Agatha Raisin

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       For some reason, when I first saw the title Agatha Raisin, I thought I was going to watch a modern-day Miss Marple.  Or else it was going to be a present-day Agatha Christie solving mysteries.  Why I had these ideas in my head, other than the name Agatha, I am not fully sure.  The funny thing is, in many ways, despite this show not being about Miss Marple or Agatha Christie, I wasn’t too far off.  The show does take place in a small village in England where people keep turning up dead.  Then it is up to Agatha Raisin to solve the mystery as to who killed them.  That sounds pretty Miss Marple to me.  Beyond that, though, I don’t think much else is the same.   

Image provided by Acorn TV/RLJE.

          It has been a lifelong dream of public relations extraordinaire Agatha Raisin (Ashley Jensen) to live in a cottage in the village of Carsley, a place she would visit as a child.  One day, Agatha decides the time has come.  She sells her London PR company and moves to the village she has always dreamed about.  In her haste to move there, however, she did not figure that she would stick out like a sore thumb.  A village that operates on the slower pace of life, the residents do not appreciate Agatha’s fast and pushy ways.  Nor do they understand her upscale clothes and need to put up a business-like and know-it-all manner at all times.  In fact, some of the residents don’t care for Agatha at all, which only makes her more determined to fit in, but on her terms.  For some reason, Agatha feels that if she becomes part of community events and somehow makes herself the star, she will be accepted.  The fact that it doesn’t makes Agatha impatient.  At least it does until the bodies start to arrive.  Then Agatha takes it upon herself to solve the cases, and that is when she becomes truly accepted.

                Agatha does not solve these murders completely on her own, of course.  She has a small group of people who help her, whether they want to or not.  That is certainly the case with Agatha’s old assistant, Roy (Mathew Horn).  Even though Roy is living in London (although he does visit frequently), somehow Agatha always drags him into the case she is working on.  Whether it is to look someone up or track someone down, somehow Agatha always needs Roy’s help.  Just as she does with DC Bill Wong (Matt McCooey), a young police officer who has a huge crush on Agatha.  Bill always tells Agatha that she should stay out of what is going on, but then a minute later he tells Agatha what she wants to know.  For some reason Bill cannot resist her.  This does not always go over well with Agatha’s housekeeper, Gemma (Katy Wix) (who also gets sucked into Agatha’s cases), because she has very strong feelings for Bill.  Her feelings for Bill and his for Agatha do not prevent Gemma from helping Agatha, though.  In fact, she is the one most willing to help Agatha out.  It gives her something to do other than being a mom and a housekeeper.

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Finally, there is Jamie (Jamie Glover), or James, depending on who is speaking.  He lives next door to Agatha and that is who she has feelings for.  Jamie, however, struggles with how he feels for Agatha.  He’s not sure if it’s in his best interest to like her, but he regularly finds himself caught in her case-solving schemes, and when he thinks she is in trouble, Jamie seeks Agatha out to make sure she is alright.  Jamie’s actions certainly prove that Agatha means a great deal to him, even though he may say otherwise.

                To be honest, it is the people that help Agatha with her cases that kept me going with this series.  Roy, Bill, and Gemma in particular.  For most of the season Agatha’s self-absorption and extreme entitlement drove me absolutely crazy.  I really was not sure how much I would be able to take.  Then, all of a sudden, in the last few episodes, Agatha’s behavior changed.  Everything wasn’t all about her anymore.  Well, it was, but somehow it was different.  There was more compassion behind what she was doing.  It was no longer about showing up everyone in the village, but instead about the importance of solving the crime.  This change of heart and behavior is probably why when her husband who’s supposed to be dead turns up and the man who she’s supposed to marry becomes flaky, I find myself really hoping she gets everything figured out and can find happiness.  It is horrible to see Agatha get wounded and pulled around by two men at the same time.  One would be bad enough, but two?  That’s even more difficult to watch, especially since Agatha has just gotten over many of the insecurities that made her act badly in the first place.  Now with these two men treating her as they have, who knows what will happen.  Will she go back to her old ways and behaviors?  Or will she figure out how to reunite with the man she was supposed to marry?  Is that really what is best for her?

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       In my mind, I believe the answers to all those questions should be and are no.  I really don’t want Agatha to go back to her old behavior.  Reuniting with the man she was supposed to marry I don’t think should happen because I do not believe it is what’s best for her.  Agatha may have driven me crazy for quite a while in the series, but I do not feel that makes it right for the man she loves to jerk her around as he is doing.  She deserves far better than that, which is why I’m hoping that in season two either the man gets a huge wake-up call and sees how badly he has treated Agatha, or she finds someone else altogether.  I’m really hoping for option number two.