The King of Clubs | Agatha Christie’s Poirot | TV Serial | Season 1 | Episode 9 | Personal Reviews

The ninth episode of Agatha Christie’s Poirot (English TV Serial, which was aired in Briton), is titled as The King of Clubs.

This episode is focused on a murder mystery. At the end of the episode you will find Poirot saying something unusual! And, there are reasons for that. Studded with so many positive attributes, this episode proves to be a delightful watch for the murder mystery lovers.

Henry Reedburn is the head of a theatre company who make films. He is quite foul mouth and was unhappy with the way shooting is going on. He especially have problems with the lead actress Valerie Saintclair! Unhappy with her performance(!) he scolds her in front of the crew. She decided to meet Henry personally and resolve all the problems, as she was very determined to make her career. She wanted to do anything or go to any extend to play the lead role in the movie, she doesn’t want to leave this golden opportunity she got.

The director of the film Bunny Saunders is a good friend of Captain Hestings and have invited him to the shoot. Hestings was accompanied by his buddy Hercule Poirot. They have had a nice conversation about films and actors. While Poirot found films quite boring, he found actors and their efforts quite interesting!

From this scene itself we got to know what to expect. The small yet witty dialogs, the fantastic expressions by the lead actors the comparatively interesting story and script.

There is one more connection to the story and Poirot. On the sets Poirot meets prince Paul of Maurania, whom Poirot helped in past. He is in love with the Valerie and to fulfil her dream he have invested into the film as well!

Vallerie is not the only person who have some tension with Henry. Ralph Walton, got some problem with Henry and attacked him in his office, when he was talking to Vallerie. He was though captured and thrown out by the securities. But we see him saying to make Henry pay for it.

Now in the rainy night, Henry was killed.

We see Vallerie went to meet Henry in the rainy night. She tried not to expose herself and kept the cab stop a little away from Henry’s place.

Director Bunny was viewing rushes with Henry and Henry was not happy with the results. He thinks one important attributes is missing in the shoot done so far! We see Bunny leaving Henry’s place.

There is one more figure with hat also came out of Henry’s place.

And, Hercule Poirot was informed by the prince about the mishap and asked Poirot to come there. Poirot ask the prince to call the police, be honest with the answers and he will take care.

There are many other characters in the story including entire Oglander family.

So the mystery is there to be resolved. Whom do you suspect?

One person we miss in the regular cast, in this episode, is Miss Lemon. The story have no scope of her being part of it. David is in full form as Poirot. See his expression when he was entered on the set where movie shooting was going on. His response (through expressions) when a lady ask him to keep silence, is a million dollar shot we can say! He was given proper dialogs to represent the fictional detective and his attributes properly. See him questioning Vallerie. You will find Vallerie got emotional and all, but Poirot was as calm as he usually is. Rather than got emotional, he keeps asking the questions even without showing any sympathy (of course in the polite manner, as he does). Also he is quite sure about the things to be done in the proper manner. You can find those attributes explored properly in his advise to the prince. And yes, he is not a machine, he has emotional side as well. He can distinguish between the right and the wrong. You can discover his this side as well in this episode.

Hugh Fraser underplays jolly Captain Hestings nicely. He is convincing enough as the character. Phillip Jackson have his small usual role this time as well. He have the persona to look what he has to. Both they support David brilliantly.

The lady playing Vallerie is beautiful and convincing in her role. We can say almost everyone is doing his/her part convincingly. To add to the positives, is the script which is tight enough. The background music makes the things very effective. The sets and locations are searched nicely and they are almost authentic.

But why the episode is named as “King of Clubs”? Well, there is a reason and after watching the episode (at least half of it) you will understand it.

The remastered DVDs came up with good sound and picture qualities, and you can expect the same quality at Amazon Prime as well. So seeing all the positive aspects, if murder mysteries and thrillers are your choice, than you may not like to miss this one.

Did you read the reviews for the first episode of this TV Serial? Also what you think for this episode? Do share your feelings via comments below. If you find this review helpful to make you a buying/watching decision, do not forget to share with your friends and family 🙂