I love Lewis, own all that're available. Thus, I checked out the Inspector Morse series and lost interest after one episode. Can anyone comment on the Morse-Lewis relationship? I thought Morse was very disrespectful of Lewis, treated him like a boob, unlike the mutual respect between Lewis & Hathaway.
shareI agree with you though I still like Inspector Morse quite a bit. But yeah, Morse was soooooo condescending I wanted to slap him some times!!
shareI think Morse and Lewis got on quite well on the whole. I prefer Lewsis the way he was in Morse, be ause he ws more cheerful in those days.
shareThat was pretty much why I lost interest, myself.
I'm glad they continued with Lewis... I enjoyed these past few seasons.
You are really looking at the start of a forced relationship. Morse felt that Lewis was foisted upon him when Lewis's boss got promoted ahead of Morse. So basically, "you are not being promoted and here's your new bagman to remind you that you failed!" IF you persevere with the series you will see a relationship that develops beautifully over time and although some people can only cope if praise is gushing Lewis works out Morse much quicker than Morse works out Lewis. "Lewis, you've done it" becomes a regular cry when Morse acknowledges that Lewis found the vital piece of the jigsaw.
Please don't anyone bite my head off but it is symptomatic of modern society to seem that just doing a good job isn't enough anymore we all need to be praised to the hilt. As we see in Endeavour, Morse never got any of that nonsense from Fred Thursday and no doubt not from MacNutt either. Lewis learns quickly what real praise is and when it comes the smile on Lewis's face is priceless.
Morse is Grumpy, that, and the Jaguar are to use an Americanism, his Schtick. That's what he is. He is a great Detective, a poor Policeman, a lonely soul who makes poor choices that leave him lonelier. persevere, the second episode, the Silent World of Nicholas Quinn is a cracker and it just gets better from there on in.
I completely agree Robbie is the nicer man, but give him a couple of episodes you will see that Morse has his soft spots too....
'tler
The development of the Morse-Lewis relationship is fascinating to watch. They are two very different types of people with the only similarity being that both are good men. Morse comes to trust and respect Lewis as he does no other, and we have the pleasure of watching it all. Lewis becomes his son, his father, and his best friend. As the series progresses, Morse lightens up and good-natured zingers fly back and forth.
Morse is a complex character, not always likable but always interesting. He is his own worst enemy. Lewis grounds him and in return gets the opportunity to work with the most unique copper on the force. Hathaway has many of Morse's qualities probably a reason why he gets along so well with Lewis.
Just to add one thought.
No Morse = No Lewis.
Not just in terms of Colin Dexter, the books, the TV Series and so on. But Morse forced Lewis to become a better detective. I can imagine that Lewis would have left the force in disillusion if he had followed through and gone off with DCI Johnson (The Way Through the Woods) or had been exposed to that kind of Policing that lead to the Birmingham Six earlier in his career.
Morse forced Lewis to think. Lewis was a good Policeman but a poor detective. the obverse of Morse. Together they are perfection..... after a while anyway.
'tler
Have to agree with both of these.
It's easy to judge Morse on the one episode and write it off especially if you've come to it through Lewis as I do also. He's our guy, so to speak, and it's hard to see him being treating so badly. But Morse's character is so complex (played so well by John Thaw) that you not only get to see different aspect of Morse in the original series, you also get to see the birth of DCI Lewis. Fans of Lewis know how many times he refers to Morse - something he taught him or something he did - and when Morse unexpectedly crosses his path again (as he did when he heard about the music scholarship that Morse funded anonymously as well as other times), we see just how much Robbie himself feels his debt to his mentor.
The last episode of Morse is especially poignant. That's where we see all that the relationship has become. It was fantastic writing. But to really get the full affect, you have to experience Morse in all his complexities up until the end.
Pharmom, coincidentally, I just ran up against one of those Morse references you wrote about. I have been watching Lewis again on Amazon Prime before they take it off tomorrow and ran across a line by Lewis that says it all. Speaking to CS Innocent, Lewis said, "if Morse had been nice, I'd still be a sergeant." I believe him. Lewis has always been a great cop, but it was Morse who taught him how to expand his mind.
shareIn the first book by Colin Dexter (who still shows up in each episode of the TV shows) Morse was already a Chief Inspector when Lewis assigned to assist him. Morse immediately likes him, so he begins to request Lewis. Finally DI Superintendent Strange notices that Lewis actually enjoys working for Morse (when others hate to) and he suggests to Morse that they be assigned together; they are both pleased. Although, it is true that Morse has a couple habits that irritate Robby quite a bit, he is a very good natured and patient person, accepting the challenges because he believes he will learn a lot from his "brilliant' supervisor.
Over the course of the books, we learn that Robby was accurate in his assessment of the relationship potential; however, he failed to realize that Morse would learn a great deal from him because he was the far better policeman and a far better human.
I really don't like the Morse of Dexter's novels with his constant whining, complaints, sarcasm, and condescension to all of the other members of the Force, including (on occasion) DIS Strange. Plus, unless the female characters where attractive to his standards, his attitude was often unpleasant.
As for the TV series, I loved Robby, but still did't like Morse. John Thaw actually made him more acceptable than the character in the books, so he wasn't hateful. Perhaps the producers and writers realized that the man in the books needed to be softened in order to be acceptable. And John Thaw certainly provided class.
While the Morse character wasn't as awful about women as the current Republican candidate for our Oval Office, but he hardly seemed related to the DC Endeavor Morse that many of us know and love from the BBC.
