Lewis 5x03: "The Mind has Mountains"

One of the things I most love about Lewis is the titles. (Well, besides obvious things like character, plot, setting and stories.) This one sounds to me like a phrase Lois McMaster Bujold might use, but no, it's quoted in the episode as being from Gerald Manly Hopkins:

O the mind, mind has mountains; cliffs of fall
Frightful, sheer, no-man-fathomed. Hold them cheap
May who ne'er hung there. Nor does long our small
Durance deal with that steep or deep. Here! creep,
Wretch, under a comfort serves in a whirlwind: all
Life death does end and each day dies with sleep.
O the mind, mind has mountains; cliffs of fall
Frightful, sheer, no-man-fathomed O my dear

It's from a poem called No Worst, There Is None, which relates nicely to a murder story, though I'm not sure what Hopkins' title meant. I wouldn't mind finding out; I rather like Hopkins' poetry, though it's dense, often baffling. Which is maybe why I like it.

Anyway, the episode: there was some beautiful acting here from some very interesting actors, including Thomas Brodie-Sangster, whom you may know as Jojen Reed (in Game of Thrones) or Tim Latimer in Doctor Who. Jack Roth, who played Jack Collins, is the son of Tim Roth. I thought one of the best performances was from Lucy Liemann, who inexplicably reminds me of Diana Rigg.

The hints of romance between Inspector Lewis and Laura Hobson don't do much for me, partly because I so loved Lewis' relationship with his wife back in Morse, partly because we haven't come to know her personality very well. I like her - and I really like Clare Holman, who plays the role - but her relationship with Lewis seems totally bloodless to me, and less interesting than his relationship with, say, his Superintendant.

The plot was fun. Kept me guessing for a while, but when I worked out a plausible motive and method for a character who was in the right place at the right time, but who was kept in the background just enough not to be too obvious - well. I was delighted to be proved right.

This show makes Oxford look so beautiful, though I do note that we see the same buildings, gardens and streets over and over and over.

I will be sad when I've seen the last episode of Lewis. But at least now we have Endeavour, and I have every intention of watching all the episodes of Morse again in the neat future.