I did not like this episode. It very confusing to understand what the plot was. They start off investigating counterfeit art, fire in a building, race related fire, stolen art, criminals in jail and more. The humor is good but this episode was nuts.
shareTry to watch it again - this was a wonderful and complex episode and, of course, it had Totty! Each character had a specific part in solving this case and it gave us a lot of background into each character's personality and some backstory especially in Gerry's case. The plot was that there was a forgery found in the museum's art collection; how it got there and what led up to its being forged is what the team investigated.
shareAgree.
This episode seems all over the place at first watch, but when you start to get into the plot, you actually discover that (arguably) its a contender for a top 10 episode in New Tricks.
I watched it twice and like the OP, I'm confused. When Sandra arrests Sir Timothy at the end did she arrest him because he murdered all those people or because he was involved with the fake painting somehow? or??? Help!
shareNo, because it seems Sir Timothy didn't murder anyone, even if the things he did were the cause of the murders - I don't know how the charge could be brought against him, which may explain why the team was so happy laying their final report on Bevin.
This episode establishes that Risk was murdered by someone acting on George Wilson's orders. Sir Timothy was likely going to be the next one murdered, which is why and when he stole the real painting to replace the fake one Wilson had purchased (the real one still in possession of Wilson's widow.)
So the possible charges the team states for Bevin to sort out were:
Theft (Sir Timothy)
Fraud (Sir Timothy/Risk/gallery owner(?))
Arson (Wilson/unknown accomplice(?))
Attempted murder x 2 (Wilson/accomplice)
Lying to the police (Sir Timothy)
Attempting to pervert the course of justice (Sir Timothy)
Misappropriation of funds (Sir Timothy)
Theft of national assets (Sir Timothy)
Tampering with evidence (Sir Timothy)
Treason (Sir Timothy)
Still, it was a confusing episode. For me one weak point was it's hard to believe Sir Timothy, initiating the investigation, denied knowing Risk. It would have been an innocent enough statement to admit studying art with Risk, and even admitting the man had a talent to create while he was more suited to the appreciation of art. It would also have allowed him to show a professional and personal interest in the case without giving up anything.