Review of the BBC's The Ink Black Heart Part Four

The bombing and the finale.

The fourth and final episode begins in the aftermath of Vikas Bhardwaj's murder, with Strike and Robin being harassed by the local cop for the skeleton keys. Amusingly, this fellow is depicted almost exactly as in the book, red hair, attitude and all. Happily, Angela Darwish (who is both older and taller than described in the book) shows up quickly. We get the pleasure of seeing Strike give Red a very snarky look as he exits.

After our hereos leave Cambridge, there is major plot streamlining: Robin immediately gets into Drek's game and opens a private chat with Paperwhite, intending to warn her she is likely next on Anomie's hit list. She gets as far as telling her that Anomie killed Vikas before being banned. Strike concludes that Anomie is monitoring private chats.

They decide to contact Yasmin Featherhead, in hopes of getting her to warn Paperwhite of the danger Anomie poses. Interestingly, neither detective seems at all distressed about losing access to the game.

The scene then jumps to the office on the next morning, where both Strike and Pat have arrived early. Strike is still limping, but without the cane he was using in Cambridge. After some small talk about tea, Pat begins opening a large cardboard box that has just arrived in the mail. As she gets out her letter opener to slit it open, the readers know what is coming.......

KABOOOOOM!

If anything, the scene is more dramatic than in the book, given that in the TV office, the wall and door separating the partners' office from the main one are largely glass, not wood. And, given the size of the fireball, Pat would definitely have been a goner if she hadn't gotten away.

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The aftermath of the bombing is one of the most touching scenes in the entire Strike TV series to date. As they get to their feet, Strike's limp is much more pronounced, as if he did further damage when he and Pat dove for safety. As in the book, Pat calls the police, then tries to go back for her e-cigarette. Strike stops her, and, unlike in the book, offers her one of his real ones. (Personally, I don't think I'd be lighting flames in the aftermath of a bombing, but I will trust that Strike knows better than me about explosives.) Here's the part that tugged at my heartstrings:

• Pat's hand is visibly shaking as she takes the cigarette.

• Strike's hand shaking equally as hard as he goes to light it for her.

• Pat then takes her free hand, grasps Strike's wrist and steadies it.

• Their eyes meet, and it is clear they have a new appreciation for each other.

I love this moment for a couple of reasons. First, it was a superb way of depicting visually their changes of heart about each other and the mutual support and respect they will give each other from here going forward. Second, it gives me a small sliver of hope that someone on the writing staff might have read my Strike & Ellacott Files essay, where I argue that Strike should have had a much stronger trauma response to being bombed, given his IED experience. All in all, I would characterize the bombing depiction as a true small screen chef's kiss moment.

Robin joins them in the coffeehouse; sadly, her invitation to let Strike stay with her doesn't pack quite the same punch given he's already slept over once. Strike decides to go visit Yasmin, since she isn't picking up his calls, and Robin stays behind to support Pat. Strike's conversation with the Featherhead covers all the key points, including the fact that she was duped about Vilepechora being an actor, and that she has been playing Anomie in the game. Strike orders her to tell Murphy everything she knows and, in a marked change from the book, tells her that she has to keep playing Drek's Game, so as not to arouse Anomie's suspicions. His leg is clearly worse as he returns to his car.

Back in the coffeehouse, Robin and Pat have a touching conversation:

"Are you all right, Pat?"

"Does this happen to you a lot?"

"Well, not usually in the office."

I guess the severed leg is now the second worst thing to arrive in the Denmark Street post.

Robin gets the cheesecake photo of "Paperwhite" from Rachel, and quickly identifies her as Nicole Crystal. The TV Nicole apparently lives in London, so Robin and Strike go to her house in person, rather than flying Barclay to Scotland. They learn that someone has been catfishing with Nicole's picture, get the name of Nicole's ex and hear a casual mention of his sister Darcy. By the time they return to the car, Robin has deduced that Anomie is Paperwhite, though it is not clear how she made that leap without the "never type at the same time" clue.

We cut to Strike and Robin in her place, and him on the phone with Madeline, lying to her about being in a hotel. The line Mads overhears is even more damning than in the book, as Robin cheerily blurts out "Sorry, this bed's actually tiny!" Fortunately, TV Strike gets off easier than Book Strike; Maddie merely calls him a "f*cking dick" and hangs up, and that's the last we'll hear of her until her get-well card in the hospital. Strike has taken up e-cigs. He helps Robin peel potatoes for dinner, then, as he sleeps, Robin takes a peek to see him snoozing under the same knitted afghan she had covered him with before. More Shipper Swooning...

