Foyle's War: War Games, The Funk Hole
Apr. 18th, 2009 01:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
meganbmooreI watched War Games at my parents’ house before heading out of town Easter weekend, and then completely forgot to post on it when I got home. This has nothing to do with the quality of the episode, and probably a good bit to do with the fact that I read several good books in the car and after everyone went to bed in between watching it and getting home.
That said, though good, I wasn’t as interested in the main mystery plot of the episode as I usually am. It dealt with a company entering into a contract with Germany so that they’d still be the major manufacturer of their product no matter who won the war. I think I’m just more interested in the impact on people’s day-to-day lives in this series, and not as much on the big picture stuff. This is probably best evidenced by the fact that, even though it was fairly standard, I was utterly charmed by the subplot involving a group of children who were salvagers who Foyle had Sam take control of since they were breaking into places in their eagerness. I think the reasoning there went along these lines: “I do not know what to do with children, even though I raised one. However, Sam is a woman, and they automatically know what to do.” “I have no idea what to do with children, but I do know soldiers, so I will turn them into half-sized soldiers. And feeding them will give me an excuse to have snacks, too.”
I also liked the bit at the end where we learned the barrister is working for what seems to be the beginning of the British secret service, though I admit that I know little about that and the time period, real or romanticized.
On the other hand, I loved all levels of the plot in The Funk Hole which involved a shop owner stealing rations so that he’d have food to sell to his village, plots and secrets at a local “guest house” where people who had lost their homes were staying for the duration of the war, and Foyle being accused of sedition.
The last results in his being forced to employ Andrew’s old method of sneaking through a window and using a tree to escape through the neighbor’s yard. Sadly, we are deprived of actually seeing that. Andrew assures us that it was an amazing sight, though.
In addition to Foyle being under house arrest and having to solve both a murder and a plot against him while Milner also tries to do the same alone, my favorite nits were the mystery surrounding the owner of the guest house and her gardener (not what you’d expect) and an authoress who was rather bitter that she couldn’t write about all the events at the house, since she was there secretly and supposed to be somewhere else.
The rather expected Sam/Andrew story started here, too. I must say, they’re cuter than I expected them to be. And amazingly, I did not want to kick or strangle Andrew when he was awful to Sam when she took him to tea. I think because his suspicions that it was ordered of her by Foyle out of pity probably would have been true if it was anyone but Sam and Foyle. And on an exceptionally shallow level, Andrew is pretty attractive with his face all scratched up like that. Not that he’s unattractive normally.
But while I get why they have to keep their relationship a secret from Foyle, I always get a bit bugged when people have to keep a relationship secret from someone who cares about them, because it means the third party is likely to get hurt. I mean, sure, Sam and Andrew might not work out-they’re young, and neither has really indicated and interest in settling down with anyone just yet-but if they do work out, or even if they don’t and Foyle learns about their relationship somehow anyway, then the most important person in his life and someone who probably isn’t many slots behind him will have been keeping secrets from him. And Foyle is a bit prim when it comes to honesty and propriety.
Up until The Funk Hole, the individual episodes could be watched independent of each other as long as you understood the basics. Said basics being that the lead is a police superintendent in Hastings in 1940, his son is a pilot in the war, his assistant lost a leg in the war and uses a prosthetic (actually not made a big deal of after the beginning, but important for Milner’s personal life) and his driver is a chatterbox who sometimes helps them. At this point, however, elements are introduced that look to be continuing plot elements that will influence the series in future installments.
That said, though good, I wasn’t as interested in the main mystery plot of the episode as I usually am. It dealt with a company entering into a contract with Germany so that they’d still be the major manufacturer of their product no matter who won the war. I think I’m just more interested in the impact on people’s day-to-day lives in this series, and not as much on the big picture stuff. This is probably best evidenced by the fact that, even though it was fairly standard, I was utterly charmed by the subplot involving a group of children who were salvagers who Foyle had Sam take control of since they were breaking into places in their eagerness. I think the reasoning there went along these lines: “I do not know what to do with children, even though I raised one. However, Sam is a woman, and they automatically know what to do.” “I have no idea what to do with children, but I do know soldiers, so I will turn them into half-sized soldiers. And feeding them will give me an excuse to have snacks, too.”
I also liked the bit at the end where we learned the barrister is working for what seems to be the beginning of the British secret service, though I admit that I know little about that and the time period, real or romanticized.
On the other hand, I loved all levels of the plot in The Funk Hole which involved a shop owner stealing rations so that he’d have food to sell to his village, plots and secrets at a local “guest house” where people who had lost their homes were staying for the duration of the war, and Foyle being accused of sedition.
The last results in his being forced to employ Andrew’s old method of sneaking through a window and using a tree to escape through the neighbor’s yard. Sadly, we are deprived of actually seeing that. Andrew assures us that it was an amazing sight, though.
In addition to Foyle being under house arrest and having to solve both a murder and a plot against him while Milner also tries to do the same alone, my favorite nits were the mystery surrounding the owner of the guest house and her gardener (not what you’d expect) and an authoress who was rather bitter that she couldn’t write about all the events at the house, since she was there secretly and supposed to be somewhere else.
The rather expected Sam/Andrew story started here, too. I must say, they’re cuter than I expected them to be. And amazingly, I did not want to kick or strangle Andrew when he was awful to Sam when she took him to tea. I think because his suspicions that it was ordered of her by Foyle out of pity probably would have been true if it was anyone but Sam and Foyle. And on an exceptionally shallow level, Andrew is pretty attractive with his face all scratched up like that. Not that he’s unattractive normally.
But while I get why they have to keep their relationship a secret from Foyle, I always get a bit bugged when people have to keep a relationship secret from someone who cares about them, because it means the third party is likely to get hurt. I mean, sure, Sam and Andrew might not work out-they’re young, and neither has really indicated and interest in settling down with anyone just yet-but if they do work out, or even if they don’t and Foyle learns about their relationship somehow anyway, then the most important person in his life and someone who probably isn’t many slots behind him will have been keeping secrets from him. And Foyle is a bit prim when it comes to honesty and propriety.
Up until The Funk Hole, the individual episodes could be watched independent of each other as long as you understood the basics. Said basics being that the lead is a police superintendent in Hastings in 1940, his son is a pilot in the war, his assistant lost a leg in the war and uses a prosthetic (actually not made a big deal of after the beginning, but important for Milner’s personal life) and his driver is a chatterbox who sometimes helps them. At this point, however, elements are introduced that look to be continuing plot elements that will influence the series in future installments.