#‘oh wig radiants can walk on walls. hmm let me try that’

[koravelliumavast]

Nobody should be surprised by Kaladin being dramatic. This is the guy who upon learning that radiants can walk on walls immediately tries to do it and fails miserably

[kyliesmilie26]

Doctor Blake Mysteries - S2E3. Otherwise known as Kylie’s inane and rather insane review… part eighteen...

We come to the penultimate post, it’s been one heck of a ride...

We learn almost all the answers in this part of the review...

*Doctor Blake Mysteries 2x3*

We’re back in the Ballarat Historical Society building. Elsie is taking down a book from the shelf, okay, maybe we’re in the library? Not relevant Kylie, move on.

Lucien enters the building. And it’s definitely the Historical Society for point of interest.

“Miss Patrick, good morning.”

Elsie is immediately on the defensive. “I’ve told you everything I know.”

It seems as if that blonde piece of hair from that wig has set off a ping! in Lucien’s genius mind. He’s somehow drawn a conclusion as to who indeed has done it.

“Yes, yes. But your colleague hasn’t.”

Martha! Quelle horreure! But why???

But I could be jumping the gun…

Lucien: “Miss…”

Martha fills in the blanks for him. “Harris.”

“Ah. Miss Harris.”

“How can I help you?”

I don’t think at this point she’s cottoned onto the fact that Lucien has figured out she murdered the man of many names… either that or she has and is trying to use her womanly wiles to distract him…

“Does the Historical Society have any material, any books…”

Cue a shot of Aaron peeking through the door to look at Martha.

There’s a lot of peeping tomfoolery afoot in this ep!

“… on migrant settlement in Ballarat?”

Aaron, who we discover is with Mattie, points to Martha.

She smiles at Lucien, I think she is pretending to be blissfully ignorant that he knows it’s her…

“A few actually.”

Lucien acts positively chuffed at this. “Wonderful! I’d love to see what you have.”

Meanwhile Aaron is nodding at something Mattie must have said. Probably confirming with Aaron that it’s Martha.

Martha is bending down behind the counter to retrieve one of the books Lucien was  referring to when Charlie makes an appearance by the door.

Martha: Uh oh. The shit’s hit the fan now… I’m f****d…

She plans her quick escape.

Charlie: “Stay where you are!”

She claims that she was “just getting her purse.”

Hmm, likely story.

Elsie seems shocked at this turn of developments. “Martha?”

*Doctor Blake Mysteries 2x3*

In case you hadn’t guessed, we’re in the interview room at the station. Opening shot has Lawson sitting, all poised to begin the interview, Martha sitting opposite him, trying work out if she can somehow still talk her way out of what she’s done. And Lucien standing behind Matthew, to his right and our left. He’s standing in front of both a window and one of the two radiant heaters in the room. I wonder what has Lucien so deep in his musings now?

Let’s find out why she did it.

Matthew proceeds. “Martha Harris. Member of the Australian Communist Party since 1943.”

Lucien starts to turn around, and then the camera focuses on a up-close shot of Martha. And I can’t recall it, but there’s a young female police officer standing guard behind her along the wall. Well, she looks female, it’s so dark where she’s standing. I’m actually surprised they are even referencing female police officers… kudos DBM team!  

Martha begins her defense, “The Soviets were our allies, and it’s not illegal.”  

Matthew continues her profile. “Sacked from a government job under suspicion of having a relationship with an attaché (for those who are unsure of the meaning: another word for diplomat, representative or ambassador) at the Soviet Embassy…”

Ah! She didn’t??? Well, why else would she kill him?

And this means Jean was right, he was a Soviet! She isn’t often wrong, as I’m sure Lucien would be thinking as the camera turns back to him. A picture of someone putting all the pieces of the puzzle together in his mind, his arms crossed.

“… who subsequently went missing.”

It’s all coming together nicely now, excellent writing team!

Matthew wants to know is that why she moved to Ballarat.

“No. I have a sick aunt who lives here.”

