S04.E04: Harvest

[7-Zark-7]

58 minutes ago, Anothermi said:

...I got the impression that Morse received his award (whatever it was) after the ceremony had taken place. That he didn't actually have a choice to attend or not. The fact that it was just sitting on his desk made me think that once again, IF there was an letter inviting him to received the award from the Queen, he didn't receive it. Just the award and promotion itself.

...The fact that Bright gave him the medal at all - because it,too, could have been mislaid - along with the broad reference to his promotion, surprised me. 

Morse definitely would have received the medal after the ceremony took place if he didn't attend. However, all of these awards come with Investiture Ceremonies in which some member of the Royal Family pins it on the recipient. Also, it would be impossible for the powers that be who hate Morse, to hide this award from him because the list of recipients is always published. The letter states that the reasons behind the two receiving it will be kept secret from the public, but not the award itself. I guess if the dark forces really wanted to stick it to Morse they'd have to leave his involvement out of the whole affair entirely, but since it's about something as huge as the potential explosion of a nuclear power plant, MI6 and other bigwigs would know exactly what went down and who was involved - so it's too big an incident for local police bureaus to sweep under the rug. I also don't get the impression that Bright is one of Morse's saboteurs. He's just not as smart as Morse, he's a stickler for doing things only one way and is more interested in wrapping up cases quickly without looking at them too deeply. So he has been slow to see Morse's value, but he does seem to be coming around.

I'm just surprised that they got the George Medal and not the George Cross, since the George Medal often goes to brave civilians and the Cross goes to members of the military and police who show bravery (outside of the field of battle). However, the George Cross is considered a much bigger deal so it may have been harder to hide why the two are receiving it.

Edited September 14, 2017 by 7-Zark-7

[Magnumfangirl]

Can the Queen promote a police officer like this (without passing the test) in the real world?  

Edited September 15, 2017 by Magnumfangirl

[2727]

9 hours ago, watch2much said:

Morse picks the wrong women.  WPC Shirley Trewlove is so right for him.  Intelligent, diligent, precise...probably likes opera.....

I think so, too. But we can't un-know that if anything were to develop between them next season, it's doomed. Gah!

Monica was good for him as well, although in retrospect it seems like he was only going through the boyfriend motions with her and wasn't truly invested. Certainly not the way he was with Susan, or even Joan (although that relationship was a tragic figment of his romantically flawed imagination.)

[AuntiePam]

At the end, when the tarot woman shot the shepherd ("I shot the shepherd -- " da da da da), I had the impression that he was her son.  That would explain why she cared enough to kill him, rather than have him cooped up in prison. 

There was too much plot in this episode.

[JudyObscure]

I find "Endeavor," sad but not depressing.  Depressing hangs around in an unrelenting cloud,  sad can be  sort of relaxing and sweet, like sad music.

I hope things look up for our hero next season but I wouldn't like to see him with Trewlove.  She's impressive alright, but Endeavor lacks confidence in the relationship department and I'm afraid she would intimidate him.  I've always liked his romantic, opera loving side and I would rather see him with a softer, poetic type.  I would have him meet someone in Oxford's literature department while saving her from some sort of threat.

Mostly, I'm just glad he escaped a misalliance with Joan.  I think her hesitation before the "pity," remark told him the truth, that she just wasn't that into him and would not allow herself to use him that way.  I think she'll "get better," next season and come to terms with her guilt.  A good caring profession  would probably do wonders for her.

[attica]

15 hours ago, AuntiePam said:

"I shot the shepherd -- "

"But I did not shoot the shepherd's dog..."

[7-Zark-7]

19 hours ago, Magnumfangirl said:

Can the Queen promote a police officer like this (without passing the test) in the real world?  

I have no idea. But I wouldn't be surprised if the missing part of Morse's exam was suddenly "found" after this incident lead higher ups to look into his career.

[Magnumfangirl]

On 9/14/2017 at 8:55 PM, AuntiePam said:

At the end, when the tarot woman shot the shepherd ("I shot the shepherd -- " da da da da), I had the impression that he was her son.  That would explain why she cared enough to kill him, rather than have him cooped up in prison. 

