I mean, it’s rather implausibly suggested that each one of them was at risk of being discovered and revealed as Sinister Overlords Wot Plot To Thrust The World Into Chaos, but… yeah. I mean, pretty much the conceit of the whole episode is that The Big Four are committing these crimes to… um. Oh, and the episode opens with Poirot’s casket being laid to rest, so someone apparently kills him along the way. Tysoe is supposed to meet another informant with info on The Big Four, but the informant’s stabbed before the meeting can happen. The French Scientist soon disappears following the death. Then we get another murder, this time a British politician (maybe? It’s hard to tell) in his home, as one night he’s found dead with his face melting off against the side of an electric heater. Then we get another murder, this one of a Sinophile who literally wrote the book on the Chinese Whatever He’s Supposed To Be, killed and left for dead in his parlor. The American Industrialist soon disappears following the death.

This kicks off Poirot’s involvement, who is in attendance when this happened. At a publicity chess match, the American Industrialist plays against a Russian grandmaster, who keels over at the table. The identity of Number 4 is… look, this doesn’t get any smarter, but just hang on and you’ll see what’s going on. “The Big Four”.Īstute readers will have noticed that there are three Peace Partiers mentioned, while the name “The Big Four” would seem to indicate at least one more member if this conspiracy theory holds true. Tysoe has been receiving anonymous tips that the Peace Party may in fact be… *sigh*… a shadowy international cabal of power hungry pre-Instagram influencers seeking to do, um, the OPPOSITE of peace, I guess? Anyway, they’re referred to as S.P.E.C.T.R.E. No, this is not a particularly policy-rich platform.īUT, ALSO, dirtsheet journalist Mr. Comprised of an American Industrialist, a French Scientist, a Chinese… something or other, it’s never made quite clear, unless “dissident” counts as a profession, the Peace Party is allegedly dedicated to promoting, er, peace. So, as World War 2 nears ever closer, an international political party calling themselves “The Peace Party” is gaining steam. In an episode that even its own writer (Mark Gatiss) called “a loose adaptation of an almost unadaptable mess”, it’s… well, it’s not good, is what I’m saying.Įrrrrgh. Zut alors, but this week’s tale of murder and mayhem possesses quite the… how do you say… “stinky aroma of badness”? Yes, “stinky aroma of badness” is what we’ll go with.

The big 4 poirot