Eliza has a chance to prove herself to Alexander Blake in Miss Scarlet season 5, episode 2. Let’s dive into the new episode.
Caution: There are SPOILERS from Miss Scarlet season 5, episode 2.
The new episode started with The Guild of Private Detectives making an offer to Eliza that she could definitely turn down. It would lead to Eliza getting a chance to prove to Alexander Blake that she is someone on his side.
It all started at dinner, and Mr. Potts continues to be insufferable! Ivy is clearly fed up with his attitude to money and in life, but she can’t step away from him just yet. However, Eliza can walk away from dinner for a short while to talk to the President of the Guild of Private Detectives. It’s a conversation she will keep in mind forever.
Eliza will not ruin Blake’s reputation in Miss Scarlet season 5, episode 2
The President wants Eliza to make some false accusations against Alexander Blake. As Blake has spent some private time with Eliza, it would be perfect for her to claim that someone untoward happened. The President offered Eliza a place in the Guild if she did it.
Rather than do it, she tells Blake everything that happened. This naturally leads to Blake confronting the President, but it’s only a matter of time before he’s called back to deal with a murder investigation. The President has been killed.
This is one of those episodes that brings up a lot of the past for Eliza. Thomas K. Malone pops back up, and it turns out that he has hired a certain secretary, Cynthia Quinn. Of course, it looks like Thomas may have been the one to kill the President. Malone wanted to take over as President, but he was willing to do it the fair way.
No, despite the President being killed by a poison, it wasn’t Malone. Pettigrew finds out that it was Cynthia who bought the poison, but she didn’t kill the President, either. She bought the poison for him, as he was going to put the poison into Malone’s favorite wine. This is why the syringe is important, as it was going to be injected into the cork and into the wine, leading to Malone dying slowly and it looking natural.
The President had a tremor, and that attacked just as he was about to inject the cork. He ended up injecting himself accidentally, killing himself. Cynthia took the syringe so it couldn’t be linked back to her.
It wasn’t over, though. The Vice President tied up Malone so that he could end up getting the vote as President as Malone didn’t turn up. It didn’t quite work out the way anyone planned, but I did like the twist that it wasn’t actually murder—and instead, karma got to those who deserved it.
Eliza has to create a clerical staff
Blake did agree to hire a private detective, though. He wanted Eliza, but it wasn’t to work on a case. He needed someone to go through all the CVs of women applying to be secretaries. Since the documents would be classified, Blake needed trustworthy people.
Cynthia Quinn was qualified, but it soon turned out that with how she was playing all the games, she wasn’t suitable. However, Eliza—as much as she didn’t want to do this—came through with a team of staff.
I loved that Ivy was there at the end. Ivy had been struggling with being stuck in the world. It’s clear that she doesn’t love Mr. Potts, and she’s lonely at the house when working. She wants something more in life, and she wants to better herself. Eliza listened to all of that and made sure Ivy ended up on the team. Now she will need to prove herself!
Eliza finds a way to connect with Blake in Miss Scarlet
Eliza did end up helping Blake on the case, even though he didn’t really want it. She knew Malone from the past, and she also knew who bought the poison thanks to her own contacts and staff.
However, it was more than the case that allowed the two to connect. As Eliza paid a visit to Blake’s home, a young girl answered the door. That was Sophia, Blake’s daughter, and Eliza decided to do something nice. She bought a new book for father and daughter to read, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.
This was a book Eliza loved as a child, and Blake genuinely accepts it. You can tell that he’s coming to like Eliza, even though he’s still not on board with hiring private detectives.
Blake admits that Sophia is struggling. Her nanny struck her, and it’s clear that he doesn’t stand for this. So, Sophia is now being looked after by a neighbor. I can’t help but think that Eliza or Ivy will end up connected to Sophia in some way.
For now, Blake has done more opening up to a person by admitting that his wife passed away. Eliza didn’t ask how. She knows what it’s like to grow up without a mother, and she genuinely feels for Sophia. I have a feeling from this that it’s Eliza who ends up connecting with Sophia at some point down the line, and this could end up with Eliza and Blake finding more common ground.
In the end, it’s clear that Eliza isn’t going anywhere, and Blake has seemed to accept it in Miss Scarlet season 5, episode 2.
Miss Scarlet airs on Sundays at 8/7c on PBS.
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