Plot: Foyle's replacement has finally arrived, and he can hardly wait to get out the door. His brother-in-law has gotten him booking on a ship headed to America, and Foyle's raring to go. But before he can leave, he sees a newspaper headline about a James Devereaux, on trial for treason. Devereaux was captured in the early stages of the war, and eventually agreed to join the British Free Corps. An idea of Hitler's to dress British POWs up as Nazi soldiers and have them fight the Soviets. James, curiously, is offering no defense, and won't help his attorney Mr. Deakin do so, either. But Foyle sticks his nose is, for reasons he keeps to himself, but which involve James' mother, Caroline, who died when James was young.
At the same time, Milner is investigating the death of an Agnes Lyttleton, who was strangled in the room she was renting. A photo was taken from her bedside, one her landlady can only confirm had a picture of Agnes' boyfriend, a soldier who had been overseas, and wrote to her as "Jack". It just so happens we saw a Jack Stanford in a flashback to James' time in the Free Corps. Agnes was also working for the Devereaux', helping James' father, Charles, research his family history. Charles is not terribly helpful, but could perhaps be excused as being preoccupied with his son's imminent execution. And it seems certain to happen, as Foyle is busier asking questions about James' hobbies and his old piano teacher - a Mr. Rothstein who was arrested and sentenced to five years' hard labor for allegedly stealing some of Caroline's jewelry - than he is figuring out some way to clear James' name. But while the route is a little more circuitous than normal, it does eventually lead to answers.
Over at Hill House, Adam faces first the pressing failure of his guesthouse, but then learns a new housing development plans to not only knock down his house and many hundreds of others, but will also tear up the nearby green, a common ground left open for centuries. Adam's efforts to rally public support against this effort, while briefly landing him in jail for assault, also stir an interest in politics in him. And being so bold possibly also gave him the confidence to ask Sam to marry him.
Quote of the Episode: Jack - 'Oh, I'm all for hanging. It's quieter.'
Does Foyle go fishing? No.
Things Sam can do: Think to ask one of Foyle's old teachers about him when she gets the chance. Rush into a recently exploded building to look for survivors.
Other: When we learned Caroline was supposedly kind by a deer that gored her, then saw the "hide", a sort of nature-viewing blind, had antlers hanging from the ceiling, I was sure young James had pulled them down as part of some game and accidentally killed his mother. I was wrong. Oh well, sun rises in east.
Foyle went off on Deakin for not trying harder to save James at one point, which was another of those times where Foyle gets on my nerves. He rattles off all the things he's found out which are significant in some way, basically asking why Deakin hadn't figured any of this out. I'm not sure how much of it he could have learned through his channels, so it comes off as, 'Why haven't you used all these things I am just now telling you?' I don't see how most of it would exonerate James, especially as James is not offering any defense of his actions. He's talked to some men from James' unit in the British Army, all who spoke highly of his leadership, but I don't think that's going to outweigh the rest. James is offering no help, and his father isn't doing much, either.
Foyle is headed to America to confront Howard Paige, the murdering industrialist from Episode 2.1, "Fifty Ships". We will, sadly, not get to see Foyle navigating the post-World War II United States in his pursuit, only hear about it after the fact, next week. Nuts.
Foyle got Adam out trouble, which I'm a leery of. Adam knocked a guy to the ground with sufficient force he was knocked unconscious on a rock. And it wasn't even the guy spearheading the development plan, Mr. Harrison. It was some poor guy on the survey team. Who knows what kind of brain damage he could have now? But those big-time athletes are always able to get their indiscretions swept under the rug by the authorities.
At one point, we learn that someone within the Free Corps was working for MI9, using their position to send letters with various intelligence to them. But the Free Corps has no idea who this person is, other than they sent letters to Agnes, addressed as "Jack". This naturally factors into both James' trial and Agnes' death.
Milner and Foyle get along much better this time around. Milner gives his subordinate Perkins a wrap across the knuckles for being disrespectful to Foyle this time, which. Look, Perkins is a schmuck. Can't tell a mare from a stallion (horses are involved in one scene), misses evidence, really only seems good for giving looks of sarcastic disbelief. But that whole thing where Foyle dressed him down for essentially not waiting to speak until spoken to, still irks me. Anyway, Milner and Foyle share information, and it helps Foyle to have someone who is still an active police officer to take action. So it was nice to see them part on better terms.
The show felt it necessary to throw in that Sir Charles is at least a bit anti-Semetic (Mr. Rothstein was Jewish). His arrogance wasn't enough, his jealous, domineering, and abusive attitude towards Caroline wasn't enough. The fact his son hates him so much he's willing to be hung as a traitor just to smear the family name isn't enough to render him an awful human being. Nope, have to throw a little something extra in there to seal the deal.
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