Does she? Or is she producing one out of thin air…

“Suffering from…”

Lucien answers before Martha can, “Diphtheria.”

Okay, I take it back; she wasn’t lying about her sick aunt. Sorry Martha. But should we believe you, really?”

Another part of the mystery clicks for Lucien. “Does she know you were wearing her wig in the park?”

Ah-ha! Right!

She chooses not to answer, instead asking if she may smoke.

Filthy habit that, you know it will kill you? (Not that they would have known much about that in 1959). My apologies to any smokers who read this, no offence intended. :)

Matthew doesn’t answer, so she takes it as a yes and goes to get her pack of cigarettes from her purse.

Lawson is more concerned about getting to the bottom of why she chose to kill her lover/ex-lover. “How many identities did you manufacture for him?”

He starts to number them off, along with some information on the real identity of the aliases.

Sven Lundqvist – he died in Wendouree in 1912 at the age of three.

Niels van der Berg died in Castlemaine in 1897. He was only six months old!

I’m gonna add my own “Bloody hell!”

“Tor Olsen…”

Martha cuts in, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Yeah, sure you don’t. Pull the other one.

Lucien asks her if she likes poetry. Had to come into it sometime. It was referenced enough throughout the episode.

She clears her throat as if to say, You tell me, I’m not giving you anything.

And again, we get Lucien reciting some more of the poem.

“Foreknowing all bounds of passion, of power, of art, Mastered but could not mask his deep despair Even as she turned with Hermes to depart, Looking at her last on her grim ravisher For the first time she loved him from her heart.”

Well, they could not have chosen a better poem to fit the story. Wow! I’m not much of an expert of the analysis of poetry, but this poem rings true for this storyline.

Lucien wants to know if, “Was that… what it was like for you?”

Does it get much better than this DBM writers? Wow!

“Holding him while he died?”

I stand corrected! Outstanding job!

Lucien goes on to say that whoever this attaché was, that she loved him.  He now gets out of the seat he’d sat down in briefly. “You’d given up everything for him. Everything. And he couldn’t even remain faithful.”

Had to be, didn’t it?

He is now sitting on the table next to Martha.

“What about his marriage?” Yep, I’d like to know about that too.

He wants to know if that was the last straw; the one that broke the camel’s back so to speak.

She still avoids the question. I guess her lack of answer, is an answer in itself. For the record, here is her reply, “You should charge me, if you have anything, or let me go. But there’s no reason to go on talking like this.”

Bringing back too many painful memories for you Martha?

Matthew comes back into the conversation, “You’re right.” And he adds that this case is no longer in their jurisdiction and that some agents on their way to talk to her.

“Unless you have anything else to say, this interview is over.”

Martha looks like she might want to say something, will she? And Lucien seems to pick up on this, “Miss Harris?”

She thinks better of it, “No. I have nothing more to say.”

She has what appears to be a mint or some kind of chewing gum and goes to put one in her mouth…

She has nothing more to say because she wants to kill herself!

Lucien immediately puts a stop to that!

He grabs her hand and tries to take the “lolly” from her.

“Cyanide! Sugar-coated to disguise it.”

Between the two men, they manage to get the poison from her grasp.

“You did love him!” Lucien exclaims.

She looks down at her lap.

“PASSIONATELY!” Lucien yells, banging his hand on the desk. “But unlike you, he was trained to walk away.

She finally cracks, “I gave up everything for him. I found him new places to live, new identities. But every time, he found another lover.”

“And the message you wrote in that book…” Lucien says, everything making sense to him now, “…you were arranging to meet, weren’t you?”

So, she wrote the message! I assumed it was him, although I’m sure that was the intention of the writers.

“I’d had enough.” She pauses for a moment, “He was a traitor.”

Ooh Lawson looks so so stern here! (Yet also slightly confused.) “To his country?”  

She shakes her head, chuckling, “to me.”

TBC...

Only the last couple of scenes to go.

Hope you’re enjoying it... even if its well and truly behind schedule...