I did not like this episode of Inspector Lewis.
Since Ruth hasn't posted her review yet, I suppose I will have to make some attempt at writing a coherent synopsis. A kid named Will shoots himself in the head in front of a church altar. For some reason, homicide detectives Lewis and Hathaway are called to the scene. Turns out, Hathaway knew Will when they were kids, and he freaks the hell out. Lewis subsequently makes two nonsensical decisions: one, he will investigate Will's death as if it's a homicide, even though it was obviously suicide and therefore should not even be under his purview; and two, Hathaway can be on the case because he has no conflict of interest. ORLY? He literally ran out of the church, but he's perfectly all right to investigate Will's death, sure, uh-huh.
Eventually, it turns out Will is gay ("Oh yeah," sez Sgt. Hathaway), he had a girlfriend, and he was part of a Christian group that was trying to un-homophize him. Nice to know those kinds of organizations exist in Europe and not just in America. And Will knew how to use a camera because he sent all his gay friends inflammatory video right before he died.
At this point, I'm thinking this Will person was reeeeeeaaaaaaaaalllllllllly annoying and I'm glad he's dead. But unfortunately, other people connected to Will and the crazy talk Christian group are being murrrrdered, which means Lewis and Hathaway can now justify investigating his death. Blood and fingerprints point to a guy with some strange Welsh name whom Will was in love with, but who disappeared from Oxford about three years ago and hasn't been seen since. Yet Hathaway has his number on his cell phone! It seems like Hathaway is all up in Oxford's Flamboyantly Gay community. Is it because he was in the Seminary, or because he's English, or... could he ACTUALLY BE GAY??? This leads to a hilariously awkward exchange between Hathaway and Lewis:
Lewis: Are you... nah.
Hathaway: Go on and ask.
Lewis: No, it's... it doesn't matter.
Hathaway: You've been dying to ask.
L: It's none of my business.
H: Maybe you really want to know.
L: Well, okay. *expectant look*
H: What?
L: Are you?
H: WHAT?
L: Are. you. gay?
H: *extended pause* What does that mean?
L: You know what that means.
H: What, there's boys and girls and a nice, neat, straight line down the middle; and gays if you like shoes and musicals and straights if you get loaded and eat Yorkie bars?
L: No, no.
H: Find a definition then, Sir.
L: Loaded and Yorkie bars--how stupid do you think I am, man? You're right, it's none of business.
H: *heaves a sigh--of relief???*
Meanwhile, Sgt. Ambiguously Gay knows way more about the people in this case than he's telling Lewis, and when Lewis finds out, he is PISSED. And not in the really, really drunk sense of the word, either (that would be Hathaway). Lewis says he never wants to look at Hathaway again, and he might get his wish, since it seems that the Sergeant is the next person on the killer's TBK list.
I found this episode to be really annoying. The plot was badly set-up and thus felt like an excuse to preach at me about gay rights. It would have been cool to be shown into the Oxford GLBT scene, but the way this was done was really shallow and unbelievable. And the whole "mystery" about whether or not Hathaway himself was A GAY was just dumb. Obviously they aren't going to make that character gay, since he's the only eye candy on the show (sorry Kevin Whately); and personally I thought the way they played with that idea was simply juvenile. The writers need to catch an ep of Torchwood, if you ask me.
Oh, and it was painfully obvious who the killer was. Honestly, what kind of girl agrees to date a guy and meet his mom after she finds out he's gay? That should have raised a whole slew of flags. Hathaway and Lewis need a woman on the team to catch these things.
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