BWW Recap: AGATHA CHRISTIE's BIG FOUR Strike Again in Poirot Mystery

PBS' "Masterpiece Mystery" raises the curtain on the final episodes of their adaptations of Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot adventures, starring David Suchet, with their 90-minute version of THE BIG FOUR, based on a novel originally penned by Christie in 1927. However, anyone familiar with the novel should be prepared for significant plot changes and a sentimentally-tinged (but underused) cast of characters in this production, which is indeed theatrically over the top.

And for one key SPOILER ALERT: despite the episode's initial framing, Poirot does not die, though anyone worth their Christie-salt should be able to see through this from the outset.

Set in the grayish and uncertain world of 1939 England, Poirot's former stalwart companions and partners-in-crime-solving, Captain Hastings (Hugh Fraser), Miss Lemon (Pauline Moran), and Inspector (now Assistant Commissioner) Japp, (Philip Jackson) receive notes to attend a graveside memorial service for him, and later toast his memory, while the newspapers plaintively cry, "Where Will The Big 4 Strike Next?". We are taken to a scene set four weeks earlier, (note the recurrence of the "four" theme throughout) where the very much alive Poirot encounters Japp during a much-touted international chess tournament sponsored by the Peace Party, a group hoping against hope to stave off war amidst roiling world events. Among the leaders of this party are the Chinese pacifist confined to his Homeland by ill health, Li Chang Yen, wealthy American Abe Ryland, and French scientist Mme. Olivier, renowned for her research on the nervous system and drugs that act upon it. Ryland and Olivier are present for the chess tournament, about to be played by Ryland himself and Soviet grand master Ivan Savaranoff, as are a large international crowd, including Mme. Olivier's associates in the Peace Party, Steven Paynter, and his personal physician, Dr. Quentin. The ever-alert Poirot surmises that Olivier and Paynter's relationship is not limited to politics. An enterprising investigative reporter, Lawrence Tysoe, who earlier tried to convince the Foreign Office of imminent danger of an international, malevolent conspiracy, crashes the event, asking troublesome questions about The Big 4, but is unwelcome. When Savaranoff collapses and dies during the tournament, with a white bishop chess piece clutched in his hand, Japp is inclined to think it is natural causes (we know better, of course), but Tysoe appears at the morgue, again making dark insinuations about The Big 4 being responsible. We cut to a theatre dressing room where an over-the-hill, supporting actress, Flossie Monro, is being regaled by flowers and mash notes signed with four kisses from a mysterious admirer; a seemingly unconnected piece, we know that this is somehow important and will be wound into the narrative at some point, as the red herrings begin their surge upstream.

Poirot seeks Tysoe out, following up on the rumored "skeletons in the armoire" of the Peace Party members and their putative relationship to The Big 4. It turns out, for example, that Ryland, originally from Russia, has changed his name and persona, having actually made his money in arms dealing to both sides in WWI. However, Tysoe, the recipient of a stream of "inside" information and elaborate clues, attempts to bargain with Poirot, only wishing to divulge information if he can get exclusive access to the investigation, which Poirot refuses. Poirot studies the chess game and realizes that Savaranoff always played the Ruy Lopez opening, making his moves predictable. Poirot gets in touch with Japp and they pay Ryland a visit; in replaying the last move of the game and evaluating the evidence, Poirot proves that Savanaroff was cleverly and diabolically killed by electrocution through a substituted chess piece on an electrified table. Ryland angrily rejects any knowledge of this, and demands Japp and Poirot find proof of any complicity. Poirot is subsequently visited by Mme. Olivier, who claims that people are trying to discredit Ryland and the Peace Party. Suspiciously, Ryland is then reported to be missing. We see a hooded figure alone in a dark room wearing Ryland's ring.

The author of Li Chang Yen's biography, Jonathan Whalley, a reclusive lover of all things Chinese, is then found dead in his home, assaulted and with his throat cut. His dismissive housekeeper cannot cast much light on friends or family, although she references a young nephew who had resided with him some time ago but who did not get on with his uncle and who has lost touch. (Ding, ding, ding!). Poirot draws attention to a frozen leg of mutton in the kitchen, but does not see it as a murder weapon. When a set of valuable antique Chinese ivory figures is found missing from the home, suspicion falls on the manservant, Grant, a man with a prison record and whose boot matches a bloody footprint at the scene. Tysoe appears at Walley's home, claiming to have additional valuable information relating to The Big 4, including the most recent murder, from a mysterious source.

