Endeavour

              Let me start out by saying I have never liked Inspector Morse.  At all.  Every time I have tried to watch it, Morse put me on edge.  He was always leering at one woman or another, giving me the creeps.  That is why I could never figure out why he was mentioned with so much love in the show Lewis.  It’s also why, when I saw the same behavior in Endeavour (a show about a young Morse), I decided I wasn’t going to watch that show either.  Lewis was going to be it for me.

                Then something happened.  Episodes of Endeavour started airing once a week late at night.  Since it was always after another show I watched (most likely The Doctor Blake Mysteries), I ended up seeing bits and pieces before falling asleep.  But it wasn’t until I saw part of an episode with David Oakes that I started to think about watching the series as a whole.  It still took me awhile, but eventually I decided to give the show a try.

            Detective Constable Endeavour Morse (Shaun Evans) has been transferred to the Oxford City police force.  He isn’t exactly thrilled by this move, especially since he went to school in Oxford for some amount of time.  But then, not much seems to thrill Morse.  Only opera and classical music, with the occasional puzzle thrown in, seem to make him smile.

                Right away Morse rubs people the wrong way.  He doesn’t leave things alone and he doesn’t see things the way others do.  Nor does he follow orders very well.  When others tell him not to look into something regarding a case, he does it anyways.  This, of course, is always what helps solve the case, which drives crazy those who wanted the answer to be easy and right in front of them.

                Noticing how good Morse actually is at his job is Detective Inspector Fred Thursday (Roger Allam).  He sees how good of an inspector Morse could be, if only he would learn the basic police rules that keep cases solid.  That is what Thursday tries to explain to Morse when Police Chief Superintendent Bright (Anton Lesser) relegates him to what appears to be desk duty.  Unfortunately for Thursday, as with most things involving Morse, the constable has to learn these lessons himself.

                Trying to help Morse, and really his only friend for a while, is Police Constable Jim Strange (Sean Rigby).  He encourages Morse to take the sergeant’s exam, and is always there to help Morse with information when it is needed.  Their relationship becomes strained, though, when Strange becomes sergeant ahead of Morse through means other than passing the sergeant’s test.

                Other than Strange and Thursday, Morse butts heads with pretty much everyone else at first.  He especially does with Detective Sergeant Jakes (Jack Laskey), a man who is nasty, likes to lord his status over Morse, and doesn’t want to work very hard.  It’s only when a case brings up Jakes’s childhood that Morse starts to understand why Jakes is the way he is.  While their relationship is not perfect after that, they do start to get along better.

                The pathologist, Dr. Max DeBryn (James Bradshaw), is another person who doesn’t understand Morse at the start.  This changes greatly as time goes on.  Morse becomes the first person Dr. DeBryn calls when he finds something during his autopsies; especially when what he finds is something strange.  Dr. DeBryn is a man with a quirky sense of humor, which I’m not sure all the other characters get.  Whenever Dr. DeBryn says something unusual, they all stand there deadpan, while I think he’s hilarious.

                After Jakes leaves the force to go to America, Woman Police Constable Shirley Trewlove (Dakota Blue Richards) comes in.  The only female at the station (at least the only one that we see), Trewlove is better at her job and more intelligent than everyone else, including Morse.  Yes, she will need time and training to truly supersede Morse’s skills, which I believe she will.  Especially since Morse has a fatal flaw she does not.

                Morse’s problem is that if he encounters a woman he sees as attractive, he immediately takes her off his suspect list.  In his mind this pretty woman could not possibly be the culprit.  It does not matter what the evidence says.  She is innocent.  I don’t know how many times that has not proven to be the case.  The women he quickly says are innocent, are always hiding something.

                Last to join the team is Detective Constable George Fancy (Lewis Peek).  Having been promoted to sergeant by the time Fancy shows up, Morse is a superior to this young constable, and it drives Morse crazy.  Fancy is not only young, but he is also distracted and incomplete in his work.  Things that make Morse want to tear his hair out.  Yet, Morse will still take the blame for Fancy when something goes wrong.  It’s kind of odd, really.  Morse can’t stand the guy, yet he won’t let him get into trouble either.  I have to wonder if he somehow feels responsible for Fancy’s mistakes, since he doesn’t have to the patience to guide him.

                Helping Morse frequently with information is a journalist and editor of the local newspaper.  Dorothea Frazil (Abigail Thaw) is a strong woman who is able to dig up old articles for Morse, as well as bring up previous cases that may be connected to new ones.  As is probably expected when dealing with the police and newspapers, things do not always go smoothly between the two of them.  Fortunately, things always get hashed out, and both Morse and Ms. Frazil get what they want in the end.

                The dynamic between Morse and Ms. Frazil is interesting because for the most part he struggles to understand women.  I don’t know how many times he has gone somewhere with a female suspect only to get in trouble for what he has done with them later.  Sometimes it’s as innocent as having a drink.  Other times it is being in their bedroom.  Either way he gets into trouble.

                Then there is Joan (Sara Vickers), Thursday’s daughter.  Morse is in love with Joan.  He doesn’t tell her this, at least not directly.  Instead, he is always there when she needs him.  Even while she went down a really rough road after the bank she worked at was robbed, Morse stood by her side.  Still, nothing happens between them.  It isn’t until the end of the fifth season (which is as far as I have watched) that there is even a hint that something might start between them.  Whether or not that happens in the sixth season, I do not know.

                The funny thing is, that despite my really liking this show, and having watched all five seasons of it on DVD, I still can’t say whether I actually like Morse or not.  It’s great seeing him always go the extra effort to solve cases.  His constant brooding, and how he is with women, though, drives me nuts.  This makes me very undecided on whether or not I like the younger version of this character.  Maybe the sixth season will help me figure out how I truly feel about him.