Last night, I rewatched MFMM King Memses’ Curse. It happened to be on my local PBS station, and I’d just intended to have it on in the background as I did other things. But I couldn’t not watch it – it’s SUCH a good episode! I found myself riveted all over again, and I’ve seen it twice before. It made me really wish that the 3rd season and its Phrack developments had been married to a more engaging story line, like Murdoch Foyle.
But anyway, two plot points really bugged me. Did I miss something?
1. When Hugh lets Dot “force” him at gunpoint to release Miss Fisher [and how adorable was that?], Phryne locks him in the cell, saying she doesn’t want to make a “grand entrance.” I get that the writers wanted to set up a one-on-one confrontation between Phryne and Foyle, but they should have come up with something better – some errand to send Hugh and Dot on – because going in with no backup when she could have brought Hugh and Dot makes no sense at all. [Dot apparently stays behind to…keep Hugh company in the jail cell?] And then…
2. Phryne has Foyle at gunpoint, and he says,“You can kill me now, but you’ll never see your daughter or policeman alive.” So she…hands over the gun? How does that help? She has no backup, and now, no upper hand. That’s a rescue?
I know I’m supposed to be swept up in the Phryne-in-danger excitement, but it really bothers me when they make her look stupid in the process. So is there an explanation other than “convenient plot device”?