Dead Head: The Patriot
Warning: this blog post gives away the resolution of the show.
So we come to the final of the four parts of Dead Head. To cut a very long story very short, basically Eddie gets even more desperate for answers so goes out looking for them, gets the answer he wants, and we see how his situation resolves. There is a much fuller and better summary of this episode here: https://lawson.amandaelanorart.co.uk/2019/09/02/dead-head-episode-four-the-patriot/
This part therefore returns us to the essential plot of the show, which has rather been lost in previous episodes: that there is somebody very high up in the establishment (apparently a member of the Royal Family) who has been murdering women and this has been pinned onto Eddie. The murderer strikes again in this one, which gives him an even more increased sense of urgency. It is a relief to get back to the core plot of this show.
In fact the paged linked above is one of the few (or even the only) resource for comprehensive commentary on this show on the internet. As regular readers know, I like to read around other people's commentary online when writing a blog post, and the relative lack of commentary made that rather difficult for this show. The reason for this show's lack of presence in the cult TV blogosphere is of course its relative unpopularity. Perhaps I should stress that I really do like this show before I say that in turn the reason it isn't popular is that it's positively deranged, but the fact that this post will be mostly criticism shouldn't be taken to mean I don't think you should watch this show.
In previous posts I have summarised the incredible number of themes and ideas which writer Howard Brenton tried to get into this show, how hugely ambitious and innovative it is. This has the disadvantage in television that it makes it impossible to summarise in the Radio Times (you will keep reading that this is a noir-esque TV show about a murderer, which is true but doesn't nearly do it justice). With no disrespect to most people I think the sheer ambition of this show means that it was never going to be exactly popular. I think the only way to understand this show is to listen to Brenton's commentary first and then watch the actual show, and of course most people don't do that so will be disappointed. I personally wouldn't consider this a criticism as such, but a shortcoming of its approach.
There is also a problem which becomes clear in this episode, that while Eddie does get to know who the murderer is, we don't. Of course you could say that this is an authorial decision intended not to resolve the mystery simplistically. Personally I think that this is an actual weakness, because to end the series without revealing who the murderer is, can only be a dissatisfying resolution after all that Eddie has been through.
After Eddie finds out who the murderer is we also find out that Eddie has been given a substantial payout to keep quiet about it and has taken the money so that he can live a life of luxury. Essentially what this means is that the show has spent the past three episodes setting him up as the hero who puts himself out in the pursuit of justice, and most of this episode trying to blow the whistle on what is happening, only to resolve this by him suddenly stopping this and taking the money to shut up. It isn't even that it's dissatisfying: this resolution almost derails the overall narrative of the show as if to say it doesn't matter. I do think that this is a makor plot misstep and a better one would have been to leave him on the run abroad, disillusioned.
Talking of disillusionment, the show's ending means that Eddie has essentially joined the establishment that he has been so surprised to discover is rotten to the core. The show clearly has a political message about Britain which rather tends to get lost in amongst the many themes.
Once again, I should stress that I do actually love this series: I love it for its HUGELY ambitious and innovative plot, which is carried on even though the sheer number of themes keep derailing the direct plot of the show. I love that anyone would even try to make this show. It certainly wouldn't happen now, because attention spans have reduced even further in the past forty years. It would be much less eccentric if at the end the resolution had been that both we and Eddie found out who the murderer was (to save it being an actual member of the royal family they could have just created a fictional member of the family, even making him one of those people with congenital problems that the royal families of Europe do throw up through centuries of inbreeding). The perpetrator could either die at the end or it would be better with Eddie on the run for life and leave it unresolved.
So despite its ultimately dissatisfying conclusion which could have been so much better, I would certainly recomment that people give this show a go, although you do have to watch it at least a few times and pay attention to get the best out of it.
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