I like almost all of the Poirots by David Suchet but this one is one of the weakest. Unlike other people here, I found the mouse cute in a way similar to Dumb Witness, and I didn't mind the story taking place in 1930s nor Miss Lemon getting less screen time than our rodent friend. I quite liked the cozy atmosphere of this episode and the cooking scenes were hilarious.
What I didn't like however is how primitive the story was. Smuggling diamonds without their carriers knowing is just stupid. Like how would they find the people, the place and time abroad to put the diamonds in without anybody noticing?
It starts snowballing from there. Why did the murderer unscrew the lightbulbs, ie. How did he know he would need to remain unseen exactly at the moment when the policeman would enter? Why are we pretty clearly shown the guy who cut the backpack right at the start, which is made worse by seeing the photographs and even himself before the truth is revealed by Poirot, instead of keeping us guessing? Why was Patricia killed? Just because she had seen the photograph doesn't mean she knew who's the killer. And wasn't killing off half of the house a bit too conspicuous?
I still like this episode but it's quality doesn't live up to the standard of Poirot.
What I didn't like however is how primitive the story was. Smuggling diamonds without their carriers knowing is just stupid. Like how would they find the people, the place and time abroad to put the diamonds in without anybody noticing?
It starts snowballing from there. Why did the murderer unscrew the lightbulbs, ie. How did he know he would need to remain unseen exactly at the moment when the policeman would enter? Why are we pretty clearly shown the guy who cut the backpack right at the start, which is made worse by seeing the photographs and even himself before the truth is revealed by Poirot, instead of keeping us guessing? Why was Patricia killed? Just because she had seen the photograph doesn't mean she knew who's the killer. And wasn't killing off half of the house a bit too conspicuous?
I still like this episode but it's quality doesn't live up to the standard of Poirot.