Poirot (TV Series) The Labours of Hercules (2013) User Reviews

Clunky, but enjoyable.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 8/10 · 30 November 2015]

Poirot is on the tale of an infamous thief Marrascaud, following the elusive criminal to The Alps.

Breathtakingly beautiful locations, the locations look sublime, the scenes in the Hotel are a visual feast, so wonderfully elaborate. The camera work only adds to the appeal, the episode is definitely a visual triumph.

A beautifully acted episode, Orla Brady is an enchanting individual, she comes up with the goods in the role of the Countess Rossakoff. It is no surprise that Tom Wlaschiha is in such high demand, he is brilliant. Fiona O'Shaughnessy also stands out, the final scene is very touching.

It's a very good episode, rather then an excellent one, the story itself almost feels a little disjointed and tenuous, but there are enough good elements to make it pretty good overall. The ending is slightly drawn out, but the revelation is brilliant.

Poirot's final season

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 5 January 2016]

"The Labors of Hercules" is one of Poirot's last cases, and it's a wild one.

Here Poirot is on the trail of a master criminal, Marrauscud, who kills without compunction. In the beginning of the episode, Poirot and others are waiting for the masked man to strike, as some famous jewels are in attendance. However, he's too fast for them, and the murder committed strikes Poirot right in the heart.

Some time later, his chauffeur Ted (Tom Austen) is lamenting the loss of his love, Nita, a maid who left to return to Russia when her ballerina mistress (Orla Brady) did. He is so devastated that Poirot promises him that he will find Nita and bring her back to him.

The quest for Marrauscud and Nita converge, and Poirot and others are stuck in a Swiss hotel during an avalanche. There is murder, mayhem, and plenty of the criminal class.

This is a dark, slow story. There is no more jaunty Poirot -- we have ventured a long way from the sunny office, Miss Lemon, and Hastings. This is a very different series now.

The story itself is a little confusing, with red herrings all over the place. And here Poirot sees someone from his past as well -- a criminal who was also one of his great loves. And one more person -- Countess Rossakof, the ballerina who hired Nita.

It wasn't my favorite, but as good as the series and Suchet were, it's hard to keep a series going for so long without a few less than great episodes.

For those who are disappointed that the story wasn't closer to Christie, her family granted the rights with no caveat as to how closely they were supposed to resemble her work, no overseer, no script approval, no nothing. So I wouldn't really blame the producers when, for instance, Miss Marple is shoved into a story where she was not present in the novel, or any of the other things that have been done with her other detectives. And some of them have been pretty outrageous.

This was still interesting, with gorgeous production values. The scenery was magnificent, and the acting excellent, from Poirot and the cast, which included those mentioned and Simon Callow, Rupert Evans, Lorna Nickson Brown, and Tom Austen, etc.

Worth seeing. But oh, to see Poirot's beautiful deco building gleaming in the sunlight again, with Poirot fussing, and Miss Lemon making tea, and Hastings madly in love with another client. Gone forever, I guess.

Intriguing, edgy and with great scenery

[grantss · 8/10 · 22 June 2016]

Hercule Poirot is depressed: he set a trap for ruthless killer and master-thief Marrascaud and the woman who was wearing the jewels as bait is now dead. Furthermore, Marrascaud escaped with the jewels and a priceless painting. A romantic errand sees him in Switzerland, at a hotel high in the Alps. Coincidentally, the local police are staking out the hotel, as they expect Marrascaud to be arriving there. His interest piqued, and eager to catch the criminal who has eluded him, Poirot joins in the attempt to unmask Marrascaud. One of the guests is Countess Rossakoff, an old friend of Poirot's whom he hasn't seen in many years. Moreover, his affection for her seems to exceed that of friendship.

Quite intriguing, dark and edgy. Being set in the Swiss Alps, some great scenery too. Also a rarity in that there is a hint of romance in the air for Poirot, so there is a nice emotional angle to the story.

Not perfect. The reasons why Poirot is in Switzerland in the first place are quite clumsy, and then the fact that Marrascaud just happens to be in exactly the same place as Poirot is just too coincidental. In addition, the identity of Marrascaud is not that difficult to figure out.

Very Dark Poirot and unlike any others.

