King Memses' Curse

Clocke - December 21st IS MID-Summer in the Southern Hemisphere where Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries are set i.e. in Melbourne Australia :)

And now we get the second half of where all the suspense was going :)

Again I have to point out that this show is more about style -- of which this episode abounds -- than sense, which this episode still sorta begs. Plotwise, I'm reminded of a similarly Egyptian-ish episode of Tales From the Crypt, except without Cryptie to make terrible puns (which maybe this could have used).

Once again, style and editing rule the story, and while it was a good finish to the season, I do hope this means we are done with this haunted-by-her-past element; it has never enriched the show or her character, except as melodrama. -- Which seems to have been the intention, so there it is.

King Memses' Curse picks up right where Murder in the Dark left off. Phryne is frantic to track down Murdoch Foyle and heads off to the local university for some answers. While she's gone, however, Foyle is able to get his hands on Jane. But does Foyle really want Jane or is she just a pawn in a game he's playing? Phryne learns that she is Foyle's actual target and has always been his target. Sister Jane was taken by mistake. Will Phryne sacrifice herself to save those close to her?

What a great way to wrap up Season 1 (I suppose that being Australian television, I should say Series 1). While not quite as good as the tension and anticipation of the build-up in Murder in the Dark, King Memses' Curse delivers. As with the last episode, this is edge-of-the-seat type stuff. It's got a lot of atmosphere and an actual horror feel to it. The death of Foyle's first victim in the episode is more graphic than anything I expected to see in Miss Fisher. It goes a long way to showing just how crazy the man, Foyle, truly is. Throw in his ramblings about being the reincarnation of an ancient Egyptian King and you've got one nut-job on your hands. It's good stuff.

I was especially impressed with the direction in this episode. There's a lot crammed into the 53 minute runtime with all the characters, locations, events, and plot revelations. Daina Reid handles it masterfully. It's a nicely told, tight story, with little-to-no superfluous fluff.

Midsummer is in JUNE. 21 December is the Winter Solstice, or "Midwinter" by the same logic as Midsummer was named by. this glaring mistake is repeated several times in the episode.