Vera

Truth and Justice/Artwork by Kate Dorsey
              Oh, Vera.  How eagerly I wait for your episodes every year.  And yet, I still somehow always end up behind!
           Murders never seem to stop for DCI Vera Stanhope (Brenda Blethyn).  Fortunately, she has a good team around her, including DS Aiden Healy (Kenny Doughty), to help her investigate.  Aiden took DS Joe Ashworth’s (David Leon) position after he moved on because of a promotion.  A very caring, and patient, man, Aiden is a good match for Vera.
         Also, on her team is DC Kenny Lockhart (Jon Morrison).  He has worked with Vera for I don’t know how long.  Certainly, since before the show started, as they sometimes refer to things from the past.  At first Kenny and Vera’s relationship was on the antagonistic side.  Now, as the seasons move on, there is a lot of care and respect between them.
         While Aiden and Kenny have been consistent team members through the years, the others come and go depending on the season.  At the end of season nine, Vera was working with DC Jacqueline “Jack” Williams (Ibinabo Jack) and DC Mark Edwards (Riley Jones).  Jack is a very active investigator, usually out in the field, while Edwards does all the important investigative work done in the office.
                The medical examiner changes too.  No matter who it is, it takes a while for Vera to get even a somewhat good relationship going with them.  I’m not sure why that is.  She eventually did get along with Dr. Marcus Sumner (Kingsley Ben-Adir), although it took some time.  Things moved a little bit faster with the season nine examiner, Dr. Malcolm Donahue (Paul Kaye), once Vera got around his sarcasm.
                While the mysteries of this series are interesting, as everyone pieces together the clues and goes back and forth to witnesses to solve a murder, it is the relationships I find especially fascinating to watch.  Vera, herself, has changed very much through the years.  She’s much more complimentary to those she works with.  While she can still be cantankerous, Vera is able to show her caring side when she wants to.  Although, if you lie to her, or do something she does not like, watch out!  It is quite amusing watching people be intimidated by a woman they would usually want to look over as inconsequential. 
                Aiden is one of the biggest reasons I believe some of these changes came about.  He really cares about Vera.  I mean, truly cares.  When watching the seasons with Joe again, I felt that while he cared about Vera, he mostly just put up with her.  With Aiden, it seems his feelings are more for Vera as a person and a friend rather than duty.  It took a little while to get there, and Aiden still does get irritated at times, but I feel Aiden truly cares about Vera’s wellbeing.  He certainly lets her know she does not need to keep wandering off to dangerous situations on her own.  Something Vera has a tendency to do.
                Something else Aiden does is when he has a problem with Vera, he confronts her about it.  Not in a nasty way, but in a “why are you acting this way?” way.  He then lets Vera decide what she is going to do with his questions, without ever getting overly hostile.  This is how some of Vera’s past has been revealed, because Aiden makes it okay for Vera to open up to him, which always improves their relationship.
                Someone else who cares for Vera, but in a different way, is from the Missing Persons department.  PC George Wooten (Steve Evets) is a sweet man who seems to have a thing for Vera.  The other team members tease Vera about it, which of course she brushes off.  But when she is away from them, it makes her smile.  George isn’t in the show much, but I hope he keeps returning.
                As I mentioned, I always seem to be behind on Vera.  By the time I was able to watch season nine on DVD, season 10 was already aired in England.  Somehow, I missed pieces of the season nine episodes when they were on PBS, but I did see some of it.
The thing is, as much as I want to see the newest season as soon as possible, no matter how long I have to wait, it is always worth it.

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