Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (2012) s02e11 – Dead Air

It’s a pure delight episode of “Miss Fisher’s,” outside the murders and murderer, obviously, with Essie Davis and company going to hang out at a radio station in the pre-Golden Age of Radio. The format has caught on—especially with Ashleigh Cummings, who is the one who gets Davis involved in the investigation because the victim was an old school chum—but the format isn’t stable. But because the newspapers are waging a war on the radio stations, including sabotage, arson, and maybe murder.

The show never gets into the conflict enough but if it’s based in reality… there’s definitely the potential for a good book or TV show or something. Sounds very interesting.

The newspaper-related intrigue in the episode involves newsstand vendor Travis Cotton and whatever racket he’s got going with obnoxious, suspicious, and quite funny in a terrible sort of way radio presenter, Rhys Muldoon. Muldoon’s one of the two prime suspects, along with mysteriously ill presenter Pip Edwards, who’s apparently been stealing victim Amy Arnott’s work. Marco Chiappi is Edwards’s husband and seems to be the guy who runs the radio station. At least he’s the one who panics the most when a show gets delayed because another body drops.

Besides the setting, which gives everyone something a little different to do—like Hugo Johnstone-Burt running the investigation on his own, with Nathan Page on special assignment but helping Davis out when he can. Page even tells Davis to keep an eye on Johnstone-Burt, who might not be up to the task of solving the crime on his own.

There’s also some trouble in paradise for Johnstone-Burt and Cummings’s (so far unannounced) engagement, as Johnstone-Burt makes it clear Cummings will become a homemaker upon the announcement. Not even the actual wedding, which Cummings doesn’t like and Davis doesn’t like and Page doesn’t even seem to like.

There’s a lovely postscript to it all, playing up the fun Davis and Page get to have throughout, and the showdown with the murderer is awesome.

Really good supporting performances all around this time; Edwards takes a while to get going but then she’s probably the best of the very good bunch.

Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries (2012) s02e10 – Death on the Vine

The show’s hit a nice stride lately; this episode’s rather good, with little in common with the previous two other than Ashleigh Cummings’s detective skills continuing to develop. Otherwise, the setting is all different—Essie Davis has drug Cummings out to a vineyard (after telling her they were going to a farm but didn’t want to tell her about the wine) to meet a new client. Only the client’s dead when they get there and everyone in town is giving them the cold shoulder and worse.

Even more concerning is the local law enforcement (David Field) seems to be covering up evidence and whenever Davis tries to call him on it, he threatens her. Though the whole town is threatening them, complete with snakes hidden in their room and guns getting stolen.

It’s very tensely executed, Davis and Cummings far from home and their regular supporting cast. Davis calls and gets Nathan Page to head out—it’s a rural town—before they’re able to get the investigation going properly.

Almost complicating the investigation is the victim’s brother, James Saunders, being unhelpful to the point he’s suspicious. Everyone in the town—save maybe kindly doctor Geoff Morrell and his daughter, Ramona Von Pusch—is hostile. Hotelier Geneviève Picot is terrifying.

So lots of rural empty night tension and scares—excellent direction from Catherine Millar. Even when Page arrives, it doesn’t seem like Field is going to let the big city copper make any difference. Very interesting to see Page’s authority ignored.

Meanwhile, Hugo Johnstone-Burt has decided it’s time to propose to Cummings and is trying his best to make it romantic—with Page’s help—only Cummings sees it as Johnstone-Burt doing a slapdash job of investigating. It’s real cute, real funny. This episode’s the second time I’ve noticed Chris Corbett’s credit as writer; he’s doing a rather good job.

The acting—from Field, Picot, Morrell, Von Pusch, Saunders, Davis, Page—is particularly excellent.

Also there may be another Phryne Fellow but it’s unclear how far things went when Davis was stomping grapes….