[realdouglasone · 10/10 · 5 December 2021]

What we see in the final episodes is a darker and more reserved Poirot battling inner demons as he ages. This particular episode is the most disturbing of the final four due to it's storyline. What we see is Hercule Poirot battling his conscience and solving the multiple mysteries thrust upon him brilliantly. For many people who have seen all the episodes are used to Poirot being the sane one while everyone around him is aloof or lost. Well this isn't that kind of Poirot. The acting by David Suchet is simply masterful.

Excellent and Quite Faithful

[igorlongo · 10/10 · 22 November 2013]

A very good story,including in a quite faithful way,some of the Labours Of Hercules,in a claustrophobic mix,full of anguish,sadness and thrills.THe prologue is quite Scream-like without the gore.The death of Lucinda is perhaps the most thrilling in the entire series,a good set-up for a slasher without the on-screen slashing.THe hotel in Switzerland, with cable-car annexed,is wonderfully rendered...in England,and it gives a sense of Mousetrap and Orient express combined.THe stories quite faithfully developed are Birds,Cerberus ,Deer and ,of course,Boar,the principal source of this story who can be considered half a pastiche of Christie and half a faithful adaptation of some of her tales.Very curiously,it's more faithful than Appointment ,and the solution is basically the same of the tales with no change of culprits,but instead a blending of different culprits from different tales.The love story of the chauffeur is beautifully rendered,and the final solution is pleasant,not so chaotic,and it can give to us a glimpse of what it could have been Bertram (hidden paintings included) if it could have been made well.Among the best actors,apart from colossal,herculean Hercule,an excellent Eleanor Tomlinson,MCDade and Christie as two well understated Stymphalean Birds and Rupert Evans as a dashing hero. It's a pity that many of the other Labours and Lemesurier inheritance were not been adapted as promised,and I will wait forever for a new series with Suchet even if it's hopeless.But as an ending of a monumental series,season 13 has been really a masterpiece ,one of the best of the whole series!!!!

Wonderful...bizarre blend of Hercules Labors into One Episode

[lovemydesignergenes · 8/10 · 1 September 2017]

Nigel Lindsay oozes Corruption as the seedy too-smooth Manager of the soon snowbound mid 20th century vacation hotel.

Poirot...and a collection of women...and men with secrets...are snowed in at the Hotel...one winter.

Of course bodies fall...jewels...valuable artwork...are at risk...and Marrascaud...an exceptionally Sadistic Criminal...is at the Hotel...

A couple individual stories from The Labors of Hercules...are woven together.

It's a bit complex to follow the different story threads, but that makes the repeat watching even more fun.

My second favorite character is Ms EleanorsTomlinson...who plays Miss Cunningham, grown daughter to Hercules' friend Countess Rossakopf.

You will have to watch the episode twice...to appreciate her nuanced "out of the top drawer" performance.

Amazing that in 2013...she also played lovely simple Georgianna Darcy in Death comes to Pemberley!

S13E04: The Labours of Hercules: Not great as a regular Poirot mystery but has energy with plenty of events, and great design and delivery

[bob the moo · 6 June 2015]

Quite an unusual Poirot this one – for better and worse. While normally the mysteries in the series would have one or maybe two core crimes (usually separated by time and/or space) that would come together to be connected in a neat and satisfying finale, here we get almost a series of crimes and mysteries which are only connected by being all in the same physical space of a very odd hotel in the Alps. Where normally the series would build with small, perhaps unnoticed clues, here we have so many crimes that even the priest of the many-faced god comments "is there anyone here who is not a criminal?" In some ways I found this film to be a little disappointing in terms of what I was used to the series doing (particularly since it is the penultimate episode), but at the same time it is hard to deny that the liveliness of it all is not in itself engaging and entertaining.

It has thrills, it has intrigue, it has drama, it has tragedy, and it has comedy; okay the construct is perhaps not what I have come to expect, but it works in the rather unusual way it sets out to do. As a mystery it is perhaps less satisfying because it is so event- driven that it doesn't really have time to lay down a lot of clues so much as throw them at you while setting up or closing out an entirely different mystery. I guess for some this change in style will be too much, but for me I quite enjoyed it; although I liked the patient elegance of Dead Man's Folly, I have not been a massive fan of the season thus far, so, while not perfect, at very least the amount of events and sheer energy here did make it engaging – it really didn't leave a choice.