The next day, Strike speaks to Nicole's ex, Marcus Bernard, while Robin heads off to Jago Ross's home in Kent. I may be in the minority here, but I was actually a bit disappointed to see Midge's big moment given to Robin; she is the one who films Jago abusing his girls and causing the riding accident, then calls the ambulance for his injured daughter. After the ambulance takes the child away, Robin simply walks off, with her camera clearly visible. Jago follows on his ATV. Naturally, the Viscount wants the film; furthermore, he recognizes Robin, calling her "Cormoran Strike's little bitch." Although it was nice to see Robin stand up to him ("Big day for you, Why don't you take a break from hurting women and go f*ck yourself?), I thought her flipping him when he physically attacked her and breaking his nose was a bit much. Between this and the jump onto the Tube tracks, TV Robin is getting a bit to Wonder Womanish to be believable.

Robin immediately sends Strike the footage, so the next scene we see is the evening confrontation at Jago's London home. Strike arrives, limping worse than ever, but gets the pleasure of seeing the Viscount's nose bandaged and makes a snarky comment about cosmetic surgery. Charlotte, who is dressed quite casually, not "for seduction," is overall much calmer than she was in the book, not even throwing any antiques. But the jist is the same; she is more than happy for Jago to have joint custody of the twins if it gives her more time with Strike. She has a rather odd answer to Strike's incredulous "Are you not going for full custody?" ("I mean, I can if you want me to...") and pursues Strike only as far as the elevator, not into the street. This presents a nice visual representation of their final break: Charlotte is forced to step back as the heavy metal doors shut on Strike's "Good-bye, Charlotte."

Unfortunately for Strike, his leg gives out as he leaves the Rosses, even without help from Madeline's stiletto heels. Unfortunately for Robin, she gets the death threat call on the way back to her flat. She calls Strike to tell him; he insists she call a cab and go to a hotel; as in the book, she agrees only when she realizes how bad his leg is. She asks him to meet her in the Z hotel. It's not clear if he does this or goes straight to the hospital.

The doctor gives Strike the same diagnosis as in the book: hamstring and ligament damage and jumping stump due to stress. Strike, fully on crutches, returns to Robin at the Z hotel-- it wasn't clear to me if this was late at night or the next morning. He thinks he knows who Anomie is, but Barclay needs to speak with Darcy Bernard, and they need to get the truth from Grant Ledwell to prove it. In spite of the apparent time urgency, Strike goes to his room to lie down, and the planned next steps don't happen until at least lat afternoon the next day.

In the absence of any Zoe to rescue, Robin has her "I don't want to lose you" talk with Strike on the way to the Ledwell's in the early evening, but the conversation lacks the intensity of the book version. It must be fairly late in the day by now, because there is mention of needing to put the Ledwell's twins (no pregnancy in the show) to bed. We get the wonderful good cop/bad cop exchange with Uncle Grunt, including Robin's classic "How bad do you want me to be?" line. While Strike and Robin are prying the letter out of Ledwell's cold, greedy hands, Barclay is showing photos to Darcy, who exclaims "That's him!" when shown a picture of someone who is not Philip Ormand, Kea Nevin or the Featherhead.

Clearly, there is no such thing as FERPA in the UK. After leaving the Ledwells, Strike and Robin call Barclay, who confirms Darcy's ID and tells them that thirty minutes earlier, he had checked in with the music college, and learned their suspect hasn't turned in work in a year. By now, most viewers will have realized the culprit is Gus. Strike and Robin immediately phone the university back to explain that it is very important that they do not contact Gus's family. The dean/registrar/whoever (who must be very keen on his job to be working so late) tells they they've already spoken to Inigo; is that a problem? Oops. Yeah, that's definitely a problem. Strike and Robin head for the Upcott's while calling the police, who, as in the book, are inexplicably delayed in getting there.

