Product: Inspector Morse [VHS] (1988)
Rating: 5.0
Good night sweet prince
Perhaps a prince of our disorder, as John Mack entitled his biography of T. E. Lawrence, but a prince nonetheless. This is his last episode and you should see 'The Wench is Dead' episode first. Morse is ill; he has been on medical leave because of his stomach ulcers. His superior has taken over a case, but Morse comes back from leave and is assigned the case. In the meantime he has been investigating it anyway, to Lewis' chagrin and barely-controlled anger. The focus of the episode is their relationship; the case barely matters, except for the fact that the victim was one of Morse's nurses, one for whom he had special feelings. It is a family story, with members of the family among the suspects in the mother's death. It is also a family story in that it focuses on Morse's relationship with Lewis. I won't spoil the ending, which is very powerful, but listen especially for Morse's final words . . . and then Lewis'.This is exhibit A for those who seek to demonstrate that genre fiction (here, genre fiction dramatized) can sometimes rise to the level of art. In the case of Morse the art is achieved through the delineation of character and the study of human relationships. This is a beautiful body of work and a beautiful though poignant conclusion to it. It is all the more touching in that we know of John Thaw's own illness and the fact that it would be diagnosed a little over seven months after the screening of this episode.