Stanislaus

Compared to The Incredible Theft, which also had a gangster-spy feel, I was a bit more interested in The Adventure of the Cheap Flat. I liked Poirot's allusions to the American police and the fact that he wasn't afraid to act on his own. The icing on the cake was a nicely done sequence set in New York, referring to old spy films from the 1930s, and next to that the character of the wacky owner of the Black Cat club.

In Double Sin, it is Captain Hastings who uncharacteristically takes up the investigation of the case, while Poirot pretends to be retired, for which he has his own (somewhat ulterior) reasons – but even so, the grey cells of his brain do not rest, as Miss Lemon, searching for her lost keys, could tell you. And it doesn't really matter that there's no murder in this episode, because a simple heist can be just as attractive and well-executed.

The Disappearance of Mr. Davenheim belongs to that group of cases that stand out for their playfulness with the viewer and their attention. It is also a very funny episode, mainly thanks to the bet between Japp and Poirot, who passes the time in his apartment by learning magic, in the company of a poisoned parrot. I also liked the use of flashbacks, which were spared in previous episodes.

The Cornish Mystery offers a case full of suspicion, false accusations and digestion, but even that doesn't stop the grey brain cells from unraveling and unmasking the perpetrator. Again, one of those episodes in which Inspector Japp takes a severe beating from Poirot, but we could have gotten used to that by now.

The Lost Mine benefits from an exotic cast of Chinese mobsters and businessmen, and is also enriched by a funny line about playing Monopoly (Poirot vs. Hastings) and a humorously contrived chase (I was quite amused by the sort of "prehistoric" tracking system from the 1930s). It's definitely one of those less traditional stories about a mustachioed Belgian.

The Veiled Lady is one of the most humane cases in which even a great detective tries his hand at being a "criminal", but in a positive sense. The result, then, is an imaginative game of disguises and role-playing that keeps the suspense (and humour) from beginning to end. It was amusing to see Poirot without his traditionally groomed moustache and still riding his bike, plus I liked the slightly tweaked musical theme.

Peril at End House, as the first feature-length Poirot film starring David Suchet, particularly benefits from a supremely complex story in which the word plot takes on its true meaning, as it was a properly convoluted and intricate case during which the grey cells of the brain had to work at full steam to catch a very cunning perpetrator. For me personally, one of the best cases for the moustachioed Belgian.

The Dream is definitely the most accomplished, most playful and best-constructed case of the first series, benefiting especially from a well-thought-out plot, and it's really a shame that it's one of those 50-minute episodes, as this one could have carried a feature-length running time. In addition to that, I was amused by the typewriter storyline.

Personally, I found the plot of The King of Clubs a bit too convoluted, and as far as the unraveling of the case is concerned, I was surprised by the final “crime-not crime” verdict (the initiated know what I'm talking about). In this case, the source material is mostly to blame, as the adaptation wasn't bad at all. I'm always really amused by how out of touch everyone except Poirot is, to the point where it sometimes too blatant.

The Incredibly Theft stands out from the Poirot cases in that there is no murder, and it is essentially a spy chase after a robber (spiced up with Nazis) rather than a detective story in the true sense of the word. And it's these "classic" whodunits with a murder, its subsequent solution and the discovery of the killer that I prefer. Thus, for me as a viewer, The Incredibly Theft stays in average waters, even if the ending is not exactly a bland affair.