Poirot

I love having a long run of a broadcast mystery series.  Dana and I get caught up in them and watch one a night.   The Miss Fisher series was wonderful and fun and costumed.  So many others but none as long and as satisfying as Poirot.

Agatha Christie's mysteries are pretty obvious most of the time.  We guess who done it and are frequently right.  And Poirot is sometimes ploddingly predictable.  BUT, watching an actor like David Suchet over 70 episodes was just a treat.  Dozens of directors, actors famous and not, all the usual British suspects strolling through, all the Christie plots, some nearly as short as American TV, some nearly movies.  And through it all Suchet developed his character.  You could see Poirot change over the years as Suchet entertained himself and worked with different directors and production people.  So much of what he does is subtle, it is sometimes a master class in the gestures small (Belgian accent helps with that last).

Through the final episode he did things just a little differently.  Like a gift to those of us who waded through the entire set.  He answered the phone differently "Poirot answers".  He created a mincing walk like a version of Chaplin but could only be Poirot.

We finished last night with Poirot's death and it was elegant and poignant and ended a fun series.  

There are others.  Line of Duty is up next, I think.  And I think the Strike will be OK on Dana's sensibilities (Bambi was a bit scary for her so we screen things). 

( Read more... )