If you love Victorian-era crime-solving, then 2024 is starting off on a high note for you. Miss Scarlet and the Duke is back for season 4! As London’s first female private detective, Eliza Scarlet (Kate Phillips), faces a lot. But she does it with longtime ally Detective Inspector William Wellington (Stuart Martin) nearby. Miss Scarlet and the Duke 4×01 is a good blend of the show’s strengths with more development of the core characters and their relationship.
Ever since she took over her father’s private investigations business after his death, Eliza has struggled against sexism to build a career. She never gives up though. It’s a defining feature of her character, almost to a fault. She truly enjoys detection and is good at it. Obviously, at this point in history, she can’t join the police force, like William. He faces his hassles at Scotland Yard but has earned the respect of his colleagues. He doesn’t shy away from the difficult or physical aspects of the job. Eliza and William have known each other a long time, and that familiarity often causes them to butt heads. But their history has also fostered a ton of romantic possibility.
After season 3, Miss Scarlet and the Duke 4×01 feels like a reset. The attention to character and engaging mystery in this episode is what this show has always done well. It’s a nice refocus after much of the previous season.
“Discretion is what this place was built on.”
Season 3 ended with Eliza receiving an offer from fellow private investigator Patrick Nash (Felix Scott) to run his London office. Nash was underhanded at times but he also recognized Eliza’s skills. While I hoped Eliza would concentrate on putting her name above her dad’s business, she took the job at Nash and Sons. I was doubtful that Nash’s staff of men would take orders from a woman. In the opening minutes of this episode, that suspicion is proven correct. Eliza is operating the office alone. Only accountant Clarence (Paul Bazely) has stuck around. The financial situation sounds even worse than when she was running her own place.
Meanwhile, William is being overworked at Scotland Yard. Their jurisdiction has expanded and they don’t have enough officers. The poor guy needs sleep! Clearly, both Eliza and William are under professional stress. And things don’t show signs of getting easier. Eliza has no prospective clients and William is pressured to solve a robbery at a brothel quickly and quietly. William often has a negative reaction to the ways Eliza chooses to go about her work, and that’s what happens here when she pretends Nash and Sons is successful so Scotland Yard will hire her for help. But he can’t stay mad at her for long because they need each other. And not just on the brothel robbery case.
“I always know exactly what you’re saying.”
Speaking of that robbery– it’s less straightforward than it seems at first. The brothel is called the Temple of Elysium and it is located in Mayfair. (Yes, Bridgerton fans, THAT Mayfair.) It has a Greek mythological theme. Some of its patrons are important men who don’t want their presence there to be public knowledge. One such man ended up with a gunshot wound after confronting the robber while he escaped.
Except, there’s more to the crime than that. Much more.
The wounded man is telling his wife that he was in a hunting accident. (Insert side-eye GIF here.) And he’s not the only one stonewalling the investigation. The madame of the brothel is of no help either. To be fair, she just wants to run her business, but her refusal to cooperate also comes with an attitude that will make you want to slap her smug face. We support female business owners but not obstruction of the police. William already has enough to deal with in the form of the police commissioner, who’s a garden variety a-hole. Eliza is also dealing with one of those. Despicable “journalist” Basil Sinclaire (Oliver Chris) is threatening to write about Nash and Sons’ problems, which would sink the business for good. Deep breath, fans– Eliza and William have to push through and so do we.
Courtesy of MASTERPIECE
“You’ll find a way to make it work.”
One of the best things about this episode is the way they help each other do that during this case. Eliza notices William looks tired and she also later asks the detective he’s been mentoring, Fitzroy (Evan McCabe), about how he’s been doing. Eliza expressing her concern for William this clearly is some of the most conspicuous evidence so far of her feelings for him. Many moments of unspoken sexual tension have shown the viewer how they feel but Eliza has always been hesitant to actually say the words. Watching William briefly date someone else last season seems to have brought her closer. For his part, William supports Eliza’s abilities more vocally than he has before in this episode. “You’re a good detective, Eliza,” he tells her. Then he also assures her she can get through the tough times at Nash’s agency.
This progress between them is paralleled in the way they assist each other professionally. Eliza’s work makes solving the robbery case possible and the case in turn indirectly helps Eliza with the Basil situation. Eliza and William are a team, a partnership, and they are slowly coming closer to the point where they can each admit there is a romantic aspect to it. As entertaining as the mysteries on this show can sometimes be, it is the relationship between the two lead characters that is the foundation of the storytelling. Miss Scarlet and the Duke 4×01 develops that foundation splendidly and sets the stage well for the rest of the season.
Miss Scarlet and the Duke airs at 8 PM on Sundays on PBS.
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