FOYLE'S WAR

THE FUNK HOLE

REVIEWED BY CHARITY BISHOP

Our rating: 5 out of 5

Rated:

Terrible events shape England's memories of war. Bombs dropping on London homes. Pilots being shot down over the channel. Having to jam into crowded underground rooms for protection as they listened to the sirens and explosions. Just such an attack opens the final episode in Season II of Foyle's War. Weeping children, anxious mothers and screaming babies are crowded into a cellar to await the coming of daylight. Above them London trembles in the wake of an air raid. Their spirits are not uplifted by a man bemoaning the madness and deaths, claiming that England will lose the war and that they should negotiate with Hitler. He claims to be a member of the police force, and as such his talk is of sedition and treason.

In the little town of Hastings, thoughts of London's plight are not in the men thieving from the food depot. Leonard Holmes, Dan Parker, and Matthew Farley cram as much canned meat, vegetables, and other perishable items into the truck as possible before they're caught by the night guard. After a warning the man fires a revolver round in warning and hits one of them. They speed off into the night, leaving Inspector Foyle (Michael Kitchen) to investigate the following morning. He has just returned from London and a succession of business meetings. He cannot believe the rampant homelessness and sorrow in the capital, where homes are in shambles, people are "stowed away" in schools and churches, and the police have more than they can handle. He returns to the station with his driver, Sam Stewart (Honeysuckle Weeks), to find Mrs. Farley filing a missing person's report for her son. He's been keeping questionable company of late, and didn't come home the night before.

Foyle's questioning leads him to Brookfield Court, a guest house in the countryside just outside town. The lovely estate has numerous wealthy and privileged guests who have sought to be away from London and the bombing. Their means of self-preservation are distasteful to many, who have termed the estate "a funk hole" ("funk" meaning cowardice). The inhabitants are highly hostile to police inquiries and they learn very little, apart from that the place does employ Matthew and his friend Dan Parker irregularly for odd repair jobs. Two married couples, a Londoner, and a news reporter are the current guests of Mrs. Powell and her blind husband. He was wounded in the first war and disapproves of his wife's means of sheltering cowardice. There's more than one under the table transaction occurring at Brookfield, but Foyle has greater concerns... he's been taken off the case by a superior. An investigator has come down from London, claiming that witnesses have provided a description and name of the man speaking sedition during the air raid. They claim he was Christopher Foyle. If convicted, there could be serious consequences.

The new inspector does very little to win over Sergeant Milton (Anthony Howells) and has unpleasant news in store for Sam. Combined with the intrigues in the country house, a fine case of theft and apparent suicide that looks like murder, and you have a wonderful wrap up to the season. More historically interwoven than many previous episodes, The Funk Hole provides a solution to a well-kept secret (mystery?) that the British government has never been able to provide involving one of the greater unfortunate mistakes during the war. It challenges the notion of revenge against the rules of appropriate authority and justice, and reveals the worst side of human nature. Those who seek to profit from other people's misery are, according to Foyle, just as bad as the Nazis. A strong sense of patriotism runs throughout, despite the dark events, and we feel grief for the characters as they experience various disappointments. A sub-plot involves Andrew, Foyle's son, being wounded in battle and having to deal with his anger, disappointment, and fear. It also employs just a hint of romance.

Very character-oriented and well planned out, the plot provides very few problems for expectant fans. There is some mild profanity, as always; policemen debate whether a boy called out 'Dan,' a man's name, as opposed to "d*mn," a profanity, after being struck with a bullet. A dead body is briefly shown several times; shortly after the boy has died in the barn, then again when a dog uncovers it in the woods. A gun is used to threaten someone, including promising to shoot him in the arms, legs, and stomach, and let him bleed to death in agony. A character is poisoned and foams at the mouth as he dies. Conversation revolves around rampant death in London, and a terrible mistake the government has made. There is nothing inappropriate, but an implication does come into question that an older, married woman may be having an affair with a much younger man. (Their relationship has a logical explanation.)

Andrew's feelings for his father are much different in this season than the last, and once again we see them at odds but before the end of the day, their problems have been resolved. Some morbid humor is thrown into the works to guarantee a smile, and the episode concludes on a happy albeit slightly devious note. Once again, Foyle has outdone himself.