The design of the film is also quite something. Some have commented on the absurdity of this hotel really being situated in the Alps, but for me it is part of the appeal – the absurdity of the place, the people, and the whole film, all works in the favor of the rather overblown and busy delivery. It looks beautiful as a film – while the back projection of Elephants Can Remember was poor, here the Alps look both fake but yet also great, again all part of this almost other-worldly place that Poirot finds himself. This feeling is in all the regards and frankly helped me buy into the coincidences and contrivances across the narrative. The cast buy into this too. In the lead Suchet is fantastic, showing that he can work with all the elements of the series whether it be the darker side of his character or his comic timing; he really gets a bite of everything and does it very well. The support cast are uniformly colorful, from Callow, O'Shaughnessy, Brady, Katz, Tomlinson and others. Personally I greatly enjoyed Lindsay– such a great comedic performance throughout. Wlaschiha stood out in his performance, although I found it endlessly distracting that his voice and delivery was so similar to his character in Season 5 of Game of Thrones.

It is an unusual Poirot, and it does lack the qualities that one usually looks to the series for, but it is full of events and has a great mix of absurdity, comedy, drama, and thrills, which all work remarkably well together while the performances and the design do connect with this approach, and make it work.

The best of a strong final season

[gridoon2024 · 8/10 · 6 April 2014]

The final season of "Poirot" is a generally very strong one (with only one slightly disappointing, but still watchable, episode, "The Big Four"), but I feel "The Labours Of Hercules" is the best of the five films. It's a delicious mystery - or, rather, a delicious crossword puzzle of mysteries, murders, thefts, disappearances, fake identities, and con games. Although the story is propelled by one of Poirot's very rare failures, which gives it a dark undercurrent, there is also significantly more humor here than in most of the other recent episodes, the majority of which comes from the character of Francesco, the multi-lingual, polite, but easily corruptible hotel manager. David Suchet gets to put on one of his most theatrical "all the suspects gathered in one room" shows in the last chapter, and that's very enjoyable to watch, but the real find in this entry is the merely 21-year-old (!) Eleanor Tomlinson, who steals the film with her wonderful performance (and looks!). If there is a weak spot in "The Labours Of Hercules", it's the sometimes (like in the case of the avalanche) unconvincing special effects. *** out of 4.

Agatha Christie / ITV at Their Best

[rogeriverson · 9/10 · 16 June 2020]

The dialogue is a feast. Direction lilting, intense. Acting sublime.

I've watch watch this episode several times and always enjoy it's grandeur, it's intimate treasure.

the location, the femme, the dog, all excellent

[daveches-93020 · 8/10 · 22 March 2021]

My favourite location for this series, the isolated house on a rocky outcrop is thrilling in itself. There is also an excellent ugly dog, and I liked Eleanor Tomlinson's character a lot.

A good try but doesn't quite work, more of a mixed-feelings reaction

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 10 November 2013]

Of the 13th and final season, it was The Labours of Hercules where there was a feeling of it going either way, mainly with the idea of condensing several stories into one. If well-written there was potential of success, but I will be honest in being prepared for disappointment. This episode is not terrible(in fact none of the Poirot adaptations are, even the very disappointing ones), there are things it does do right, but it was the weakest and less coherent of the 13th season and a contender for the most underwhelming adaptation since Taken at the Flood. Several things are done very well. It is a very well shot adaptation, with sumptuous period costumes and scenery, the Swiss mountains were beautiful and a good backdrop for a detective mystery. The music is haunting and melancholic, which matches beautifully with the atmosphere that the adaptation evokes. And the atmosphere is very rich here, there are elements of suspense and real menace but it is tinged with a real sadness, mainly because we as a viewer are about to say goodbye to such a great series both in the shorter episodes and feature-length ones. The acting is mostly solid apart from some dodgy accents, in support the standouts were Orla Brady(wonderfully mysterious as the Countess), Eleanor Tomlinson and Simon Callow(who seems to be gleefully enjoying himself). Best of all is David Suchet, as to expect he is exceptional as Poirot, dapper, intelligent and with a twinkle in the eye yet there is also a genuine anguish that is most moving.

A couple of aspects are mixed, the script has evidence of very thoughtful and quite charming writing as well as setting up the beginning very well, at other times it could have been tighter and more developed. The direction from Andy Wilson shows skill, accommodation of the actors and time for us to take in the atmosphere and surroundings, but again it could have been tighter and not as turgid as it did have a tendency to become.

