Well, we’ve been here before, haven’t we? The previous episode of this show simultaneously swelled shipper’s hearts and broke them. William Wellington (Stuart Martin) declared his love for Eliza Scarlet (Kate Phillips) and kissed her, but then he left to work in America for a year. Now, Miss Scarlet and the Duke 4×05 is another episode without William, just like we had to endure in season 3. However, this episode has memorable character development for Eliza and an interesting mystery.
The significance the writers placed on Eliza and William’s love story during the first four episodes of this season was wonderful. For that reason, fans may have an even harder time adjusting to watching Eliza’s adventures without him. His absence during season 3 was arguably worse. It signaled the beginning of William dating someone else. But now, William’s feelings for Eliza have been clearly stated and are out in the open, which makes missing him painful in a different way this time.
Even without William, Miss Scarlet and the Duke 4×05 is worth watching as a step forward in Eliza’s growth. The case in this episode also engages your curiosity while it tugs at your heartstrings. Best of all, William’s presence lingers over Eliza even while he’s gone.
“Competition is a good thing.”
We as an audience may be adjusting to London without William but Eliza must still go to work at Nash and Sons. Patrick Nash (Felix Scott) has a case for them that involves a new-fangled invention spreading across the city: the telephone. The Brittania Telephone Company has lost its engineering workshop in an explosion that killed two people. One of the co-founders of the company, Mr. Bracewell, wants Nash and Eliza to find the culprit because the police suspect he’s involved. One of the men killed was the other co-founder of the company, and the two had disagreed about business tactics. If there’s one thing this show has taught us, it’s that the solution is rarely that simple.
Eliza thinks it is, though. She doesn’t like Bracewell and she tells Nash as much. Nash opposes this, insisting that they cannot risk angering their paying client by accusing him. Nash is convinced that the other victim, a young inventor who was working on a better telephone for the company, is the key to the perpetrator. He suspects another inventor who was the dead man’s teacher wants to take credit for his new device. But this case does not revolve around professional jealousy either. Eliza has worked on more than one depressing case this season, and this one turns out to be the most tragic of them all.
“I do not sulk, I brood.”
The conflict about the case is not the only way that Eliza and Nash are having trouble working together. They also can’t agree on the hiring of more staff. Eliza wants the final say on the applicants because she is the one who will be working with them but Nash says he is the one with his name on the door so it’s his reputation at stake. This back-and-forth between them indicates the negativity of Eliza’s attitude as a whole in this episode. Of course, the main reason for this is William leaving. But I think Eliza is also hyper-aware that her career is fragile right now. I think that with William gone, she’s digging in her heels and doubling down on the belief that her way would be the best way at Nash and Sons.
This episode is evidence that Eliza has some maturing that she needs to go through. Only then will she be in a place where she can be with William and be a private detective and both will be successful. I don’t mean that Eliza will stop being headstrong or fearless. She can’t stop being those things because that is who she is. All I mean is that she can learn that being in a romantic relationship doesn’t have to mean she can’t do the work she’s always wanted to do. Especially when she’s with the right person. She can learn that the effort to find that balance is worth it. She is trying in some ways. She even makes an effort to play nice with Detective Phelps (Tim Chipping) for the benefit of Nash and Sons. But she still has a ways to go.
“Let’s just call it a show of faith.”
Even though he is an ocean away, William still makes an impact on this episode. He has written to Eliza more than once and she hasn’t written back to him. Another sign that Eliza has growth to accomplish is that she also conflicts with Ivy (Cathy Belton) about writing to William. She doesn’t seem to be getting along with anyone right now. William wrote to Ivy about Eliza ignoring him and Eliza is angry about the whole situation. Of course, Eliza and Ivy can’t stay at odds for long. It’s one of the things that makes their relationship so sweet. When Eliza admits Ivy is right and she writes to William, it’s gratifying because it gives Ivy a meaningful part in assisting Eliza’s character development.
As for those letters from William, they deserve discussion. First of all, he doesn’t seem to have been gone long but he’s already written her at least three of them. Also, we don’t know what they say but we get a glance at one and it looks LONG. And he made extra effort to get her to communicate with him. That man is so in love with Eliza, my god. William made his feelings clear and he’s backing that up with action. The writers made sure you feel that even when he’s not on screen. This is a noticeable difference from the episodes without William in season 3. When Nash confronts Eliza about her attitude, he asks, “Is this about your Inspector leaving?” Eliza replies, “He’s not my Inspector.” Yes, he is, Eliza. YES, HE IS. Distance doesn’t change that, and Miss Scarlet and the Duke 4×05 is proof.
Miss Scarlet and the Duke airs at 8 PM on Sundays on PBS.
