I've watched the whole Endeavour series over and over again, maybe as many as 10 times in all. The stories are so multilayered and intricate that I am still discovering details that illuminate plot points, even after multiple viewings.
Before I launch into some major spoilers regarding "Icarus" and all of season 6 which follows, I'll just note one tip: watch the first minute or two of every episode very closely, and you will likely see the clue upon which the whole plot pivots. You won't know this the first time you see it, but by the 5th time or so you might.
MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW... * * * * * I never liked the character George Fancy, and frankly, was not sorry to see him go, but as I was watching "Icarus" for the upty-umpth time and once again shouting at George to stay in the car and not go in to where Cromwell Ames was getting ready to have it out with Eddie Nero. But this time, during the course of the episode, I noticed that George had in fact, improved and matured as a cop. The last thing he said to Thursday was, "I won't let you down." He was going to play it by the book to make Thursday proud (even if Morse had no time for him). So why DID he go into the snooker parlor when Jim Strange had told him to "stand fast"? * * * * SPOILERS FOR SEASON SIX We come to find out in the season six story arc that corrupt cops all the way to the top have been behind everything. We saw the beginnings of this in The Pilot. We find out that the bullet that killed Fancy was from a gun that had gone missing from a police evidence store. Eventually we come to realize that it was police who had killed George.
That's the missing piece of the puzzle: George did not rush into the snooker parlor on his own, in defiance of Strange's directive. Other cops arrived on the scene while George was waiting for his colleagues, and he went in with them, not knowing that one of them would kill him because he was the only witness to their massacre of Ames, Nero, and everyone on the scene.
It wasn't because of his naivete, stupidity, and lack of experience that he didn't wait in the car. He joined some other cops in the raid, probably at their invitation. I won't go into who-- but we do find out in season six. George knew them already.
Maybe everyone else already figured this out, but today it finally clicked for me.
Before I launch into some major spoilers regarding "Icarus" and all of season 6 which follows, I'll just note one tip: watch the first minute or two of every episode very closely, and you will likely see the clue upon which the whole plot pivots. You won't know this the first time you see it, but by the 5th time or so you might.
MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW... * * * * * I never liked the character George Fancy, and frankly, was not sorry to see him go, but as I was watching "Icarus" for the upty-umpth time and once again shouting at George to stay in the car and not go in to where Cromwell Ames was getting ready to have it out with Eddie Nero. But this time, during the course of the episode, I noticed that George had in fact, improved and matured as a cop. The last thing he said to Thursday was, "I won't let you down." He was going to play it by the book to make Thursday proud (even if Morse had no time for him). So why DID he go into the snooker parlor when Jim Strange had told him to "stand fast"? * * * * SPOILERS FOR SEASON SIX We come to find out in the season six story arc that corrupt cops all the way to the top have been behind everything. We saw the beginnings of this in The Pilot. We find out that the bullet that killed Fancy was from a gun that had gone missing from a police evidence store. Eventually we come to realize that it was police who had killed George.
That's the missing piece of the puzzle: George did not rush into the snooker parlor on his own, in defiance of Strange's directive. Other cops arrived on the scene while George was waiting for his colleagues, and he went in with them, not knowing that one of them would kill him because he was the only witness to their massacre of Ames, Nero, and everyone on the scene.
It wasn't because of his naivete, stupidity, and lack of experience that he didn't wait in the car. He joined some other cops in the raid, probably at their invitation. I won't go into who-- but we do find out in season six. George knew them already.
Maybe everyone else already figured this out, but today it finally clicked for me.