The story has a well-set-up opening scene with some nicely played scenes and great atmosphere, but because it contains elements of several stories some of the storytelling and structure becomes jumbled. In particular the last thirty minutes, which had a lot going on but not quite enough explanation and detail, in the end it felt convoluted, at times incomplete and rushed through. The pacing was not always on the mark either, the final solution could have been slowed down but instead of completely absorbing, despite a fair bit going on, the adaptation felt turgid(mostly very uncharacteristic for a Poirot adaptation, especially from after the opening sequence to half an hour through which was in all honesty not easy to get into, the worst of the dodgy accents were here too). With the exception of Poirot and to a lesser extent the Countess, the characters are rather stock, they serve a point to the story but they are not developed enough to let us care or wholly believe in them, and while the production values are fine on the whole the lighting is too murky in places.

In all, not a terrible adaptation, it looks good, has great atmosphere and it's generally well-acted particularly from Suchet, but underwhelming, with more development and less of a turgid jumble with less of a sense of cramming in too much it would have been better. I also couldn't help feeling that an adaptation of The Labours of Hercules would have fared better as each and every story forming it being an hour-long episode each from about 15-20 years earlier. By all means they did their best here and it was a good try but it doesn't quite work, especially disappointing as it is the penultimate episode and after Elephants Can Remember- which is actually better than its source material) and Dead Man's Folly, also from the 13th season, being so excellent(Big Four was let down by the final twenty five minutes but was quite good up to there). 6/10 Bethany Cox

Maybe the best in the entire series

[donlessnau-591-637730 · 10/10 · 23 August 2021]

A magnificent compilation of the short stories, the Labors of Hercules by Christie, into one excellent TV episode. They don't use all the short stories but most of them. Excellent.

A compilation of the original collection

[cpongracic · 7/10 · 22 November 2020]

This episode combines several separate stories into one. It is well-executed, but if you have read the novel before having viewed this, you will find it difficult to watch, at first.

The Countess, who first appeared in The Double Clue, was around Poirot's age, at the time, and so was the actress who portrayed this character. However, we discover that the Countess must have found the fountain of youth during the 20 years since she and Poirot last saw each other, as the actress in this episode was born in the early 60s--20 years younger than the first one. All that freedom from a life of crime, I imagine, has restored her youth.

Dark cinematography, slow pace, and unfaithful to Christie....

[Franklie · 4/10 · 3 December 2014]

There is a reason we've liked reading Agatha Christie's mysteries for decades. It's because they're good. They also have a sense of fun and of humor. Yet each season, the film producers get further and further from what she wrote. Such a waste of opportunity and great acting talent and a dis-honor to Christie's stories. In an era when folks in the UK are creating intriguing and beautiful-to-watch mystery films such as Inspector Lewis and Sherlock and Vera and Midsomer Murders, why do the Poirot stories move at such a slow pace and why does this one use the dark cinematography popular a decade ago that makes it difficult to see the scenes? We expected a lot more. We miss the clever fun spark and the characters from the books. We'll stick with reading the books.

A good episode, improves originals

[surangaf · 9/10 · 2 February 2016]

Almost all Cristie's stories, and this series based on them, are unbelievable. Don't expect realism from her.

What makes some of her stories 'classic', and highly entertaining, are complex challenging murder(or other criminal) plots(however absurdly impracticable), interesting characters, and more rarely, poignant drama and tragedy.

While this episodes is not faithful to the several original stories it is based on, it actually improves on them for most part. Most importantly, it is in the spirit of the best Cristie stories and best episodes of this series. As such it is highly entertaining.

Poirot's blinkered moral posture, was an important factor in more 'darker' latter episodes of this series. In contrast, Poirot is morally indifferent for most part in books and early episodes. However, while they were successful in confronting him with complex moral issues in some episodes (eg 'Murder on the Orient Express'), they let the ball drop in some others. It was especially disappointing when they raised complex moral issues but then refused to let Poirot confront them on screen (eg 'The Clocks). This episode does not disappoint on that score. Among others I liked the fact that principal criminal was explicit in condemning some of Poirot's moral blindnesses, in addition his failings as a detective.

Unfortunate lowering of quality of production design in the final season is quite obvious in this episode. This is a pity since from the start of series, to season before this, production design of this series was highly praiseworthy, almost without exception.

Hercules Versus Hercule Poirot.

[tcwaterford · 8/10 · 23 October 2022]

I confess to being a huge fan of the many works of Agatha Christie, then again who could not be a fan.

Even though Christie was mocked and slandered for her creation of the Belgian Master Detective and his rather ungentleman like approach to detection.

She was considered by many crime writers of the time, to be crude and unfair, in her writing and in her use of a foreigner (God Forbid) as Britain's greatest detecting mind.