In jail, Grant asserts that he was framed; he relates how he found Welley already dead, but admits to taking the ivory figures. He claims how he found his position in the household through a jail pastor working with a Prisoners' Help Society, though there is no record of such a person or agency. Poirot concurs that Grant is no killer; he believes that Grant was indeed set up from the beginning, and that the real killer arrived in a butcher's van while delivering the mutton, wearing boots identical to Grant's. In a typical Christie touch, he says, "everybody saw him, but nobody saw him": a clever killer hard to recognize.

In cutting to a scene of Tysoe at night, we see him being called to on the street by a well-dressed man who is dramatically knifed in the back. Tysoe tells Poirot and Japp that he has been receiving a steady stream of anonymous tips and cryptic clues, presumably from this man, perhaps a disaffected member of the group. Indeed, in the dead man's pocket is an envelope addressed to Tysoe containing 4 unique playing cards, 1 Chinese, 1 a Monopoly card, 1 a French, and the Tarot Death card. These are purported to be clues to the identities of The Big 4 (i.e., Chinese Li, American Ryland, French Olivier, and "Death"). We then cut to another isolated scene of the actress and her showering of attention, including champagne and another reference to four kisses, from her unknown admirer.

We go to the Paynter's home, and overhear a conversation between Mr. Paynter and Mme. Olivier that could be interpreted as either a statement about the Peace Party or their personal relationship; overheard by Mrs. Paynter, she chooses the latter interpretation. A tense dinner party ensues, with the bland Dr. Quentin in tow, and Mr. Paynter's insufferable, drunken black sheep young nephew Gerald joining the group, making reference to a past family feud. Simultaneously, at the morgue, the anonymous tipster is found to be filthy dirty under his exquisite but 30 year old evening clothes, making his identity even more mysterious. The name "erman" on a fragmentary label is all that is available to Poirot.

We jump to a smoky corridor in the Paynter house, with his wife trying to unlock the door to her husband's bedroom; he is found dead, in a fire, and when Poirot comes to the house, we learn that Paynter had actually been dragged from his bed and his head and face placed in the fire, ensuring a ghastly and disfiguring death. The letter "G" seems to have been written by Paynter on a notepad by his bed. The requisite interview of the suspects in the house reveals that Dr. Quentin found Paynter to be anxious and agitated the night before; Mrs. Paynter tearfully reveals that she had learned that her husband and Mme. Olivier had been having an affair. Flippant Gerald assumes that the event was an accident and claims to have only been living there for the past few months; pointing to the scar on his face, he indicates that his father had always blamed his uncle for allowing a firework to blow up in his face (obviously a leviathan of a red herring, even to Poirot, who believes Gerald is being crudely framed).

Poirot then has further discussion with Mme. Olivier. She cannot identify the dead tipster, and claims that her conversation with Paynter the night before was indeed about the Peace Party. When Poirot implores her to share information about The Big 4, she asserts that his accusations are "contemptible". Mrs. Paynter takes the opportunity to confront her about The Affair and accuses Olivier of being driven to murder. Discounting such personal motives, Japp continues to believe in The Big 4 as a nefarious political organization (think New World Order), but Poirot continues to look for other connections across the murders, coming back to the playing cards in the tipster's pocket. More mystery ensues when Mme. Olivier also turns up missing, and Paynter is found to have been Drugged prior to death, perhaps by the very drug Olivier was working on (gelsemine, similar to strychnine). A hooded figure is seen alone in a dark room, whose hand could be Mme. Olivier's.

Poirot doggedly checks the "erman" clue, and learns that "Berman" is a theatrical costumier. He revisits the Whalley household, asking more questions about the nephew who lived there years before. In looking through the nephew's musty effects, he finds a trove of programs and memorabilia from the Methuselah Theatre, and we see yet another contemporary scene of Flossie and her gifts from an admirer. Poirot interviews a series of actors from that now-defunct company, including Flossie, and specifically asks about Albert Whalley, who collected so many mementos in 1924; Flossie acknowledges all the flowers and gifts she has been receiving, including the notes signed with "4 kisses" and the oddity of receiving a Valentine in April (i.e., the 4th month), but cannot recall all the fans she has had in the past 15 years.

