Scientists in Ep. 2 genplant? What did I miss? You must be thinking of Ep. 1 and the accused don's wife, the don who headed the paranormal research lab. We know for certain that he killed his young female colleague, and attempted murder of the girl with psychic power, but it's obvious now he probably didn't kill the first victim on the towpath and definitely didn't kill the flasher and any others, since he was in custody by then, so you may be on to something about his homely wife. Although, could an older woman wring another woman's neck very easily? Still, it could make perfect sense since the victims (except for the flasher) are young, attractive women and her husband seems to have had a roving eye even before he caused his colleague's fall to her death. Was it the prunes for dessert that drove him to rove?!?!? Could the flasher's death be by someone else's hand? His murder was only shown very briefly in the preview I think, revealing whoever did it made very swift use of a knife to his neck.

It never crossed my mind that the smarmy Ludo could be responsible for the towpath murders. Hmm. The story line featuring him and his wife has always seemed separate to me from the other crimes. What an interesting thesis about a possible attraction to Endeavour. It could definitely be the case. Maybe it's a pervy game the husband and wife play with each other. What about the dress she almost wore when she showed up at Endeavour's door?!?!?! Yowza, HE'D have to be gay to resist THAT.

I rewatched Ep. 1. The flasher's death occurred at the very end and his killer was seen from a distance, running away. Rather quickly, I should add. Judging from that and the silhouette, it appeared to be a man and likely a young one. While this death and that of the young woman are probably connected because of the tow path commonality, we don't know for sure yet. Interestingly genplant, Dr. Max told Endeavour earlier that it wouldn't necessarily require tremendous strength to have broken Molly Andrews' (the first victim) neck, so Prof. Bish's plain wife could definitely be in the running! I noticed this time that Endeavour was eyeing her intently a couple of times too, and not for her looks.

As for Ludo's apparel, I viewed it more critically this time around and it struck me as typical uber-fashionable 1970s menswear... just like a gay friend of mine wore. Hmm.

I just looked up Nik Nik shirts, one of which Ludo appeared to be wearing at his house party. They were popular in the 1970s (think of the Saturday Night Fever DJ'S remark when he said, "I love that polyester look"). Anyway, they're apparently collectible. There were some for sale on Etsy for as much as $150!!!

In the late '70s (school days) I had a fave polyester (kinda satiny) long-sleeved shirt with birds around the top of it. What was I thinking??!!! lol

@genplant29 said:

In the late '70s (school days) I had a fave polyester (kinda satiny) long-sleeved shirt with birds around the top of it. What was I thinking??!!! lol

Very fashionable genplant! Yeah, I edited my post about the polyester shirts by deleting "late 1960s". I think it was later in the 1970s, like you said, when my friend wore Nik Nik shirts. Ludo seems a little bit ahead of the times for 1970, but then again, London may have still been on the forefront in those days, in the wake of the 1960s "British Invasion" of Carnaby Street mods. The Brits definitely dominated fashion for a while.

By the way, nice digs that Ludo and the missus have, that Endeavour visited!

Regarding his wife, I continually find myself thinking she looks just like singer Camila Cabello! [see particularly the 2nd picture in that Wiki article]

Never heard of that vocalist. Good match though - they DO look very much alike!

Nice digs indeed! And IMO it has a nouveau-riche look to it, something one could envision appealing to a criminal, as opposed to someone from "old money" (he could've easily been lying when he said his family had been in the shipping business for centuries). I may be way off base though. Again, I have to say I'm very eager to find out what's up with Ludo and Violetta. I truly can't foresee where it's going since there are multiple possibilities. I recall though that when he first bumped into Endeavour during the concert and was asked what he did [for a living], he replied that he collected beautiful women - without adding that he had a wife! I wonder if there's some sort of sex trafficking angle, ala Jeffrey Epstein, since that's been a timely topic the past couple of years? Could the wife be a recruiter, like Ghislaine Maxwell?

Or (collecting beautiful women aside) could the duo be conducting a blackmail racket using the wife as bait, but it turned out Endeavour was only a bachelor cop and not some married, wealthy business magnate who has enough money to hop over to Venice just to enjoy opera? Could the wife have truly fallen for Endeavour in spite of his humble profession, and that's why the husband is keeping an eye on him? Questions questions questions. I'll be truly shocked if there's a link to the towpath murders. They just seem so unlikely to be engaged in crime of that sort.

