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
37 out of 60 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink