Halifax. These two episodes were OK but held none of the charm of the early series. Even the actors looked bored.

Sarah is getting on my nerves with this latest season. I agree that her expecting to raise David as Jewish without regard for George's religion is wrong. She wanted to convert because of her first husband and that's great because that's what she chose. But now that she is bullying George into accepting that David will be raised Jewish even though the boy is Jewish only because his mother converted. Expose him to both religions then allow him to choose.

As with last week's episode, I found this one interesting enough but not stellar. The scenes with Dwight in prison were a downer, and I hope he's out of there soon. I appreciate the great acting but I'm not crazy about the dark shadow it casts over the episode. The story line about bringing in the legitimate food from the ship in a clandestine manner came across as rather silly. You don't intentionally antagonize a snake (George) because he'll strike back. Maybe I just didn't get it. The much-hated Elizabeth, at least in my eyes, remains one of the more interesting characters because she's all over the place. Is she becoming as wicked as George or is Mother's Little Helper making her seem that way? Did she send Morwenna away to protect her from the piggish vicar or to punish her? Are they trying to make Elizabeth a bad girl because except for George and his brother, all of the other main characters can be labeled as good? Again, not enough Agatha for my liking. Granted, she doesn't need a lot of screen time to make an impact, but I do miss seeing her verbally battling George. Geoffrey Charles has turned out to be great character for one so young.

This episode was weaker than last week's double. It was very predictable. George acted exactly as anyone would predict he would as magistrate, which was as a complete jerk. As soon as I saw the barmaid in France, I knew she would turn in Ross. I grew tired of the storyline in France very quickly. It was a little too brutal than it needed to be, we get it, it's a murdering rat hole. Finally my biggest beef, there wasn't enough Agatha getting under George's reptilian skin. Some of the better parts of the show were Demelza and Prudie bonding over kneading bread dough and Demelza claiming her rights as wife. Whether she would have been able to do this with most of the husbands of that time is probably unrealistic, but it has a place in this show. Morwenna and Drake have a sweet storyline and I like that little GC is playing cupid. I have never liked Elizabeth, but at least she had a look of horror on her face when George erroneously sentenced the young girl. Was that look due to her being fearful of what George might do to her should he suspect that Ross fathered Valentine? Was that look meant to convey her wondering what type of monster she married? I would like to think it was because she felt badly for the young girl, but with Elizabeth being a "me, me, me" type of person, I doubt that's the case. My money is on it made her more fearful of how George would react if he had any inkling that Ross fathered Valentine. Her fear probably is what made her want to leave with George because away from the big house, there would be no one to place doubts in his head. With Geoffrey Charles commenting on Valentine's looks, he had to be sacrificed. Although Elizabeth loves GC, she loves herself more. Fortunately for GC, being left behind is the best thing she could have done for him. I'm hoping Dwight is rescued next week, partly because I like him and partly because I don't want to see any more of the brutality.

I enjoyed reading all of your comments. This episode was a great start to the season. To be honest, I had grown a little weary of the show last season and wasn't highly anticipating this new season. I had started to tire of the Ross/Demelza/Elizabeth triangle even though it did end with a bang last season. This first episode changed me back into a big fan and I can't wait to see more! Aunt Agatha never disappoints and now young Geoffrey Charles is becoming interesting. As much as I loathe George, I love watching his interaction with Aunt Agatha. I still can't stand Elizabeth and feel she's probably where she belongs, bought by equally unlikable George. My feelings about Ross change as Demelza's change. When he hurts her, I think he's a jerk. Ross not accepting the magistrate's job was a disappointment. Here he had an opportunity to help those he knew were treated unjustly and he turned it down. It was also stupid because he just gave George even more power. It's good that they are bringing in some new characters. I'm already liking Drake and Morwenna. How neat was it for Midsomer Murders fans to see both John Nettles (Barnaby) and John Hopkins (Scott) in the same episode? I only wish they would have had a scene together.