Poirot "The Adventure of the Clapham Cook" #1.1 (1989) (TV)

"No no no, I am not some French gent, I am some Belgian gent.", 30 June 2015

Poirot agrees to take the case of a missing cook - a case he feels beneath him. But Poirot soon realizes there's more going on than he initially suspected. The case of the missing cook soon turns into a case of murder.

I suppose that The Adventure of the Clapham Cook is as good a place as any to begin the long running Poirot series. There's a lot here to enjoy. Somehow, Suchet nails Poirot and his many mannerisms and eccentricities from the start. Suchet is simply brilliant. In this episode, I especially enjoyed some of he little moments like Poirot's interaction with the housemaid, Annie. Instead of looking down on her, with a nod and a word, he makes her feel more important than she has in her entire life. The first episode does a decent job of introducing the other major characters - Hastings, Lemon, and Japp. While the characters are all fleshed-out more fully in later episodes, it's nice that they're here from the start. Poirot's scenes with Hastings, in particular, are excellent. One small example - the scene on the train when Hastings starts to put together the clues plays out exactly the way Christie wrote these moments in her books. You can almost see a light bulb being turned on over Hastings' head. Very well done. I also think these early episodes did a better job of paying attention to period detail than later episodes. This is especially true of the number of exterior shots.

However, while I've been a fan of Agatha Christie's books as long as I can remember, I run hot and cold on her short stories. The Adventure of the Clapham Cook has a number of weaknesses. First, the mystery is too easy to figure out. There aren't enough red herrings to make things really fun. It's all fairly straightforward. Second, the disguise used by the murderer (complete with fake beard) doesn't translate well to the screen. It's too easy to see through.

Still, it's a good episode that I rate a 7/10.

7/10