Unfortunately, I have to give this segment a Rotten Egg, and not just because of the prestigious music academy that has miraculously has someone on late night phone duty to reveal private information about students. Robin, in the book, unfairly blamed herself for "spooking" Gus; in the TV version, the team could arguably be partially at fault for doing exactly that. Why did Barclay need to call the university in the first place? Once Darcy told them about them being classmates and Gus's incel-ish reaction to her efforts at befriending him, they knew all they needed to know; it hardly matters whether Gus is a student in good standing or not. Why risk poking that hornets nest?---just call Murphy and get the police over to the house. The book version, where Inigo coincidently learns of Gus's truancy at the same time that the detectives are closing in on him, and where our heroes are summoned to the house by Flavia's call for help is a lot more satisfying.

Onto the climax. Robin and Strike pull up to the Upcott house, and Robin tries to call. No answer. In a deviation from the book, she is getting her rape alarm and the skeleton keys out even before she hears Flavia screaming. Then, as in the book, she leaps to action and enters the house, with Strike following on his crutches. The scene plays out much as it does in the book, except for two elements 1) it is the male bust that we've seen before that gets tossed out the window and smashed to summon the neighbors, not the nude female torso. So the symbolism of destroying Inigo and Gus's misogyny is lost. 2) Gus actually makes it into the bathroom, given that the door has glass panes rather than being solid wood.

Perhaps the scariest part for me was the scene with Robin tending to Strike and his stab wound at the foot of the stairs. With blood coming out of his mouth as well as soaking his shirt, Strike genuinely appears near death. and it is heart-wrenching to see him try to get words to Robin out (presumably "I love you") and not be able to. When Robin tells him, "Just focus on hanging on," all he can do is grab her blood-soaked hand with his. I found myself grateful to be a book reader at this point; a novice viewer could genuinely fear Strike was about to die.

The hospital scene reinforces that fear, because the first person we see Robin speaking to is Katya, not Strike. This scene is a rather bizarre addition to the book narrative. Unfortunately. Ms. Upcott doesn't seemed to have learned much from her ordeal. When Robin asks how she is, she says, "I'm lucky compared to Josh, and I know I have to be strong because he'll need me." Robin feels compelled to remind her that she has a traumatized daughter, saying "Flavia needs you more than anyone" with a clear emphasis on the name. Katya generously replies, "They both do, " so maybe we can hope Flavia will at least get a portion of her attention going forward. She then expounds on what appears to be a complete delusion:

My poor Inigo. He loved us so much and Gus couldn't see it. Did I let Gus down? I feel like I must have done.

Robin looks like she'd like to smack Katya out of her hospital bed and say "Not as much as you let your daughter down, lady. Remember her? The one you gave birth to that isn't a sociopathic killer?" As I've said before, the best thing for Flavia would be to be adopted by her auntie with the puppies, while Katya is shipped off to Dr. Zhou's for a few years of green tea enemas. And maybe, if she stops coddling Josh, he'll have a better chance of being among the 90% of Brown-Sequard patients who recover.

To our great relief, Robin leaves Mommie Dearest and heads to Strike's room, delivering tea, nicotine patches and Pat's fruitcake. They cover the basics of the case; Gus's hidden weapons stash, the cello recordings, the bugs and Flavia's doctored phone calls. Strike obliquely mentions an "improvement" made in the office but doesn't say what it is. And we see the dismay on his face when Robin tells him she has a date with DCI Murphy.

Cute touch: During the closing music, the camera pans back in Strike's hospital room and we see another patient watching The Ink Black Heart on a tablet. We see Harty floating away from Paperwhite, just as Strike is moving away from Robin... for now.

As Robin heads to the office, Ilsa (not Prudence) visits Strike in the hospital. He tells her he was trying to tell Robin something at the house. but leaves her "Trying to tell Robin what?" query unanswered. In the meantime, Robin arrives at the office to discover the newly installed window.

Overall, I think this was a superb adaptation of a very hard-to-film book, especially given that they only had four episodes to work with. It would have been nice to at least get a glimpse of Madeline, but I hope her reduced part here means Bijou will be entirely cut from The Running Grave. Telling the story without the chat rooms that are such an important part of the book was a challenging task, but the TV makers pulled it off. Though I missed Zoe and Dev, the story progressed quite well without them, and characters like Tim Ashcroft, Bram and Lord Drek were expendable. I really hope Prudence and the Herbert baby turn up in The Running Grave and fingers crossed that the powers that be will decide that Book 7 is worth more episodes.