George Gently

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          George Gently is over.  Unlike other series, because of what happens in the last episode, I don’t see much chance of this show being revived.  Which is okay.  Even though I enjoyed this series, I think it was more important to have things end the way Gently would have wanted them too, instead of leaving things open for possible further episodes.  No, even though the ending is finite, it was, in my opinion, the best thing that could have been done for the character.

Image provided by Acorn TV.

        A lot of things have happened since I last wrote about George Gently (also known as Inspector George Gently).  One of the biggest is that Chief Inspector Gently (Martin Shaw) and his partner, Sergeant John Bacchus (Lee Ingleby), were almost killed.  Gently was confronting someone in a church when John comes in to help him and they both get shot.  Afterwards, Gently was able to go back to work and continue his duties, but John struggled.  Then he started having an affair with another police officer’s wife.  This is not a smart thing to do in the first place, but it created an extra conflict with Gently, a man who dearly loved his wife.

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                Another change, and a really good one, I believe, was the addition of a young woman to the team.  WPC Rachel Coles (Lisa McGrillis) is an eager police officer who always looks for other possibilities in the cases she is working on.  This is a sharp contrast to John who always goes with, and sticks to, the obvious.  These two different ways of investigating creates a lot of conflict between Rachel and John.  Add on top of that John’s lack of respect for Rachel because she is a woman, and the cases do not go as smoothly as they should.  Fortunately, Gently does not share John’s views.  Despite his older age compared to John, Gently is much more up on the times than John is.  Also, I think Gently likes women far more than John does.  Instead of bringing Rachel down, as so many of the other male police force members do, Gently respects Rachel, and encourages her to learn and grow in her chosen profession.

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                While John struggles to work with Rachel, and deal with the new freedoms women are finding in the 1960s, Gently discovers he has a problem of his own.  Gently is informed that he has MS (Multiple Sclerosis).  It is something he tries to keep to himself, but after working with Gently for so long, it does not take long for John to notice something is wrong.  Still, even with John knowing something is going on, Gently does not let his illness keep him from seeking justice for those who deserve it, no matter who the culprit may be.

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        Just like the addition of Sergeant Elizabeth Maddox (Angela Griffin) in Lewis, I think Rachel was a great addition to the team.  It gave Gently someone to work with when John wouldn’t budge from his preconceived notions, which was pretty much all the time.  I’m also glad to say a romantic relationship did not form between Rachel and either of these men.  While friendships were created, and I think Gently started seeing Rachel as a daughter, there was never a romantic attraction amongst any of them.  This goes to show that men and women can work together without it turning into something more.

                As frustrating as John was, I’m happy to say that he did eventually become the investigator Gently always knew he could be.  It took until the last two minutes of the final episode for him to finally get there, but he did get there.  With Rachel already well on her way to becoming what Gently believed she could be, the new John and Rachel working together was a great legacy for Gently, and the show, to leave behind.    

Image provided by Acorn TV.