Foyle's War 8.2 - Trespass

Plot: The episode opens in the aftermath of a terrorist attack in Palestine at the King David Hotel by a Jewish group. The attack claimed the lives of Palestinians, Jews, and British citizens, so the British Army is on the prowl for, among others, a Yakov Weiss. They barge into a family's home during dinner and arrest the patriarch for being Yakov, over his protestations. Back in England, one of Dr. Addis' students, a Daniel Woolf, is attacked and beaten by two men outside the university. Curiously, the family and the university both are eager to ignore the whole thing, but Addis has involved Foyle.

There's also a conference in London in four days, an attempt at some sort of negotiation between the different players in Palestine. No one has much hope for it, and the Security Service has responsibility for, well, security. But they're being roped in with the Foreign Office and a Mr. Ord-Smith. Sir Alec and Miss Pierce are united in their distaste for this situation. They aren't so busy stewing over it they pass up the opportunity to yell at Foyle for speaking to Mr. David Woolf, a maror shipping magnate, who is now dead. Meanwhile, Lea, the daughter of the man arrested for being Yakov Weiss (who has since died), arrives in England on a scholarship to study medicine, staying with an old family friend, Rabbi Greenfield. The rabbi's son, Nicholas, a sound engineer, is quite taken with Lea.

Elsewhere, Adam is trying to contend Fascist Charles Lucas, who is using the Jews as a convenient scapegoat to gather a support base among the disaffected working class, which he then incites to violence, with the support of the local police superintendent. Sam, in addition to helping Foyle and dealing with pregnancy, tries to help a single father with a sick child who is not getting much assistance from the nascent National Health Service. Foyle is briefly freed of this job he doesn't much care for when Ord-Smith demands his resignation as a result of Mr. Woolf's death, but has to step back in to prevent an attack at the conference. So he's back on the miserable job, but has learned all is not as it seems with Dr. Addis.

Quote of the Episode: Foyle - 'So you threatened him accidentally? You beat up his son accidentally?'

Does Foyle go fishing? No.

Things Sam can't do: Follow a dang order to stay in the frickin' car. But if you need a driver to get you somewhere in the nick of time, Sam's your lady.

Other:  Spoilers, natch.

Sam is making regular visits to the hospital, but still tells Foyle nothing is wrong and she's tip-top, and expects him to buy it. Sam, give your boss a certain level of credit for intelligence. People don't repeatedly visit doctors because everything is fine.

While they're out investigating, Foyle tells her to stay in the car, because she gets in trouble whenever she doesn't. Which is an exaggeration, but in this case, she leaves the car and immediately gets a gun pointed in her face. Still, she and Foyle were able to get a warning to Valentine about the attack through the exceedingly simply two-man game of "I'll lead the security guys off to one side, and you sprint past them.' Enjoyable as it might have been to see Foyle try to sprint, Sam was the proper choice, and she made it to the second floor before they caught up. Apparently, England's security service needs to spend more time on their cardio.

Ord-Smith is behind the murder of David Woolf, though he claims his men attacked in self-defense. A curious claim considering they broke into Woolf's home and threatened him at gunpoint, after beating his son. He claims to have been following orders, because Woolf was using his ships to send Jewish refugees and supplies to Palestine (which is why several ships were blown up), but Sir Alec still insists on his resignation. Not because of the murders, or the near cock-up he made of the conference by playing his games, but because he messed around in Alec's yard, so to speak. Gotta love the landed gentry. Kill people, but don't fuck with mah property.

Adam was completely outclassed trying to argue with Lucas. In no small part because Adam is trying to be reasonable and find a compromise, and Lucas is a Nazi. Which means there is no room for compromise. He lets Adam in just to humiliate him, and maybe to play the victim a bit. The big, bad government trying to squelch his free speech. So that Adam can rush to assure him it isn't that at all. Lucas even uses the phrase, "Make Britain great again," during his rally. I was surprised when he pushed for a unified European government, but then he explained they would oust the Poles, Czechs, and other Slavic peoples. It made more sense then. Yet another attempt by a jackass to get more living space. Oh, and he explained to Adam that Africa exists to be 'exploited economically and dominated politically,' which I'm sure doesn't surprise you in the slightest.

I was trying to decide whether Lucas genuinely believes what he says, or just says what he knows will strike a chord. But I think it has to be the former. The hatred he spews sounds so much more genuine than the platitudes he expressed to his son about feeling sorry for what the Jews experienced (right before explaining they could use them as a convenient target). It's unclear what will happen to him going forward. He will undoubtedly not be held responsible for the rioting he incited, or the kindly elderly couple who died when their home was burned down. But his own son has seemingly finally given up any idea of getting his father to stop, and simply walked out. I don't think that will convince Lucas to stop, though.

Foyle and Dr. Addis, woo-woo. She helped him find a quiet place to stay after his brief resignation. She also translated the French intelligence report on the destruction of Woolf's ship. Poring over top secret intelligence reports is the highest form of romance, after all. But alas, it seems that she is Miss Pierce's attempt to get some kind of leash on Foyle, per Sir Alec's directive last episode.

One thing that is true about Foyle: When he decides he's ready to go, he doesn't want any time getting out the door. He was pressed for his resignation, offered it gladly, and immediately left the office, returned to his, grabbed his hat and coat, bid Valentine farewell and whoosh, Foyle has left the building. I've had jobs I disliked as strongly as I think he does this one, but I've never really had the chance to make that sort of exit. Maybe someday, although I would probably be less classy. "Sniff you jerks later," would almost certainly be uttered.