Lewis

               Lewis is over.  It is over and we still do not know why Hathaway stopped his studies to be a priest.  Nine seasons, umpteen episodes, and still there is not an answer to that question.  The only hint to the reason is when Hathaway visits a monk friend of his.  The monk mentions how he always made Hathaway run laps because of his disobedience.  Does this mean Hathaway may have gotten kicked out of his studies?  I don’t know, and despite the series being over, I would still like to find out.        

                Unlike the first half of the series, the second half concentrated a lot on Detective Inspector Robert Lewis’s (Kevin Whately) and Detective Sergeant James Hathaway’s (Laurence Fox) personal lives.  Their personal lives were concentrated on so much in some episodes, that the murder mystery became secondary.  Which was okay.  As much as I like the mysteries in Lewis, the personal lives of these two characters were quite fascinating.

                The biggest personal change in the series is when Lewis and Dr. Laura Hobson (Clare Holman) finally get together.  They have spent the entire series dancing around each other (Lewis doing more of the dancing than Dr. Hobson), but they finally figure it out.  The funny thing is, Hathaway was the one to witness all the ups and downs of Lewis’s and Dr. Hobson’s relationship before it actually became a relationship.  Then, he goes away on a charity expedition and comes back to find Lewis and Dr. Hobson are now a couple.  Everything has been figured out between them while he was away.  That just goes to show how much can happen when you’re not looking.

                Not long after pairing up with Dr. Hobson, Lewis decides to retire.  This, however, does not last long.  He is asked back by his former boss to help the now Detective Inspector Hathaway with his cases.  Hathaway is going through sergeants like crazy.  Even though he has the title of Inspector and the sergeants are there to help him, Hathaway feels the need to do everything himself.  When Lewis returns Hathaway is working with a Detective Sergeant Lizzie Maddox (Angela Griffin).  While Hathaway does not exactly trust Maddox to do things, he is not pleased when Lewis shows up at his crime scene without warning.  Despite not knowing about, and probably not wanting, Lewis’s rehire, it is exactly what Hathaway needs.  Having Lewis around lets Hathaway open up and not put all the burden of the investigation on himself.  He is also able to see how good of a sergeant Maddox truly is.

                The last season of the series is where Hathaway’s personal life really comes to the forefront.  We are introduced to his father and learn his mother died many years ago.  Hathaway’s sister, Nell (Sally Scott), becomes part of the series as she and Hathaway fight over how to best care for their father who has dementia.  To avoid the family difficulties, Hathaway buries himself in his work, infuriating Nell as he intentionally avoids her phone calls and misses scheduled visits.  His lack of wanting to deal with his family situation reveals how close he has come to Lewis and Dr. Hobson, though.  It is with Dr. Hobson that he opens up about what is going on, and it is Lewis’s advice he takes about visiting his father.  His close relationship with Lewis and Dr. Hobson, and the friendship he is creating with Maddox, lets the series end with Hathaway having the confidence and skills to go it alone and be the inspector others knew he could be.

                Looking back at the second half of the series, I noticed something funny happen.  In the first half, a lot of the mysteries and clues centered around history and literature.  The second half switched that to science.  There were a lot of science related episodes, and I don’t know if that was an intentional shift or not.  It was an interesting change, though.  That’s because with the history and literature there was not much for Hathaway to research and investigate.  He already knew the information.  With the science, Hathaway did not always know immediately what people were talking about and he would have to look into it.  Seeing Hathaway have to learn about what he was investigating definitely changed him, but it was a good change.  

                As for Maddox coming onto the show, I thought she was a great addition for not only the show, but also the team.  She was compassionate when talking to people, which was exactly what the team needed since Hathaway seemed to lose that ability once he became an inspector.  Maddox also is very skilled at being able to scrounge up a lot of information from all over the place.  To make this skill even better, the information she finds always either builds the case or cracks it open.  Also, at least in her first season, Maddox has a great relationship with her husband.  This is very nice to see, not just for the character, but it also eliminates the possibility of a romance happening between her and Hathaway.  If you have read some of my other posts about TV shows, you know how I feel about that over-done cliché.

                While Lewis may be over, it did end in a way where a spin-off could be created if any of the actors wanted to reprise their roles.  A series about Hathaway would be the expected choice, but I could see one happening for Maddox as well.  She may have been on for only two seasons, but she’s an interesting character.  With her husband frequently working overseas, there are so many storylines that could be created around that (and I don’t mean infidelity ones) while she solves cases.  Either way, whether there is a show about Hathaway or Maddox, or even more about Lewis, I would be happy to watch.