Nevertheless, we can be so grateful for her insistance and her determination to stick to her guns, with the great Hercule Poirot.

I always try to avoid writing anything which might spoil it for the next reader or perhaps the next new generation of Agatha Christie readers! .

With this in mind, I will simply say, that I have had the pleasure of the company, of many Ladies over the years, all who carried hand bags.

In all, I never met one, who could not tell if they had forgotten even just their lipstick, by the weight of their bag!.

I will leave it there, and suggest you investigate for yourself!!. :-)

Merci 🙏

Pedestrian Plod Through a Christie Story

[l_rawjalaurence · 6/10 · 12 November 2013]

Set mostly in Switzerland, THE LABOURS OF HERCULES is, as usual, a complicated piece in which Poirot seeks to uncover a master killer, as well as finding a long-lost love of his chauffeur Ted Williams (Tom Austen). The pace as usual is leisurely; the lighting shadowy (appropriate for a tale where nothing is quite what it seems); and the production is enlivened by some memorable cameos. Simon Callow is in his best scene-chewing form as Dr. Lutz, while Orla Brady turns in a nice display as a pseudo-neurotic Russian countess. Yet there is a distinct sense of déja vu about the production; Poirot's familiar mannerisms, his patient correcting of anyone who calls him French (rather than Belgian), his reference to his "little gray cells." David Suchet's characterization is definitive, but perhaps the series itself might have gone on a little too long. Some of the European English accents have a distinct echo of the comedy series, ALLO ALLO about them, while the dénouement is largely underwhelming. Worth a look, but don't expect anything very startling.

Possibly the worst episode ever.

[susan5096 · 7/10 · 30 September 2022]

The disastrous death of the debutante would never have occurred on Poirot's watch, particularly since it seemed he had planned the trap. If he had used an amateur woman for bait, she would have been well-protected. By two or even three undercover detectives. It's too easy to take down one. Nor would the door knock signal have been demonstrated in a crowd when Poirot was surely well known to the target but the target was unknown to Poirot. The mother/sister (sisters) con women arrived with Poirot. The violent husband was supposed to be already there. It's inconceivable that Poirot hadn't spoken to enough members of staff to ascertain that the room had been empty before the "wife" arrived. Plus, the con was very clumsy. A man might be attracted to a woman he met on a funicular but he would hardly fall in love - especially not enough to volunteer to hang for her based on a couple of kisses. He also would have insisted on alerting the police to the death. People who grow up in countries with generally honest police departments don't distrust the police in another civilized country so easily and she had a clear defense because the "husband" was supposedly trying to kill the man who'd interrupted his beating on his wife.

It was poorly written all around. The only one who was a legitimate red herring was the real cop.

Eleanor Wilkinson is a very good actor but I suspected her early on. It's now well-known that people who study serial killers, particularly when they're always asking about the progress of the police investigation are often the killers themselves. I'm sure that it wasn't known in Poirot's time but it seemed like the kind of thing he would have known instinctively.

Poirot's Makers Pulling Your Leg

[aramis-112-804880 · 5/10 · 14 August 2017]

Though David Suchet and the makers of "Poirot" insist they've done every Poirot story, it's a Big Lie. THE LABORS OF HERCULES proves they're wrong.

The original book is really a series of short story (with a vaguely connected theme of the Greek stories of "The Labors of Hercules." Since education in England and America no longer centers around the classics, most people won't know what that's all about anyway, so on with the critique of the show.

"The Labors of Hercules" picks and chooses bits and bobs from the stories in the book. It begins, like the book, with Poirot talking to a doctor friend. And there's a hunt for a chauffeur's missing loved one, that takes him (somehow) to a Swiss hotel on a mountain peak where the funicular railway is snowed in (shades of the "Orient Express") and Poirot winds up looking for a murderer. There's even a dog shoved in. And the return of the Countess Rossakoff, though played by a different actress than "The Double Clue." It's actually one of the better "original" Poirots where Christie is tossed out the window and an original story is cooked up.

But the "Poirot" people missed an opportunity of doing a whole series of interconnected "Labors" (a la "Doctor Who" and "The Key to Time"--where Poirot does all the stories under an umbrella title.

As I say, it's not a bad show, and it has a very old-looking Simon Callow in it. There's a great moment when Poirot is out on a balcony overlooking the mountains and Suchet has a dialogue scene with Callow; it's too bad it doesn't go on longer, because it's good to see two acting masters bouncing off each other.

