Endeavour: “Degüello”
The fourth and final episode of Endeavour’s sixth series came to an end Sunday, 3 March 2019 with the Jamie Donoughue directed episode “Degüello.” With a teleplay written by Russell Lewis, while it primarily focuses the title character’s attention on the murder of an Oxford librarian, brings much needed closure and the truth to light of a crime that has been haunting the team since the fifth series finale.
Endeavour stars Shaun Evans, Roger Allam, Sean Rigby, Anton Lesser, James Bradshaw, Caroline O'Neill, Sara Vickers, Abigail Thaw, Simon Harrison, and Richard Riddell as DS Endeavour Morse, DI Fred Thursday, DS Jim Strange, Chief Superintendent Reginald Bright, Dr. Max DeBryn, Win Thursday, Joan Thursday, Dorothea Frazil, DCI Ronnie Box, and DS Alan Jago, respectively.
Joining the regular cast members for this episode were Alexander Hanson, Colin Tierney, Ian Burfield, Paul Jesson, and Aidan McArdle respectively played Councillor Clive Burkitt, Assistant Chief Constable Bottoms, George McGyffin, Professor Ernest Burrowes and Dr. Jasper Nicholson.
As the episode shows, even though there was recreated footage of news highlighting the so-called “brave new world” of the tower block used, there was foreshadowing of the nightmare that was to come for many tower block residences.
Even though the tower block featured in the episode was newly built, the presence of early determination in the walls was systemic in most of the buildings. These towers were nothing more than death traps.
The lifts, elevators to American readers, were frequently marked out-of-order. Despite the homes were billed as “homes fit for habitation,” the problems residences faced were due to shoddy construction standards. The collapse of part of the tower highlighted how poor the materials used in the construction of these buildings.
Councillor Clive Burkitt was clear court off guard when Morse asked to see the resignation letter Binks apparently wrote. It is evident Binks never wrote a letter. He was killed because he knew something damaging to Burkitt.
The use of Hebrew words meaning “truth” and “death,” typically associated with the Jewish tale of the golem, were related to the librarian’s death. With stories written by Lewis, everything is connected. The continuity of what is penned has been maintained perfectly.
Could there be a connection with the tower block disaster? That is the direction Morse’s investigation went in. In fact, Morse’s investigation ruffled more than a few feathers at “Division.”
Personal issues at the Thursday home escalate significantly as Win informs Fred she had been to see a solicitor. Contextually speaking, for anyone not knowing British jargon well, a solicitor is the British term for lawyer.
Fred finally woke up to what his new colleagues were doing. Even though he gave all of the money back, Box did not seem pleased by the DI’s actions.
There is much that can be said about this episode. Tragedy hits all the principle characters in different ways. From the murder of the librarian at an Oxford college, the partial collapse of the tower block, the progression of Mrs. Bright’s cancer, the issues the Thursday’s face at home to the kidnapping of DeBryn, it was an eventful episode which fans of the Morse universe will remember for a long time.
An aspect of this sixth series which tied all four episodes together was change. There was a clear sense we were seeing the passage of time deal cards not previously seen in the first five series of the production. Time does not stand still for anyone, including the fellowship of Oxford City. The story threads that were seen in the first three episodes of this sixth series were neatly brought together in this episode. It was a high stakes story. The talent involved, both in front of and behind the camera, were able to execute it perfectly.
The closing scene of the episode sees Morse move into the house depicted as his residence in the television series Inspector Morse. If there is a seventh series, not that there shouldn’t be, the next series would be set in the early 1970s. Let's hope there is a seventh series.