Masterpiece Mystery: Miss Marple "The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side"

I did not mean to intentionally skip the three Foyle's War episodes of Masterpiece Mystery.  I just got busy with life.  And by life I mean work, errands and the Lost series finale. 

So Miss Marple.  With her and Hercule Poirot and all the other classic sleuths, I cannot help but think of the brilliant movie Murder By Death.  (This and What's Up, Doc? are two of my all-time favorite comedies.  They will both forever make me laugh.)  If you love Agatha Christie, check it out. Bonus! Truman Capote as Lionel Twain.

OK. Back to Miss Marple.  I don't see how anyone cannot enjoy a good old-fashioned Agatha Christie mystery.  They are just so "That's curious", "Something struck me as odd" and "Inspector, you are over looking the obvious!"  And of course, I always try to work out the mystery along with Miss Marple.  I'm usually wrong.  Probably because I don't have the advantage of constantly coming across murders wherever I go like the Miss.  There was a great exchange in The Mirror Crack'd... when the Inspector tells Miss Marple that it was quite the coincidence that the woman who helped her with her ankle is now dead.  And all Miss Marple says is "Yep." (Paraphrase.) 

Perhaps once I watch more of the Marple, I'll be able to catch on better.  Although, I was overdoing it last night:  I was convinced that the movie star's much younger husband was actually her adopted son.  Why?  I don't listen to Miss Marple when she says "Don't overlook the obvious."  Well, in my defense, she had the script and I didn't. 

Quick recap of Mirror Crack'd: Movie star Marina Gregg buys Marple's pal estate. Neighbor dies at garden party at estate.  And then it goes from there.  (Want to know who did it?  Spoiler below!)

Miss Marple is played by Julia McKenzie...from Cranford!  Weird that I saw her as Marple last year and did not make the connection when Cranford rolled around.  But when I watched Mirror Crack'd, I thought, "The lady with Bessie the cow!"  That's yet another thing I love so much about the Masterpiece Theatre shows: you see a lot of the same actors and since they are not famous in America, you feel like they are your own personal discovery.  (Although Mirror Crack'd did have Joanna Lumley as Marple's nosy friend Dolly and Lindsay Duncan as the murderer...sorry, I meant to say the movie star, Marina Gregg.  I would say that between AbFab and HBO's Rome, respectively, they are fairly known in the US.)  But is Hugh Bonneville a household name?  In my household, yes.  He might be recognized from Notting Hill but he was also in Lost in Austen, the Mansfield Park movie and here he plays the Inspector with a bum arm.  Which is never explained.  Maybe he shows up again to explain it! *hopeful clap clap*

To further express my Masterpiece Actor Nerdom, I should confess that I always go to IMDB and look up the cast.  So that I can say to myself, "I knew I recognized the girl who played the photographer!  She was on Foyle's War two weeks ago!" 

What did I learn from Miss Marple: The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side?  I see these actors more than my relatives.

American Experience: Into the Deep: America, Whaling and the World

Whaling. Would I have ever watched this had I not been reading Moby Dick?  That's easy to answer: no.  I would have read the description, passed judgment and then seriously considered Dancing With the Stars.  But because of The Whale, I actively reminded myself and made sure my snacks were in place for the 8 pm start time.  (A quick moment to explain why Moby Dick since I'm obviously not in tenth grade: NPR's Monkey See blog started the "I Will If You Will" Book Club Dare.  First book was Twilight.  If you read my other blog, it goes without saying that I did not read along with that one.  So Moby Dick is a natural second choice, right? Palate cleanse, I call it.) OK, ready, set, whale.

I took a lot of notes.  And was amazed by how much I've retained so far from Moby Dick.  It's a bit of work to get through some chapters.  But as Into the Deep explained whaling techniques tonight, I impressed myself with the faint ennui of "yawn, I know this already".  Wake me when you have some relevatory spermaceti facts.  (Explanation! Spermaceti is the coveted substance inside the sperm whale's head.  According to the show, it is "clear as vodka" but when air hits it, it looks like semen.  Hence the name.)

All the spermaceti talk, history of whaling, and other details are hung upon the story of the Essex whaling ship that sunk in 1820 as a result of a sperm whale ramming into the side of it.  The survivors took to lifeboats and made a really bad decision.  "Hey, let's not go to the near island because there may be cannibals.  Instead, let's go three times as far back to South America, get off course, and then resort to cannibalism to stay alive!" 

Herman Melville was inspired (or obsessed, more like) by the Essex tragedy to write his whale adventure that he was convinced was his masterpiece.  The general public? Not as convinced.  According to the show, America was all about the West and whaling was "out".  

Celebrity Voice Over Alert!  Willem Defoe narrates and Robert Sean Leonard reads the Moby Dick passages.  He even makes a brief appearance where he looks at the camera and says (and I say simultaneously because I know it's coming), "Call me, Ishmael."  I then grabbed the remote to mute because I'm only on Chapter LXXI.

But prior to spoilers, what did I learn from Into the Deep? 

There was a Golden Age of Whaling.  About 1820 to the Civil War.  After that whaling declined and, towards the end of WWI, whale ships made more money as props in silent movies than in whaling. 

After a whale is harpooned, one of three things can happen: whale smashes boat, whale dives down  deep, whale takes off.  Whale taking off was known as "Nantucket Sleigh Ride" because the boats are dragged by the fleeing whale. 

Another fun whale phrase is "Chimneys Afire!"  AKA multiple-stabbed whale spouting blood out of its blowhole.  Clever. 

Oh, and the fact that the "sperm" in sperm whale actually refers to sperm. I guess I was giving it the benefit of the doubt...

Great Performances: Hamlet

Spoiler Warning! 

No, not the fact that almost all the characters die at the end.  The spoiler is this:  Claudius, played by Patrick Stewart, when threatened with the poisoned rapier by Hamlet to drink the poisoned wine, shrugs.  Yes, shrugs!  As in, "Might as well." It's a moment that I ran back two or three times to make sure I wasn't hallucinating.  And you know what?  I loved it!  Yes, I laughed.  And although it was pretty jarring in such a tragic scene, I loved it.  Why?  Because that one little shrug said everything.  "Well, Hamlet is pretty much dead, my wife is dead, and I've been exposed as a murderer, so..."  One would expect a long dramatic pause coupled with "forgive me" eyes that would take up a few minutes of screen time.  Oh no.  Stewart said, "Let's just cut to the chase."  Shrug.  Drink. Done.

And you want to know how much the shrug captivated me?  I mentioned that first and not the fact that David Tennant played Hamlet.  Or the fact that Tennant wears jeans, no shoes and a red, t-shirt with a six-packed torso printed on it.  Or the fact that he's quite good.  And in jeans. 

This Hamlet is not quite the filmed stage version that I expected, although the same Royal Shakespeare Company director and cast return to reprise their roles.  Instead, they use real locations as well as footage from surveillance cameras at times to coincide with the modern take.  But that doesn't mean the performances are taken down to minute, eye-twitch film levels.  There's still passion a-poppin'!  Weeping, clutching, yelling, jumping in graves, crazy talk.  All that tragic Shakespearey goodness. 

Just want to take a moment to give a shout out to Horatio.  I love that character and could go on and on about how Horatio and Hamlet are the true love story.  No, I'm not suggesting that Horatio and Hamlet were lovers.  I just believe that their friendship and trust was the through line of the play and the only one unbroken.  Blah, blah, blah, nothing new, I'll stop.  Just give Horatio the props he deserves. 

What did I learn from this Hamlet?  *shrugs*