C.B. Strike (TV Series) Troubled Blood: Part 4 (2022) User Reviews

Absolutely brilliant final episode.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 10/10 · 23 December 2022]

Strike is getting close to finding out who killed Margot, and whether she was the only victim or not.

This series has truly been one of the highlights of 2922 for me, and this final episode was awesome.

There were two questions to answer, whodunnit, and would they or wouldn't they.

An hour of viewing that I didn't want to end, I thought it was an incredibly satisfying and rewarding conclusion, plenty of questions answered, loose strands tied up. The revelation, was a really shocking moment.

It seems like it's a continuation of Just good friends for now.

I've really enjoyed the introduction of the new characters, Pat in particular, great character, terrific actress, her scenes with Strike were terrific. Good to see Robin Askwith, what a contrast here to the Confessions films. The scenes between Tom and his real life mother, the awesome Anna Calder Marshall were incredible.

I wonder if like me, you've googled to see when the next one is coming out, hopefully not too long a wait.

It was funny seeing Strike in bed with flu a few days before Christmas, I am watching this in bed with flu, this was the perfect remedy, 10/10.

My favorite show on hbo in years

[zbwtr · 10/10 · 1 March 2023]

First off this is my favorite love story on screen in 2023. I think she is a great actor and every scene she is in with Burke she makes him better. Since the Borgia's the camera loves this ethereal beauty. Good twists in this one. I love it when the killer is the best actor. Robin attracts bad guys like crazy she needs get with cormoran quick. Strike is such a blah name. Cormoran is unique and beautiful. I love the lady working in the office and have since I seen her in midsummer murders. I used to watch a bunch of hbo the wire, sopranos, boardwalk empire etc this is the only one I watch nowadays. I love the look of the show and the production value is impressive. I hope they get together.

Its Christmas , leave the chocolates alone.

[mrmarckline · 9/10 · 5 March 2023]

Wow , I like that the writer and director of this series used actors from the mid 60's including Tom Burke's mom , that told you the creator of the show had respect for them. Robin , Michael , Carol and one of the most bizarre performances of the show.

Anna Calder- Marshall who played Janice Beattie modern day.

The chemistry between Strike and Robin is totally professional , am so glad that they solved the case and Margot can rest now that the guilty party can make tea for the prison guards. Gangsters , musicians , nurses , doctors , family all fit in for this entry , whose the killer or killers.

Horrifying and beautiful

[pjdickinson-27822 · 10/10 · 24 July 2023]

This excellent series which is delivered in small portions by JK Rowling's production company as she writes the books is very well made.

The villain of the piece is staggeringly chilling as they are revealed in this final episode of the current miniseries. The acting during the reveal is bone chilling. When it comes to the why it's horrifying yet casual and it presents a great example of how terrible evil can be such a mundane thing in the perpetrator's life.

This is not simply a whodunnit but an examination of complex characters and their interactions and, however bizarre the central plot becomes, it has a beauty to it which is rare in so many shows.

The effort put into the production is very impressive and the BBC and HBO should count themselves lucky to have a show of this quality.

Mostly Excellent

[Warin_West-El · 8/10 · 23 June 2023]

The scene with Strike in the pub socking Carl Oakden was against character. First of all, are we to believe that Cormoran was a moron and didn't put it together that Oakden was deliberately luring him to a location close to his father's party? AND THEN for Strike to assault Oakden in public!

Apparently, the writers were more interested in fabricating drama than sticking to the behavioral profiles of the characters.

The fourth season of virtually every BBC TV series includes some sort of PC attribute. Sure enough, during the Fourth Season of Strike that occurred as well.

The performance by Anna Calder-Marshall was extraordinary! On par with Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. She was momentarily passionate and yet overwhelmingly eerily ice cold. That one climatic scene made the whole series.

Although the plot was confusing, I DID know the chocolates Strike received were poisoned before that was revealed. I also knew Janice was going to poison Strike's tea. So I was relieved the screenwriters chose to have Strike discover her attempt rather than him being poisoned.

