#debryn

The cinematography is gorgeous. You can tell they were making the most of filming in the summer for the first time.

The music stood out to me as particularly good, especially in the menacing scenes. It really rises to the occasion of being Jaws-inspired.

It's a strong episode for Bright, but really so many characters get a chance to shine here:

Strange has his conflict of being promoted over Morse

Trewlove's "Maybe I like grim" scene

Thursday is still recovering from Blenheim Vale and is too emotionally invested in the case

Debryn's absence was felt and you get insight into him being the Morse of Pathologists

Sam bonding with Morse and Thursday

The actors of the week delightfully lean into their campy characters, and there's so many funny moments. Morse is in prime bitch-mode with Strange now being his boss.

My favorite thing about it though is how it gradually reveals what's actually happening. At first it's all standard - weirdo rich family, sketchy men hanging around, etc. Then around halfway through they start wondering, "Wait, could this be a creature?? Nah there's a reasonable explanation." But as the murders go on that seems harder to believe, and uh-oh, the weird family used to own big cats. The rest of the episode Morse is desperate for evidence that it's someone who wants everyone to think it's a tiger, and you assume he'll be right because surely it's not going to go there? It's a fake out.

Then in the last 20 minutes it switches to "Oh fuck it's definitely a tiger oh god".