There was too much plot in this episode.

He (Seth) was her grandson.

[Pammy]

Thanks so much for this discussion! 

3 quick observations:

1. The Queen was not in residence at the Palace when the grainy home movies of what seemed to be the time of the ceremony- the royal standard was not flying but only the Union flag: maybe it was so Secret the Thursday's were just on a jaunt- would explain why Endeavor was not at the same ceremony- it didn't happen. He wouldn't have snubbed the Queen.

2. In one of the Morse episodes someone he works with comments to a 3rd party that Morse was awarded the George medal-- and at the same time (I think?) but not in the same room Morse pulls out a drawer in his desk and the medal case is seen - can't remember if he opens the case...seems like he has a reflective moment..sorry, long time ago since I saw this

3. Not a good method but maybe Joan was half heartedly trying suicide...

[Wildflower]

I (a nervy newbie) think I may have the answers to the missing exam and the tossed flat.  In the episode from season two, "Trove",  the one about the politician, the beauty queens, the man who fell on the car roof, the Masons, and incest, it was strongly indicated that Sergeant Strange, (eventually Chief Superintendent Strange), was invited to join the Masons.  At the end of that episode, there was a white-gloved hand passing a small notebook to a man's hand with a Masonic pinky ring. The notebook of the man who fell on the car roof went missing when the crime scene was being processed.  I think Sergeant Strange delivered it to his brother Masons.  And eventually he became Chief Superintendent.   (Even before being recruited by the Masons, he would have had good reason to disappear Morse's exam.) 

[Noneofyourbusiness]

On 9/11/2017 at 0:33 PM, attica said:

The appearance of a guy doing what looked like Bojack Horseman cosplay in the pageant made me laugh.

That's funny; I watched the episode tonight and discovered the existence of BoJack Horseman later this same night.

On 9/14/2017 at 0:02 PM, watch2much said:

Morse picks the wrong women.  WPC Shirley Trewlove is so right for him.  Intelligent, diligent, precise...probably likes opera.....

And her name is Trewlove. How much more blatant could it be?

On 9/13/2017 at 6:13 PM, officetemp said:

 (Was the shepherd the tarot reader's son or nephew?)

Grandson. He called her "gammer".

[statsgirl]

On 9/11/2017 at 3:17 PM, SusanSunflower said:

There is no way to confuse a spontaneous (traumatic or otherwise) miscarriage with a gravid (pregnant) uterus surgically scraped clean.  I had wondered about the money too, but I don't think (am I wrong?) that Morse knew she was pregnant until the doctor told him ... 

There was a date stamp at the start, but I don't remember what it was --- As linked above, abortion was both legal and covered by national health as of April 1968 ...  God knows some -- now and then -- people object to the idea of termination but may pray for a miscarriage or throw themselves down stairs as "natural" and/or god's will.  People who oppose abortion nonetheless bite the bullet have abortions to terminate unwanted or inconvenient ("disasterous") pregnancies 

ETA:  This episode reminded me again of just how alone in the world Morse is -- beyond Work and The Thursdays -- he's got no one (except his unmentioned again sister).  Joan has her mom and dad and bro -- but also has her circle of friends and school chums, she's local, a townie ... Morse is neither. 

This made me think of Harry Potter marrying into the Weasley family to that JK Rowling would have him end up with a family of his own.

On 9/11/2017 at 5:09 PM, jjj said:

I'd love to see Season 5 start with Morse having a beautiful new housemate -- the lovely dog of the shepherd.  (Not that Morse has a dog-care schedule, but I'd still like to see it.)

 

I'd like ofr Morse to have a dog. But that's not just a border collie but a trained, working border collie.  Not only is it valuable, but worse, it would be bored crazy not being able to work and start by taking apart Morse's flat, and then move into even worse things.  (I'd love to have a border collie but I don't have the hours to work it each day.)

[LadyChaos]

How do we know that Joan fell down the stairs to get rid of the baby?  I took it to be that the dead beat bf beat her up when he found out she was pregnant.