So the next time anyone says all the "Poirot" stories were done in this series, say it's not true, that here about a dozen stories are squeezed into one.

Confused

[susan-atkins-443-352947 · 7/10 · 11 May 2019]

A good adaptation but still slightly confusing. Who are the actors who played the chauffeur and his long lost love? Where did she materialise from?

Delightful watch, amazing scenery

[luckyribka · 7/10 · 30 April 2023]

I would love to stuck in the place like that.

I wonder if the place is available for visitors. I would surely go there.

The cast is excellent but Eleanor Tomlinson. Very pretty, but anyone can act like that, so purely ornamental. But this is my opinion, hopefully, shared by many.

Otherwise, the plot is complicated, as usual and a bit far-fetched in some places. But the acting and scenery compensate for it.

Orla Grady and David Suchet are great as ever. Orla is such a versatile actress.

I am a great fan of Agatha Christie's books and watched so many adaptations. I consider ITV Poirot the best.

An Attempt at Adaptation

[frankelee · 4/10 · 29 November 2018]

I think this episode got off to the wrong start with the newly invented "trap" set up by the police and involving Poirot. It didn't surprise me that this was not something taken out of Christie, as it's not good writing. They start the whole mystery by having Poirot and the authorities get a very young woman killed right at the start of her life, for no good reason whatsoever, along with additional casualties among the police guards. A rather shocking amount of incompetence and irresponsibility, indeed it would be hard to imagine that everyone involved was not fired and perhaps prosecuted.

A good writer would have known you don't introduce the story this way, displaying the main character as incompetent and unintelligent and involved in an affair the beggars disbelief even in an Agatha Christie story. Even if the TV writer went off the rails a little, a producer with some perspective should have been able to intervene. At the very least clean it up, have the girl be a police decoy who's actually in law enforcement in some capacity, and then have something really wild throw a wrench in their plans. And that explains how the killer or killers could manage to outwit them in the confusion. As it was, there was no conceivable way the villains could fail, they simply had to murder anyone they wanted without a struggle and walk out with the jewels and painting. Really laughably bad writing that makes Poirot, who stood around as the crimes happened totally unaware looks like it was time for him to be forcibly retired.

Bad start. The mystery then takes him to an Alpine hotel where three or four mysteries are actually taking place, and makes everything a little too busy and a little too silly. I think they would have been better just doing one short story and changing only a few things here and there to keep themselves from going into a ditch.

Disappointed

[Sulla-2 · 3/10 · 19 April 2019]

Having read the book I know that it is a series of 12 short stories ( 12 Labours) This is not what we get here. I was totally confused.

We should have had 3 separate 2 hour episodes with 4 stories in each of them.

The Labours of Hercules

[Prismark10 · 2/10 · 25 November 2017]

The later Poirot films were slow paced and lacked a sense of mischief with David Suchet being very serious.

The Labours of Hercules is pitiful, overlong, hammy and a bit of a confusing plot if you could stay awake to keep up with it.

Poirot is pursuing an infamous thief Marrascaud. At the start of the episode he fails to stop a valuable painting 'The Labours of Hercules' from being stolen and a lady under his protection is killed.

Some months later Poirot goes off to a hotel in Switzerland after hearing a sob story from his driver about a maid who he liked had gone off there. The hotel is full of the wealthy, infamous and the not so good. Poirot gets the chance to catch the ruthless Marrascaud.

The green screen of the Swiss mountains makes it look cheap, the photography is dark reflecting the mood of the story and Poirot.

Fading Poirot

[mjcthegreat · 3/10 · 28 July 2019]

I cannot say if this adaptation is close to the original story or not as I have not read it.

I found this episode of Poirot to be overly-long, uninteresting, complicated and hard to follow with not much of a pay-off. It is hampered by the same problems that other latter Poirot episodes suffer from including a dark, seriousness which sucks most humour and character out of it, very fake-looking cgi, poor colour-tinting which leaves you with very green images.

The whole episode feels quite claustrophobic, perhaps deliberately so which I did not enjoy but certainly achieved the effect of making you feel cooped up like the stranded guests at the hotel. There are some laughably poor accents though not from David Suchet who is his usual brilliant self as the famous Belgian sleuth. The character of Poirot however does seem very serious here once again, a common element in later episodes which is not so enjoyable.

I cannot recommend this episode, watch at your own risk.