Detective Inspector Alexander Blake wastes no time in showing Miss Eliza Scarlet the door in the Miss Scarlet season 5 premiere. He has no interest in hiring her to help solve the crimes of London, and it doesn’t look like he even needs to.
We know going into the season that Blake doesn’t work with private detectives. In the premiere, we learn that Bristol loved him. He managed to save the city money because he did all the work himself and with his own team.
Of course, we knew that there must be a reason behind him not using private detectives. He explains why to Eliza in the Miss Scarlet season 5 premiere, although there still seems to be more to it.
Alexander Blake shares his reasons against private detectives in Miss Scarlet
When Eliza initially pays Blake a visit at the police station, he just says that he won’t use her services. He will pay for the work that she has done already, but the relationship with the police is terminated.
Why doesn’t he use them? Well, he explains that in the second meeting as the two are sizing each other up and sharing their observations about each other. Blake shares that he has no respect for the career because of the way he has been burned in the past.
He gave two examples. A private detective once held back information so that he would keep being paid by the police, and another was working with both the police and the criminals, making the case even harder to crack. Now, he chooses to do it all with his own men.
Eliza goes out of her way to prove Blake needs her in the Miss Scarlet season 5 premiere
In a way, Eliza proves that she could be just like the rest. While she wouldn’t hold back evidence in the hope of getting more hours, she does end up investigating the case to prove that she is valuable. She is even hidden in a room with a dead body until Blake finds her, believing that she has information that he doesn’t.
The only think Blake hasn’t worked out is who the dead body is, though. He knows exactly who killed the man, and he arrested her before he found Miss Scarlet in the room.
It’s clear that Blake is a smart and capable man. He may not need a private detective’s help, which leaves us wondering what that means for Eliza and her agency.
Miss Scarlet airs on Sundays at 9/8c on PBS.
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