Foyle's War 2.4 - The Funk Hole

Plot: Foyle returns from some incredibly boring conference in London, though he barely survives Sam's efforts to be at the bus station waiting for him. He's even got a case, as three guys were shot at by the Home Guard for stealing rations from an army supply warehouse. One of them, young Matthew, was wounded, though his mother doesn't know that. She just knows he's missing. Police efforts to find him lead to Brookfield Court, a place where people with the means to flee the cities being bombed do so. Having escaped the fighting, the residents snipe at each other, complain about portions, and the Hardimans accuse nervous Mr. Vaudrey of stealing from them. Before Foyle can get far in the investigation, he finds himself on suspension, because he's accused of having made seditious comments in a bomb shelter while in London. But never fear, the member of Scotland Yard who brought it to the Assistant Commissioner's attention thinks it deserves a more thorough investigation, Mr. Collier is willing to go to Hastings to do it. And while there, he'll just take over the investigation into Matthew's disappearance.

At least Foyle has time to spend with Andrew, who is on leave for a week after having to crash land in the Channel. Pity Andrew is such a pill. He's even rude to Sam when she tries to get him out of the house.

Matt's friend Dan is forcing Mrs. Powell, who runs Brookfield Court, to provide an alibi, because he knows something's going on with her and the gardener (who Sam quickly recognizes isn't much of a gardener) under her blind husband's nose. But at least Miss Powell's dog found Matt. Well, his corpse. Collier comes on far too strong ordering Brookfield turned upside-down, seemingly producing no results, except for Sam making the mistake of openly criticizing his style, which gets her sent back to the MTC, and her dragon of a commander, Bradley. Foyle, not having much luck spending time with his son, investigates these reports of his seditious statements, and soon finds they were made by another person entirely. So why were they attributed to him? And why did Mr. Vaudrey turn up dead, and how is that connected? Can Foyle fix all this and save Sam from Bradley?

Quote of the Episode: Miss Powell - 'It's not the house; it's the people in it.'

Does Foyle go fishing? No, Andrew wasn't much up for fishing with dad.

Things Sam can do: She knows her was around a flowerbed, and she's not bad at befuddling a person she questions (you can decide whether that's good or bad). Not so good at getting places ahead of time, or knowing when to keep her own counsel.

Other: Turns out Assistant Commissioner Summer gained the position because Foyle got his predecessor, Rose, canned. Presumably for Rose's hand in that mess in "The German Woman", helping the magistrate keep his wife from suffering the same internment so many other citizens of Germanic heritage did.

Milner had to question Dan at one point, and Dan made a snide remark about Milner getting out of service with flat feet. Milner was more heated with Dan than he usually is while questioning people. Not quite at the level of grabbing him by the collar and calling him a punk, but as close as he gets.

The bit where Foyle needs to sneak off to London, and Andrew tells him how he always used to sneak out was pretty funny. Especially when Andrew relates the sight to Sam later. Yes, Andrew does apologize for his poor behavior towards her, and now they may be dating (without Foyle knowing). There's even a scene where those two crazy kids walk together down a flower-lined path and the whole scene is shot in soft lighting. Stay tuned to see how that goes.

I do feel bad for Andrew. In addition to surviving that water landing, we learn Douglas, the third member of their band, who failed miserably at hitting on Sam, died recently as well. And it's only been a month since the events of "Among the Few", which removed Rex from the picture. Andrew is alone in that sense, and he has to sense he's running out of close calls. I don't blame him for being a little cross, not knowing how to deal with it. I mean, I enjoy when Foyle gets fed up with him, because it's always oddly satisfying when Foyle lets someone have it for real, no holding back. But I still recognize Andrew's dealing with some heavy stuff (and so does Foyle, who survived the Western Front, after all).

One thing that doesn't add up. Andrew tells Sam he was 8 when his mother died. He mentioned in "Eagle Day" his mother has been dead 8 years. But Andrew's supposed to be 22, same as Sam. That lack of attention to fact is why he's a poet, rather than a detective.

Michael Kitchen has this particular walk he uses at times, where his coat is pushed back a bit at the sides and he holds his hands just above belt level on either side. It reminds me of a gunfighter, ready to draw. Except Foyle's not carrying any guns. I guess it's a general, "ready for action" walk.