Review of the BBC's The Ink Black Heart, Part Four: The bombing and the finale.

 The fourth and final episode begins in the aftermath of Vikas Bhardwaj's murder, with Strike and Robin being harassed by the local cop for the skeleton keys. Amusingly, this fellow is depicted almost exactly as in the book, red hair, attitude and all. Happily, Angela Darwish (who is both older and taller than described in the book) shows up quickly. We get the pleasure of seeing Strike give Red a very snarky look as he exits. 

After our hereos leave Cambridge, there is major plot streamlining:  Robin immediately gets into Drek's game and opens a private chat with Paperwhite, intending to warn her she is likely next on Anomie's hit list. She gets as far as telling her that Anomie killed Vikas before being banned. Strike concludes that Anomie is monitoring private chats. 

They decide to contact Yasmin Featherhead, in hopes of getting her to warn Paperwhite of the danger Anomie poses. Interestingly, neither detective seems at all distressed about losing access to the game. 

The scene then jumps to the office on the next morning, where both Strike and Pat have arrived early. Strike is still limping, but without the cane he was using in Cambridge. After some small talk about tea, Pat begins opening a large cardboard box that has just arrived in the mail. As she gets out her letter opener to slit it open, the readers know what is coming.......

KABOOOOOM! 

If anything, the scene is more dramatic than in the book, given that in the TV office, the wall and door separating the partners' office from the main one are largely glass, not wood. And, given the size of the fireball, Pat would definitely have been a goner if she hadn't gotten away. 

Review of the BBC's The Ink Black Heart, Episode Three: OK, so Yasmin isn't the brains of the operation...

Bad-ass Barclay: Episode Three picks up at the scene of Barclay's motorcycle crash, with Philip Ormand checking out the scene, either to confirm Barclay is dead or to retrieve the phone he just threw in the river, it's not clear. In any case, failing to find Barclay, he apparently assumes the body has spontaneously combusted and  returns to his unlocked car, forgetting to check the back seat when getting in. Real winner of a cop, this one is. Barclay has managed to slip into the back seat, clotheslines Ormand from the back, and calls the police. I really enjoyed him getting a moment of action that he did not get in the book. This was definitely a step up from a plane ride to Scotland and a cup of tea at Nicole Crystal's. 

Fortunately, the police have also been doing their job and it seems Ormand would have found himself arrested soon, even if he hadn't tried to kill Barclay. His interrogation shows the police know about the false detention and the tracer on Edie's phone, as well as the fact that he had gotten possession of it after Edie was attacked and concealed this evidence from police. The attempted murder of Barclay is apparently just gravy. Puzzlingly, Ormand claims to have been passing information to Yasmin for "years"---  how long were he and Edie supposed to have been together, anyway?  Even more interestingly, Robin and Strike are apparently being allowed to watch the interrogation, live on camera, and are able to rule Ormand out as Anomie when the Gamemaster shows up to demand that Buffypaws attend Comicon.