Foyle's War

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          I have seen my final Foyle.  After doing my best to stretch out the series to make it last longer, I have now seen every episode of Foyle’s War.  My viewing ended a lot sooner than I would have liked.  Instead of getting the last six episodes one at a time as I prefer, I had to borrow them in their respective season sets.  This forced me to watch seasons seven and eight in a matter of about two weeks, ending a series I would have loved to carry on longer.  It is a series I am truly sad to see go, and I believe it will be hard to find one just as good to replace it.

            Since I’ve written about Foyle’s War before, I’m going to start off by telling you what has happened since I left off.  Oddly enough, even though there have been five seasons since my last post on this subject, for most of the series not a lot changed.  Detective Chief Superintendent Christopher Foyle (Michael Kitchen) continued to solve cases with the help of his Detective Sergeant Paul Milner (Anthony Howell) and driver Sam Stewart (Honeysuckle Weeks).  He did not do this happily, though.  Frequently there became a question of other people’s ethics.  All too often Foyle did not agree with what people were doing, and one day he had enough.  Foyle put in his resignation, determined to live perfectly content as a former police officer.  Unfortunately for Foyle, those around him did not take his resignation so well.  Of course Paul and Sam were sorry to see Foyle go, but it was those in power who drove Foyle out in the first place that were really upset.  They kept insisting that Foyle’s skills and services were badly needed, even though they did not like the way he did things.  When Foyle’s replacement was murdered, they insisted Foyle come back on a temporary basis.  Not surprisingly, this temporary basis was quite lengthy, but it did give Sam a job again and Paul the opportunity to learn more from this respected man.

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            Then the war ends.  Paul is promoted to Detective Inspector.  Foyle fights to be released from his temporary assignment.  Sam hops from job to job trying to figure out where she belongs.  Fortunately for Sam, she meets Adam (Max Brown, Daniel Weyman), a young man who needs help with a bed and breakfast he has inherited.  Together they struggle to keep the bed and breakfast afloat until one day it is bombed.  With nothing left of the house to salvage, Adam decides to go into politics.  He also asks Sam to marry him.  She says yes.

          While all this is going on, Paul is struggling with his new position.  Determined to prove himself, Paul shuts everyone out, including his wife.  When Paul encounters Foyle and Sam he is especially cold.  This does not sit well with Foyle.  While he understands Paul is trying to prove he is up to the job, he does not appreciate how Paul is going about it.  The fact that Paul is not treating Sam well is especially bothersome.  On this matter, Foyle does not hesitate to state his disapproval.

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       Once Paul gets settled into his position, we lose him pretty quickly in the series.  Foyle and Sam, carry on, though, with both of them moving to London.  Sam’s move is intentional as she is now married to Adam and he must live there for his political career.  Foyle’s is not.  After returning from a trip to America, Foyle is detained by MI5.  They trick Foyle into believing Sam is in trouble and involved in things she should not be.  Once Foyle proves Sam innocent of all charges, he grudgingly accepts a position with MI5.  He asks Sam to work for him again, and she happily agrees.  With his work in MI5, Sam becomes more involved in cases than she ever was before.  She even finds reasons to go undercover.  It is a nice distraction for Sam as she struggles with her husband’s political career and difficulty in having a baby.  Things in London are not quite what she expected them to be, but she knows, that no matter what happens, Foyle will always be there for her.

              As much as I like watching the cases and seeing Foyle put people in their place in his simple, straight forward way, I think one of my favorite things about this show is the relationship between Foyle and Sam.  Very quickly it became a father-daughter relationship on both sides and throughout the series that continued to grow.  Despite how Sam sometimes drove him crazy, Foyle was sure to never let any harm come to her.  He listened to what she had to say and supported her, even when she did something wrong.  When his son, Andrew (Julian Ovenden), broke up with Sam, I believe Foyle was truly disappointed because that meant Sam would not become his daughter-in-law.  For Foyle, I think having Sam as a daughter would be a dream come true. 

Image provided by Acorn TV/RLJE.

      With the end of Foyle’s War I am losing another good man. All the female characters in the series would probably agree.  In practically every episode there was another woman falling in love with Foyle. Not that I can blame them. Foyle is a kind, compassionate man, who is a good listener to boot. He will stand up for what he believes in without hesitation. When Foyle speaks to a person, that person knows his attention is on them and only them. On top of all, that Foyle is extremely intelligent and honest. He always wants to see justice done, but only if it’s the true justice. Nothing else will do. With all this, what’s there not to love?