Poirot gets a call to go to a 4 PM meeting in a London flat, where his movements are observed by a sinister old woman. Just as he reaches the door, an explosion occurs, followed by the headlines of his demise, with a cut back to his funeral and suspicion that The Big 4 is involved. Japp wonders what secrets Poirot took to his grave, and Capt. Hastings asserts that they must stop The Big 4 for Poirot's sake, and storms out to do just that. The tension is broken when Poirot's valet George brings Japp a telegram, whose contents are not revealed.

What follows is perhaps a surprisingly and disproportionately long dénouement. Flossie comes to a 4 PM audition at the now-empty, dark Methuselah Theatre. She is chloroformed and on coming to, finds she is tied to a seat in the theater. The curtain rises on the set of "The Lair of the Big 4", a fantastic Chinese affair where two of the silent figures on stage are the immobile Ryland and Olivier. Flossie is asked by a mysterious figure what she knows of The Big 4, and to speculate on the identity of # 4; she then is told to "think back", to a time 15 years ago. SPOILER ALERT: the mysterious figure is revealed to be none other than fellow actor Claude Darrell, whom we have seen earlier as Dr. Quentin, and who is also the Albert Whalley of the theatre mementos. Exhorting Flossie to declare her passion for him, as he has done for her, she unconvincingly declares he is "the most remarkable man [she] has ever met". He calls the time years ago when she rejected him, believing she would only be content with a man the whole world will remember: he believes he has become that fantasy.

As Darrell releases Flossie and prepares to leave with her, Poirot makes his dramatic entrance on stage, framed by the set, and likens his "death" to the smoke and mirrors that have been part of this enormous plot. Japp and Tysoe come on the scene and Poirot avers that the "cabal" was like something from a storybook. Poirot talks us through this elaborate piece of theatre that has been staged under the direction of Darrell's crazed mind, and asserts that while Ryland and Olivier are Drugged and paralyzed, they are still conscious. Whalley enthusiastically says how he wound up Tysoe, relying on Fleet Street to arouse public fear. Poirot acknowledges that Whalley has genius as a character actor (as we see flashbacks of his many disguises), with the murders done to incriminate others and ultimately all devised to get and impress Flossie. But Poirot offers the narcissistic blow that Whalley's talent is also his flaw: he can blend in everywhere while remaining unrecognizable in a crowd. This leads the psychologically wounded Whalley to confront Poirot on his own theatricality, and their similarity. Whalley thinks he has the last laugh, as he seizes Japp's gun and reveals a pile of dynamite set with one minute to go, ready to "bring down the final curtain on The Big 4". When Poirot insists that Darrell cannot send Flossie to her grave, Darrell rips out the timing mechanism, but threatens to shoot Poirot. In the nick of time, Tysoe lets a safety curtain ring down, which kills Darrell, literally on stage to the last.

Later, the recovered members of the Peace Party appear to reporters, denouncing The Big 4 as fiction, but acknowledging the fragile state of the world. Poirot meets with the principals in his own flat, where Tysoe is pleased to find have an exclusive story about #4. Poirot relates his invitation to Darrell's flat, provoked by Darrell's panic after Poirot interviewed Flossie; suspecting a trap; he was able to escape before the explosion, though his absence made an excellent cover for the rest of his investigation. Flossie acknowledges that Poirot was a wonderful director before she saunters out with Tysoe, giving him yet another exclusive. Poirot seeks the forgiveness of his friends for his charade; Hastings returns at the last minute, astonished by the endgame, and the reunion is happily complete.

It's of course good to see these musketeers reunited, though we really only get to see Japp interact much with Poirot (Hastings and Lemon are so much window dressing). They are all older and wiser (maybe), and Suchet continues to deliver the definitive Poirot. But the story here is creaky beyond belief; however, given the book it is based on (not the strongest in the Christie canon), perhaps figuratively dressing this mutton up as lamb is as good as it can get. Poirot does manage to do his usual climactic confrontation with a room full of suspects, though it is an extraordinary space, not all potential suspects are present, and some are indeed paralyzed. We can and must discard belief in a realistic modern mystery here, and go with a wink and a nod, grateful to see the Belgian detective at work again. C'est incroyable, mes amis, n'est-ce pas?

Photo Credit: Courtesy of (C) ITV Studios for MASTERPIECE