Category: Directed by Emma Freeman

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (2012) s01e11 – Blood & Circuses

It’s a very intense episode, with Phyrne (Essie Davis) in constant danger—whether she knows it or not, usually yes but not the extent of it—in addition to being in a very traumatic headspace. We finally find out what happens to her little sister (or at least as much as Davis knows) when Davis takes a case at a visiting circus. The half-woman/half-man (performance artist Moira Finucane in a bit part) is killed and her body revealed on stage during magician (and lover) Greg Stone’s act. The coppers are no use, so circus strong man Aaron Jeffery goes to old friend Davis, who doesn’t want to take the case because of the history.

Only when she takes Jeffrey to see Nathan Page, Page has got clearly crappy copper Joel Tobeck working it and has no time for the case.

Even though the episode itself is really good, Page’s place in it is very weird. See, he sends Hugo Johnstone-Burt to work with Tobeck (ostensibly to keep an eye on Tobeck’s progress with the case), but Johnstone-Burt just ends up taking on all of Tobeck’s bad habits, which pisses Page off. Only… not enough? It feels like Page needs a subplot to keep him occupied this episode—and eventually gets a little bit of one, once old acquaintance (and Page’s first ever arrest when he was a rookie) Gillian Jones ends up in the station needing a place to sober up. Page has to throw her in with the not very suspicious murder suspect, magician’s assistant Victoria Thaine. Tobeck and Johnstone-Burt collar Thaine with literally no investigation, which Page knows.

So, not a good episode for Page.

But Davis and Jeffrey at the circus? Great. Suspects include nasty snake lady Maude Davey, Stone, circus owner John Wood, and basically everyone else. The episode’s got a very romanticized vision of the circus, with Jeffrey constantly spouting emotionally rousing speeches about how its a place for everyone who can’t fit in to fit in and realize their inherent value. Sadly, the only other person who apparently felt so strongly about the circus as inclusive was Finucane, who was murdered by one of her colleagues.

It does give Jeffrey a nice tone though.

The case itself involves a lot of information being kept from everyone involved—problematically in one major instance—but is emotionally rending by the finale.

Davis does a fantastic job throughout the episode, haunted by the past (which shows up in flashback), but still pushing forward.

So her arc and the tension from the main case more than make up for Page’s distraction. Again, got to wonder if it’s the source novel or—oh, Shelley Birse’s previous episode was a disappointing one (for “Fisher” anyway). So, yeah, I’d guess adaptation issues.

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (2012) s01e08 – Away with the Fairies

Once again I stand corrected as to what “Miss Fisher’s” needs to do to have a successful episode. This one has a case very tied to Essie Davis’s past—victim Heather Bolton was one of Davis’s teachers, prime suspect Deborah Kennedy is a mentor—has lots of guest stars (Phryne Fellow Philippe Sung is back, bringing arraigned marriage fiancée Haiha Le with him), gives Ashleigh Cummings a big subplot, and even has time to directly follow-up on the last episode, where Nathan Page… took unexpected actions to protect Davis.

And they’re still working out the repercussions, with Davis trying to throw Page off guard and Page refusing to play with Davis’s intimations. They’re so good together this episode. So good.

Also really good is Davis’s developing “relationship” with Sung, who’s discovered his grandmother, Amanda Ma (who previously threatened Davis), doesn’t like his appropriate Chinese wife-to-be Le any better, forcing Sung to reexamine his future.

Meanwhile, Cummings and Davis discover there’s a lot more to Le than Sung or Ma realize.

The mystery is about women’s magazine editor Bolton ending up dead and everyone in the office— plus all the various men about town who hate a women’s magazine-suspects. Kennedy would’ve gotten control of the magazine, Anna McGahan would’ve gotten ahead as a reporter, Roz Hammond and soul male employee Peter Stefanou have no obvious motives, but Hammond’s keeping secrets from her husband, handyman Jim Russell, and Stefanou’s a Lothario so who knows.

Cummings isn’t just gal palling with Le, she’s also coming into her own helping the magazine get out its next issue—Davis’s investigation almost takes a back seat to her concern for her friend, Kennedy, and just keeping a women’s magazine (made by women) coming out. Thanks to that character development subplot, Cummings also gets a very cute scene with Hugo Johnstone-Burt.

While the mystery solution itself isn’t great (and is a little familiar thinking about it in hindsight), but the episode’s outstanding. And the mystery setting does allow Davis to get all the suspects together for the end reveal, which is a lot of fun. If the show’s done it before, I don’t think they made such a big deal out of it. Here, it’s the full suspects gathered trope.

It’s so much fun.