Remind me, how do you feel about questions? If I were to have one to put to you on Tuesday.
A really good series! I enjoyed it tremendously. 3 50-min episodes were just right for the story it wanted to tell - I enjoyed the world and I think the episodic nature gave it enough space to show the world it had in mind.
Spoilers under the cut.
Acting: The acting all around is really good. Standouts are Helena Bonham Carter, Edward Bluemel (Jimmy) and Mia McKenna-Bruce, although I must say that there was one scene where Ronny died and Bundle went "Ronny, noooooo!!" and her voice fell so flat I had to pause it and wonder if that was really the best take that they got.
HBC is really incredible. In the scene where she's speaking with Bundle and talking about Thomas, I was really impressed by the level of control she had over her acting, with her trembling lower lip and the tension in her frame. Really phenomenal. Also that whole conversation between Bundle and her mom about why her mom orchestrated the whole shebang and how Bundle wasn't enough to fill the hole in her mom's heart was fantastic. Acting was phenomenal in that scene. On hindsight, yeah it makes sense that HBC was the ultimate villain because how could they have just cast her as a homebody wine mom who has a bit of a stick up her ass. But also I feel like she deserves to subvert expectations by being cast in those roles!! Let her do it!! (Or maybe she's turning them down)
Edward Bluemel was so charming the whole show!! A true scene stealer, considering he really only came into the picture around episode 2. I always enjoy a good ol' himbo.
Special mention to Hughie O'Donnell (Bill Eversleigh) and Ella-Rae Smith (Lorraine Wade). Bill was very superb, not sure if he was intentionally portraying fruitiness to fulfil some diversity casting, but he really rounded out the supporting cast very well. All the boys from the Foreign Office were so enjoyable.
Lorraine's eyes were just captivating man. She didn't really have a lot of scenes and she didn't really leave an impression at the start, but I LOVED her breakdown scene in the washroom on the train. I feel like that was the only time we really saw her personality fully jump out of the screen.
Side special mention to Martin Freeman for not doing forehead botox because those forehead wrinkles were wrinkling (in a good way). If he couldn't even frown and wrinkle his forehead I think a lot of his detective scenes would have lost their oomph. Also Corey Mylchreest really is charismatic... he was so charming when he hinted at proposing to Bundle. I don't blame Bundle for needing to find his killer. I would also go off the bend if someone like that was killed a week before he proposed to me. Goodness.
Plot: Did not expect the mom twist, or the twist that her dad was the guy in the first ever scene. I feel like it would have been more complete to give a better explanation as to who the Seven Dials are - the ending was kind of a cop out with only Superintendent Battle unmasking himself and then claiming that the Seven Dials are meant to stop international evil plans and protect the world - how are 7 people meant to do that, and one fella is just some Superintendent at Scotland Yard? And one other ex-member was one of the many Lords of England? It just doesn't seem like they have a lot of power, and also if they are all English, that really defeats the purpose of them having international reach - unless there are other societies in other countries and they are all united under one grand umbrella. And maybe this is because I am now a working adult, but if Bundle is having household issues with funding etcetera, no place to stay, no roof over her head, will this secret society job... pay her? Will she be a salaried worker? Who are the backend people assisting with gadgets or whatever when she goes on her international espionage missions, because she sure doesn't have the money to fund those trips! Bundle!!! Do they even have insurance!!!
Apart from that, the rest of the series was quite fun. Some points required me to suspend my sense of disbelief, but I was happy to do so. Nothing too outrageous took place. The proposal was also something I predicted but I did feel very uncomfortable when it happened (which actually then made me interrogate myself as to whether it was because the guy has really bad EQ or because I thought he wasn't attractive - unfortunately I think I am superficial).
Set and direction: The Estate made me realise I do think opulence is so overrated. Goddamn their grounds were massive. And for what. I knew they had to be in debt somehow because those grounds are FAR too big for just two people!!! And we barely saw the servants apart from the few supporting cast, so it was good foreshadowing that these people CANNOT fund their lifestyle.
I also loved that one camera angle in the Estate where it's shot from a corner, with the door to Bundle's room at the right of the frame. It looks like a CCTV shot and I love it because it feels so impersonal like we are really just watching their lives through a screen. That angle really stuck with me and I loved it.
Would I recommend it: Yes. It's a good watch that isn't too long. The whole thing is just under 3 hours if it's watched in one-sitting.
Re-watchability: Yes, I would watch this again 100%. I liked it!
Side point: I read the Wikipedia page of the novel by Agatha Christie after watching this and was very surprised at the summary of the plot - it seems like quite a few details were changed! Such as the villain of the story! And Bundle even marries Bill Eversleigh?! I suppose I should read the novel to see how it plays out for myself.