The Janice and Strike tete a tete was an excellent choice and probably what the filmmakers of Happy Valley were attempting to pull off with Catherine and Tommy during that final episode.

In both scenes the strongest actors were the women. The Strike scene worked because the killer was the strongest actor. In Happy Valley that same device failed because it was the cop who was the strongest actor. In Happy Valley we didn't feel the chills you got watching the confrontation between Janice and Strike.

If there's an onscreen head to head confrontation between "the good guy" and "the bad guy", it only works when the bad guy is the stronger actor (like Jodie Foster vs Anthony Hopkins).

Many reviewers now agree: the "unrequited love" paradigm has become extremely irritating to watch. Having said that, the ending of this series was satisfying and sweet to behold. Even the exit music fit perfectly.

According to BritishTV.com, Strike has been renewed and will return with a new series:The Ink Black Heart. We'll all look forward to that!

Good but...

[Just-A-Girl-14 · 7/10 · 26 March 2024]

I just finished binge watching the four seasons and I must say I especially liked this last one. I haven't read the books so I can't comment on that but even though I liked it I do have some small issues with this season that I'd like to point out. First one, which I must say is a big one for me, I wanted to SEE the characters when they found out the truth. I wanted to see Strike and Robin tell the daughter what happened to her mother and I also wanted to see them tell the father that they found his daughter. I hate it when they skip this part. They (the writers presumably) might think it's a waste of time repeating it to the characters but I strongly disagree. It's not enough for the audience to figure out what had happened. I want to see the revelations and the reactions of those people. The father was looking for his daughter for half a century. The daughter grew up not knowing what happened to her mother. If it was up to me, I would have liked to even see her friends reactions. Her best friend and the one who run away overseas because she thought she was the reason Margo disappeared and presumably murdered. I don't like it when I get to see the characters suffering but not the relief of finding out the truth. Second, I think TB as Strike is doing excellent job. He is very convincing! I enjoyed watching the personal stories about his childhood. Robin on the other hand is a different story. I really like HG as Robin at first but something changed and she is no longer behaving the same. I feel like she's become a little annoying. It's hard to put a finger on it but maybe it's the fact that she has way too much confidence in her abilities. Strike is the lead character and I don't think it makes much sense that they are equal in their detective abilities. She can be talented but experience is important and Strike has a lot of experience. I just didn't feel like it was quite right. Oh and I didn't like that they changed her hair color either btw. I also thought there was a lot of fuss about Ricci and his father and it turned out to be not important. There was no conclusion on them so they were basically just a distraction. Also, something about the flow of the season wasn't right either. Could be editing but there were gaps and time jumps that didn't work out. Lastly, I'm not a fan of the whole "will they, won't they" thing. If they are meant to be together just get it over with and have them work the cases while being a couple. If not then skip this part. Personally I don't see what's the problem. It's a show, not real life, they can be a couple that works together. Just pick one and don't mess with the audience because I think it's supposed to be more about the mystery they're looking to solve and less of a soap opera love story. With that said, I still enjoyed watching it. Missing person stories are very interesting and this one was very good.

Troubled Blood: Part 4

[Prismark10 · 5/10 · 19 December 2022]

I just found Troubled Blood was treading water for most of its entire four episodes. It should had remained a two parter.

I guess JK Rowling put all the anti Trans stuff in the book as it was the only way the novel would be talked about. Going on the maxim that there is no such thing as bad publicity.

Strike and Robin think that Dr Margot Bamborough had a suspicion of a serial killer operating in her area. Maybe Steve Douthwaite was the man they want and Strike had traced him living up north under a new alias.

It ends with an overlong confession. It had to be overlong as the murderer had a lot of deaths and attempted deaths to reveal.

It was the perkiest part of the episode. To think viewers had to endure all kinds of red herrings and blind allies to get to this far.

At least the killer was unrepentant and thoroughly despicable.

