Trial & Retribution (TV Series) Closure: Part 1 (2007) User Reviews

Engaging episode, but flawed

[srm-1 · 6/10 · 31 August 2008]

'Closure' is an engaging entry in the 'Trial & Retribution' series, but the suspect is a little too obvious for my tastes and the hurried conclusion is, ultimately, unsatisfying.

La Plante, who is usually excellent in regard to all aspects of correct police procedure drops an enormous clanger in this episode when neither DCI Connor nor DS Satchell are routinely questioned following a murder in the very hotel that they are staying.

On the plus side, we are thankfully spared another tedious installment on the trials and tribulations of Mike Walkers's personal life.

As with all all great British crime series there are the inevitable highs and lows; 'Closure' is one of the best but sadly falls short of being great.

A script full of holes - SPOILERS

[LCShackley · 20 September 2011]

There are many flaws in this script but the biggest one is this: One of the key characters is an American profiler. You can smell "villain" because in general, English producers always cast American characters as the bad guys. Also, he's introduced early, which makes him a prime suspect (and he's a "least likely" villain since he's supposedly a cop).

But the "solution" reveals that he's a fake, and has been borrowing someone else's identity for YEARS. The script reveals that he has made very public appearances in the UK going back a long time. Yet we are supposed to believe that NOBODY has ever spotted the fact that his picture doesn't match his book jackets, or that he was nowhere near the right age, until one lucky cop happened to press for his autograph? Come on, Lynda La Plante, you're better than this! Either that or you're trying to tell us that Britons are brain-dead.