The Blue Geranium

by Courtney Hilden
Spoiler Alert: Though the murderer is not revealed in this review, other details are.

"The Blue Geranium" is a unique episode of the latest Miss Marple series. Instead of opening up solely with the crime, it opens up with the second crime, then moves forward in time by six months to the trial of the believed killer. Miss Marple, at home and doing some gardening, realizes that the wrong killer is on trial, and then tries frantically to get to the Old Bailey in time to save the day, since the killer, if convicted, will be hanged.
The original short story, one which this episode is based, actually had Miss Marple telling the story to a group of friends and amateur sleuths at her home. Deciding not to introduce these characters, the episode opted instead for Marple to be narrating many of the events to an old friend. This is a nice change-up from the typical Marple episode, in which things are not told from any character's point of view. It also makes the mystery harder to solve, since changing from time to time means the audience has to put together a coherent timeline before even getting to the crimes. In addition to that, the audience has two murders to solve and two mysteries (who is the real killer and who is on trial).

The rest of the story is sadly not as interesting or as engaging as past Marple outings. Toby Stevens, playing the believed killer, Mr. Pritchard, and Claudie Blakley, playing his ex-girlfriend and sister-in-law Phillipa Pritchard, give serviceable performances. Sharon Small plays Mary Pritchard, Pritchard's wife, and she brings the crazy. People on the edge of insanity are often unbelievable, and this role is difficult because she has to be both irritating enough that the audience can see why Pritchard would hate her, but can't over do it. Small manages to make Mary unlikeable, but keeps the full-blown crazy to a minimum. More than anything, she's just unpleasant and paranoid, saying nasty things to the maid and harassing the police inspector. The costumes and set are decent, though the eagle decorated podium within the church was far too much.