I recently watched all the episodes again, starting with with Pilot (Episode 0, as labelled).This show is almost perfection, with fine acting and engaging story lines in a beautiful and civilized setting, except for the last few episodes when it tries to be a little too American. Sorry, there is no other way to put it. The stories become more and more violent, the characters added lack true representation of the British population (hardly any major South Asian characters) but most importantly, the focus shifts from Lewis, the middle-aged Gentle Hero (after whom the show is named!) to Hathaway the Young-and- the-Proud. Even the final scene is off-base. I believe the US backed production has something to do with this obvious shift, not realizing that one of the main reasons British crime shows are so popular in the US (and worldwide) is because, unlike their American counterparts, they are unrealistically more gentle and civilized in their approach to crime and also have something distinctly British about them. So, if any of the producers is reading this, please do not mess with a good thing. Thank you PBS, for getting it almost perfectly right.
Review of Inspector Lewis
