Miss Scarlet & the Duke

It is official. Eliza Scarlet and William “Duke” Wellington should not get together. They want such different things in life. At least they believe they do.

“The Vanishing”

A magician goes missing

Private investigator Eliza Scarlet (Kate Phillips) needs publicity to help drum up business. She agrees to team up with the questionable journalist Basil Sinclaire (Oliver Chris). In exchange for her investigating a missing magician, Sinclaire will write articles about her, promoting her skills.

This agreement does not go over well with Detective Inspector William Wellington (Stuart Martin). After some confidential information was revealed to the public, William does not look at any cooperation with journalists in a positive light. He particularly does not care for Sinclaire.

To put a stop to the leaks, William tells his fellow detectives they may not talk to any journalists. This causes problems for the young Detective Oliver Fitzroy (Evan McCabe). He sees another detective, Detective Sergeant Charlie Phelps (Tim Chipping), talking to a journalist. Phelps lies to Fitzroy and says he was talking to a Bow Street officer, and that they are helping with the case.

When Fitzroy innocently mentions this to William, Phelps gets in trouble. In turn, Phelps hits Fitzroy.

William notices the marks on Fitzroy’s face. Fitzroy does not want to talk about it, so William comes up with a different solution. He asks Eliza’s friend Moses (Ansu Kabia) to teach Fitzroy how to box. It is something Fitzroy grasps onto happily.

“Arabella”

Eliza’s past comes back to haunt her

Some people creep back into your life whether you want them to or not. For Eliza, the person she would rather not run into again is an old schoolmate of hers, Arabella Acaster (Sophie Robertson).

Arabella picked on Eliza in school. This is why she is not a pleasant sight when Eliza spots her while undercover at a restaurant with William. It turns out, Arabella is the owner of the restaurant. It is something others admire when she tells them, which must irk Eliza because she is only met with disdain and disbelief when she tells people her career.

One of the things Eliza disliked about Arabella is how she would insult you with a smile on her face. As an adult, this behavior has not changed. Arabella takes great joy in telling embarrassing stories about Eliza. Eliza is not amused.

The case Eliza and William are working on involves jewelry being stolen from people who have dined at Arabella’s restaurant. Eliza is certain Arabella is somehow involved in the crimes. William believes Eliza only thinks this because her judgment is clouded.

“Hotel St Marc”

Eliza learns a little more about Patrick Nash

An infamous conman is in Eliza’s sights. She tracks him to France and handcuffs him to his bed. The man insists he is innocent, as does Private Investigator Patrick Nash (Felix Scott).

Nash is in France following the man he believes to be the conman. That man is completely different from Eliza’s man. Both Eliza and Nash are convinced they are right and the other is wrong.

While Eliza and Nash discuss who actually has the right man, a captain from the French police arrives. He insists on meeting with both suspects alone.

When the captain takes an oddly long time to leave the room with the suspects, Eliza and Nash investigate. They find both suspects still restrained and the captain dead.

Now there is another mystery to solve, but it gives Eliza and Nash time to get to know each other. It also gives the viewer the chance to see the good chemistry between them.

“Bloodline”

Not everything is as it seems

Fitzroy needs Eliza’s help. William is away, leaving Phelps in charge. Phelps has arrested a young man Fitzroy believes is innocent. He suspects Phelps framed the young man, which leaves him no one in the police to turn to for help. The only person he can think of to clear this young man’s name is Eliza.

Eliza agrees to help, but it leads her into a dangerous situation that even Moses warns Eliza against. Still, Eliza pursues the case.

As she does, Eliza discovers nothing is as it appears. It also forces her into having to decide between two different avenues in order to help the young man. Neither have good outcomes.

While Eliza does eventually discover a positive resolution, the same cannot be said for her relationship with William. She finds out from Phelps that William has become involved with Arabella. This is not something Phelps told her out of kindness. He told her to hurt her.

“The Heir”

Eliza and William’s relationship changes

Eliza does not tell William she knows about Arabella and him. Instead, she avoids him.

William notices Eliza’s avoidance, but he does not know what is wrong. He does not tell Eliza about Arabella and is in the dark that Eliza knows. All William is left to do is wonder why Eliza is dodging his questions and him.

