If the people who put together Endeavour had watched it, they'd have seen the mistakes they made. The man who taught him everything he knew was someone named McNutt who left the force to become a minister, not some man named Thursday.
Don't get me wrong -- I like this fellow. I like the performances. But it's not Morse.
You are right, it's not. It's better!
shareWhy is it better? Because it pretends to be about someone with the same name who isn't the same guy? Prequels, to be prequels, have to be about the same guy.
They asked mystery fans which was their favorite show, and hands down it was "Inspector Morse." It beat out the Lewis spin off and the Endeavour "prequel." The "Endeavour" Morse is more a loner, than, at bottom, the complexly lonely, if occasionally prickly man of Inspector Morse. Shaun Evans can't radiate loneliness or complexity the way John Thaw could. He can radiate longing, but that's not the same thing. He can stand there and gape and stammer, but that's also not the same thing.
I'm sure we'll have to disagree, but I have the comfort of having most of the British public on my side in this one.
The acting on Endeavour is simply fantastic. Probably some of the best I've ever seen, but it's all cool.
shareBritish police mysteries are far better than American ones because Brits have better writers and people seem to go into acting because they love the craft. They're not like Americans who seem to all want to be stars or make lots of money. If you don't love the craft of acting, you're simply not going to be a good actor.
It's hard to find bad British actors, even in bit parts.