Something I keep wondering whether it was truly strictly coincidental, or instead was a carefully pre-planned setup choreographed to occur in a very precise way, was when the drunk college guy wandered through the cocktail party that Endeavour was attending (when E was in a tux) - who he then decided to chase, pursued him (who, incidentally, struck me as running much too fast and too well to truly be inebriated) down streets and around corners, ultimately into an (I seem to recall?) alley, then started down a different side alley in continued pursuit - and unceremoniously ran smack-dab into Ludo on his bike!

While that seems nearly impossible for Ludo to have actually planned, beforehand, to happen so precisely as it went - perhaps it actually was pre-planned, to get Endeavour to chase the young guy, the guy make sure to run a very specific pre-planned route - and there would be Ludo to collide with - "coincidentally" (and supposedly, no less, they're former schoolmates [according to Ludo]!) - at the end of it. Whether all that was just "made-for-t.v." convenient, or no coincidence at all, I guess we may discover in the season finale.

By the way, did I actually recall accurately the scene described above? I ask as you mentioned, merry, that Endeavour met Ludo during a concert - though I thought when they first "ran in to one another" (both literally and figuratively) it was when Endeavour was in pursuit of the college guy and "ran in to" Ludo and his bike in the alley.

Speaking of the season finale, this coming Sunday night is much too soon for the season to be concluding already!

I'm going to check out the episode again genplant, as quickly as I can get through it, to check out the scenario - I can't recall exactly how it transpired.

Okay, first of all the pickpocket didn't appear drunk to me -- he just "accidentally" bumped into Endeavour in a crowded area where drinks were being served. And it wasn't Ludo on the bike (but probably a student, judging by his apparel) who Endeavour ran into in the alley, preventing him from further pursuit of the pickpocket as the thief turned the corner. BUT YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT -- it seemed as though Ludo's sudden, casual appearance at that point, coming from the same direction of the pickpocket's route, could've been planned, for sure. I wonder, did the pickpocket hand off the stolen wallet to Ludo before he sauntered into the alley and began chatting up Endeavour??? And now after my third viewing I'm reminded that Endeavour didn't recall Ludo from university at all, PLUS, Ludo fished to get Endeavour to say which college HE attended. Clever con artistry at work there. Oh boy, more food for thought!!!

Indeed, I recall Endeavour seeming to not know Ludo from Adam - which makes it seem all the fishier that Ludo keeps going so out of his way to be exceedingly familiar and persistent.

For that matter... how often does one's one-night-stand in Venice wind up turning out to be the wife of one's new self-appointed best friend in Oxford? That surely is too gargantuanly [the computer is indicating I just made up that word!] happenstance to truly be a (really, really awkward) coincidence!

I have to correct something I wrote earlier: Ludo didn't say he collected beautiful women, he said music was his passion, "second only to the dogged pursuit of beautiful women."

Yup, there are too many gargantuanly coincidental instances occurring to be merely innocent. Ludo's some sort of conniving criminal alright, and the actor Ryan Gage's toothy mouthful of a grin probably helped him snag the role!!!

For sure, that actor is spot-on in the role! (Incidentally, I'm pretty sure I've never seen him in anything else - which is slightly surprising, considering so many British t.v. actors/actresses tend to turn up in multiple UK dramatic productions we get on PBS.)

Finally watched episode one last night. I don't understand the tension between Morse & Thursday, I found it really odd. Another thing I thought was strange was the time jump, first, it was NYE & then it is five months later (May 1970)?

The cook at the Grapes being the flasher wasn't much of a surprise.

In my opinion whoever the killer is, they also killed the older guy on the barge (he obviously saw something, plus he had her coin purse)?

Any thoughts on the significance of the rats & crows?

I rewatched the beginning & noticed that the person the first victim saw on the path was older? & had a cane (that has a hidden sword to slash the flasher's throat)?

Am I the only one who doesn't like Strange?

Is Bright Jewish? I got that impression from the men who visited his wife.

Sorry that my comments are so scattered. I'm watching it again this afternoon & will add more when I'm done.