At the same time, Eliza is trying to help a young man claim his inheritance. This could bring in a good finder’s fee for Eliza, and she will not let anyone get away with hindering this task.

The problem is, the heir ends up being kidnapped. They have very little time to claim the inheritance, but with the heir missing, there is little hope they will make it to the lawyer on time.

Eventually, Eliza does have a conversation with William about Arabella. It is after this conversation that Eliza decides to give Arabella a chance and accept her invitation to tea.

What Eliza does not know is the invitation is a trick.

William shows up at the tea ready for a scheduled date. Arabella pretends she forgot all about it. Eliza knows Arabella is making this up, and I suspect William does too. This entire event was an occasion for Arabella to stake her claim on William, and nothing else. Eliza has been right to be wary about Arabella all along.

Let me tell you, a woman who plays the type of games Arabella is playing is not someone to have around.

“The Jewel of the North”

Eliza, Nash, William, and Moses work together to get life back to normal

Eliza, Nash, William, and Moses are all sent inactive bombs. Because of a note attached to one of them, it is believed a group of Irishmen are responsible. A special taskforce is called in to investigate.

Claiming it is because he is too close to the case, William is told to stay away from the police station and take a leave. Eliza and Nash have their private investigator licenses suspended. Moses becomes afraid the people he is running from will learn his location while the taskforce investigates.

Unwilling to leave their lives in the hands of the taskforce, Eliza, Nash, William, and Moses investigate on their own. They do need a little help on the inside, though. For that, they turn to Fitzroy.

All of William’s working with Eliza makes it very clear to Arabella that Eliza is the one William loves. She breaks off the relationship with William and leaves him with a warning: Eliza’s ambition will always come before everything else in her life.

In the meantime, Nash offers Eliza everything she has always wanted and everything she has worked for. All she has to do is accept it.

Eliza and Nash vs. Eliza and William

In my opinion, Nash is a much better match for Eliza than William. Yes, he has a tendency to lie, which is why Eliza has a hard time trusting him. I understand this completely. However, Nash admires who Eliza is. He admires her mind and her drive to succeed as a private investigator. There is nothing about Eliza that Nash wants to change other than where she is employed. Other than that, Nash wants Eliza to be exactly as she is.

William, on the other hand, is looking for a woman who wants to stay home and care for a family. He asks Eliza about whether or not she wants to be that type of person and is not happy with the answer. Yes, it is clear William loves Eliza, but he would have to sacrifice other things he wants to be with her.

The thing is, I am not really sure William wants the type of woman or life he says he wants. It feels it is more he believes he should want that life, versus actually wanting it. I think he would be incredibly bored. He likes bantering and running around with Eliza too much to be happy coming home to the typical life. The sooner he figures this out, and comes to fully accept Eliza for who she is, the sooner they can get together.

Fitzroy starts to shine

Sadly, I don’t think there’s any chance for Fitzroy and Eliza’s friend Hattie Parker (Jessie Cave). In season two I thought they would be a good match. However, Hattie is not in season three at all. This makes me think her planned marriage went through after all.

Fitzroy is such a sweetheart. I absolutely adore him. When he finally stood up to the bully Phelps, I cheered. It was about time Fitzroy gave Phelps what he deserved.

The one hitch to this is that Phelps proved there is always more than one side to a person. That can be hard to swallow when you so want someone to be a complete villain.

More characters to mention

Someone else I liked this season was Solomon (Brian Bovell). He is the owner of a shop Moses took Eliza to during one of her cases in the second season. Now she goes on her own.

Solomon always tries to get Eliza to buy something and claims to know nothing until she does. Eliza knows this is a game Solomon plays. What she also knows is that despite Solomon claiming he knows nothing, he actually knows everything.

Then there is good, reliable Moses. After three seasons of being around Eliza, his rough, tough exterior is starting to shed. He is opening up about his past more, and has even revealed his last name.

In the last episode, Moses talked about moving out of London and onto someplace new. I really hope he doesn’t. The show would not be the same without him.

Nash, however, is definitely off to Paris. I hope the trip is short and he comes back for season four. There is such a love triangle brewing between Eliza, William, and Nash. I would hate to see any potential relationship between Eliza and Nash end because of a relocation.

Miss Scarlet & the Duke: Season One

Miss Scarlet & the Duke: Season Two