"You're my best friend"

[dosefade19 · 6/10 · 23 December 2022]

The only reason I am watching this show is the romance and relationship between Strike and Robin...without that, I would not be watching this whatsoever. The cases are longwinded, dull and sleep inducing.

So please stop teasing Strike and Robin, they have had so many moments where they could and should have made a move but it's become clear that their "will they won't they" phase is going to be milked to oblivion, probably because they know it's the only thing that is going to keep most viewers interested in watching.

Which is fair enough, but it's becoming unbelievable at this point. Their romantic and sexual tension is off the charts in every single scene, you can't keep that going forever, at least not in a believable fashion. My guess is that they will keep Strike and Robin sleeping around with others next season to prolong it further too...Not sure if I am willing to endure 90 percent boredom just for their moments together, even though they are an amazing couple with great chemistry.

Furthermore, the ending to this episode was pretty pathetic also. "You're my best friend..." Strike says to Robin as they both lovingly gaze in to each others eyes for the millionth time...give me a break. They are both single now, and clearly love each other very much and attracted to one another, so how long are you going to keep dragging it out?

Overall, not a bad season but 4 episodes per season are a joke. I wish they would have given the show it's own legs to stand on instead of going strictly by the books.

Preposterous Conclusion

[crumpytv · 3/10 · 10 January 2023]

What a let down.

It all led up to a final episode and explanation as to what had been covered in the first 3, but no it was utterly ridiculous.

It just became utterly confusing and reveal of the perpetrator just made no sense. There is no way their actions could have gone undetected over 20 years.

To add to the muddle the case featured two other serial killer stories which just made it all the more unbelievable.

Tom Burke is really good as Strike and a believable character, on the other hand we have Holliday Grainger who is just the opposite. She is, and always is, just so unconvincing. I can never get away from the fact that she is acting. Also, a baseball cap and a dodgy accent is not a disguise.

As for the will they, won't they suggestion, I hope they don't, for his sake.

Much was made of the RIccis in episodes 2 and 3, but was the viewer rewarded with them get their long overdue comeuppances ... no!

Nice cameo from Kenneth Cranham.

Read Book First

[JICNZ · 7/10 · 12 March 2023]

As with all this superb series, I'd suggest reading the book first. The book is the enormous buffet, this is just a tiny selection of what was on the table. To be fair to any adaptation of these novels, what to leave out must be a heart-rending decision for the screenwriters, because nothing is wasted in the telling of these intricate plots. So, what is good about this adaptation? The Cornish scenes were balm to the heart. Ted and Joan, (Strike's uncle and his wife, and surrogate mum and dad) were delightful. They stayed true to the book, although I was desperately hoping we'd get Joan planning her funeral so she'd be no bother to anyone scene. Unfortunately not. If anything sums up a life well lived for other people, it's that this woman wanted her ashes scattered at sea so the London-based Lucy and Strike don't have to make the effort to visit her grave. Brilliant writing.

What didn't work for me? I found the adaptation suffered from the usual, and utterly predicable BBC diversifying of everything. If you can't replace black characters from a novel with white actors you shouldn't do it the other way around either. Not only did one character turn from being a Nordic-blonde, strong, slightly masculine, tall, thin lesbian, she became a short, fat black woman. Very bizarre and jarring. Michelle Obama being played by Julia Roberts anyone? Just wrong. Many of the characters in the 1970s were turned black which is even more jarring as black people are not, despite what the BBC might want us all to believe, native to the UK, and many of us have still never met one now, let alone in the 70s.

Robin didn't work as well for me in this series for some reason. Why have they dyed her hair dark brown? Her strawberry blonde locks were her main feature in both book and earlier episodes. Now she really doesn't stand out all that much as the head-turner she's described as. She looked mousey, which was at odds with the new aggression they've given her. Bullying an old, senile man, despite what he might have done in the past, is not consistent with Robin's character and not in the book.

So, well worth watching if you've read the book. Be prepared for a slight taste of the gourmet meal the book is, but well worth watching otherwise.