After watching Shaun Evans' brilliant, sensitive portrayal as Endeavor, it is difficult to imagine how such a thoughtful, observant young detective could become the bitter, cynical, alcoholic individual that he was in the BBC production. If Shaun could stand it as an actor, I would love to see his portrayal of Endeavor through the next promotions until be could take over the original stories as Chief Inspector.
But, with Shaun having often spoken of continually seeking diverse acting experiences, it would be too much to hope, wouldn't it?
A Checkered Life speaks of myriad diverse adventures being the rewards of endless curiosity.
Interesting points about the book version of Morse being even more extreme than the TV version.
Just a small point, it was ITV rather than BBC. The BBC for all their wonderfulness would probably not have commissioned something like Morse. 2 hour episodes were unheard of at that point and the BBC would not have been brave enough. To be fair ITV had their doubts at £200k per episode....back in the day that was a fortune.
'tler
Lilac, Hello!
Thanks so much for clarifying the British TV production stations. I am ignorant of TV companies in the UK, so I fear that I used BBC as a generic 'go-to' company. I appreciate the information!
Because I can no longer appreciate most programming we produce in the US, I gave up television ten+ years ago and either bought or rented what I wanted to watch. What actually drove me away was how news reporting had drastically changed after 9/11, so I opted out and read the news, rather than watching it.
Until a few years ago, I was unaware of online streaming of films and television programming, so I watch Netflix, Acorn, and Amazon.
I've purchased each series of Endeavor because the quality of the show is consistently excellent. I also have the Inspector Lewis series.:)
A Checkered Life speaks of myriad diverse adventures being the rewards of endless curiosity.
I noticed in an episode I saw a day or two ago (The Ramblin' Boy) Lewis tells Innocent that if Morse had been "nice" to him, he (Lewis) would still have been a sergeant. I guess there are no hard feelings.
shareTrue, Nomad! Sorry for the delay in responding.
When Morse had occasional quiet spells - in the books - from his continual moaning, condescension, and/or sarcasm, Lewis would ask him if everything was alright. Most of the time Morse would demure, but sometimes he would share a bit with Robbie.
What I have observed in Colin Dexter's writing is that his meticulous characterization of Morse in middle age and immediately prior to his retirement (that was avoided due to his murder). The British culture seems to have a sizable percentage of men being life- long bachelors, quiet about their lives, with some being members of men's clubs that provided friendships. American clubs are primarily hobby or sports-related; some are available 24/7.
Morse's choice of 'club' was the nearest pub when he wanted a drink, yet that was without the potential friendships an organized club might provide. As for women, Morse most often met them at pubs and near or/at crime scenes. The women he often cared for were murdered, killers, or took their own lives.
Why did Colin Dexter cause such pain to Morse, forcing him to live years of bitter, melancholic, alcoholic loneliness when his heart so greatly craved intimacy and love?
He was, however, brilliant and intuitive detective; his partnering with Lewis made him a far better person than he would have been AND Robbie loved him. He very quickly 'saw' Morse's character and heart, as well as his mind. When Morse was harsh, Robbie forgave him and often gave him space; and interestingly, Morse often apologized to Robbie. They both made each other better detectives because each received what needed from the other.
In the beginning, there were times when Robbie called Morse on the great detective's behavior, not accepting it, rude comments, our unreasonable hours; Morse respected him for his candor. As they got to know each other, Robbie became more forgiving and accepting of the nonsense. In The Remorseless Day (Dexter's final novel) we discover that Morse has left Robbie a large chunk of his estate: money, music and books.
Laura Hobson is a very fortunate woman that Robbie finally stopped mourning for his wife! They are both such lovely people and deserve each other.
A Checkered Life speaks of myriad diverse adventures being the rewards of endless curiosity.
In a drama, unhappy characters tend to be more interesting than happy ones. Tortured is even better.
shareI've been slogging through the whole Morse series on Netflix and I'm also bothered by the extreme rudeness Morse shows toward Lewis. I've given up on the series a couple of times for just that reason, but I'm back trying it again. I'm now at season 8, and Morse's rudeness has slacked off somewhat. I'm wondering if fans at the time protested and that led to a change in the way the character was written.
I'm trying to see what it is people love so much about the Morse series. I confess I haven't seen it yet. I don't find Morse's arrogance and incivility charming at all. Some people seem to. I'm guessing it's the same people who find Dr. House's rudeness attractive. Not me. I've known people like that in real life--blech.
Here's what I think is funny - and sweet at the same time.
People who have followed Morse through either the books, the series, or through his career development in the "Endeavour" series might be able to recognize straight away that Hathaway............. is Morse. If you think that Hathaway has never been equally disrespectful to Robbie Lewis' "Geordie" background you don't have to look any further than the first season of 'Inspector Lewis'. Took Hathaway some time to appreciate the grassroots practicality that is Robbie Lewis, too.
Short of having a Quaker mother and a blue-collar working class father the Morse character is ABSOLUTELY the type of man who would have entered the Catholic seminary with a strong sense of rightness and justice - - - then feel, or be made to feel, that he asked too many questions, looked too deeply into green OR had an unreal fairy-tale sense of right and wrong. Morse was Hathaway.
Part of the reason IMHO that both Robbie Lewis AND Laura Hobson adore Hathaway.
I tend to disagree. Morse and Hathaway are both introverted and intuitive, but Morse is more of a logcical systematizer while Hathaway has much more a mystical-idealist side. Hathaway was once studying to be a minister after all. Morse would never have gotten within a million miles of that. Morse and Hathaway wouldn't have appreciated one another. Hathaway wants to do good in the world, hence the trip, for example, to Pristina. Morse has long since given in to cynicism and disgust with most of his fellow humans in this regard.
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