‘The Chelsea Detective’ Recap: ‘The Blue Room’

8/29/2023

Written by John Edward Betancourt

Vanessa Emme and Adrian Scarborough as Detective Sergeant Layla Walsh and Detective Inspector Max Arnold in Episode 201 of ‘The Chelsea Detective’ – ‘The Blue Room’. (Photo Courtesy of Jon Hall/Acorn TV.)

Caution: This article contains spoilers for the Season Two Premiere of ‘The Chelsea Detective’. To revisit the Season One Finale, click here. Also, this piece was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the series being covered here wouldn’t exist.

It is definitely safe to say that season one of the Acorn TV series, The Chelsea Detective, was one of the most refreshing first-year seasons for a crime drama in ages. Simply because… this was a show that offered up fully fleshed out characters right out of the gate, and that’s rare. Since usually it takes a year or two to really come to understand what makes the characters tick. But here… we knew exactly what Detective Inspector Max Arnold was all about, and how his mind worked, and speaking of that… that too was quite refreshing. Since it allowed for us to explore neurodivergence and that’s something we don’t see on television all that often, not to mention… the sheer amount of diversity in season one was equally as compelling and powerful. Plus, the cases were simply top notch and thoughtful and wondrous, and well… the good news is that the time has come to enjoy more of this marvelous and compelling series.

For yesterday saw the season two premiere of the show arrive on Acorn TV and well… ‘The Blue Room’ simply did not miss a beat. Because not only was that diverse detective room back on the air, with some slight changes since it was revealed that Priya stepped away to handle family life, but her departure allowed for Detective Sergeant Layla Walsh to step in and flex her prowess regarding a supremely unique case that offered up a bevy of commentary about our world. One where an art gallery manager was found dead after a headline show with some rare and wonderful pieces, and well… that forced Max’s crew to dig deep into that world and that allowed for the story to deeply explore what money does to people. Specifically, how it can truly change people for the worse.

Since we met an uppity socialite couple that was of course, suspect. Who did a wonderful job of projecting a sense of unity and stability regarding their marriage. Only for us to learn that they were… miserable individuals. Who were so rich and so influential, they lost touch with reality and more or less became caricatures of people. Especially when one considers the cold nature of how they treated one another in this tale. To the point where one would have let the other die rather than own up to truths or do something remotely human. All because the acquisition of money and things was their focus, and it was even poisoning those around them. For they hired a crooked cop that once worked with Layla and resigned instead of facing the music. And since he saw how much this couple had, he wanted a slice of the pie, and that prompted him to be as vapid as they to get a nice little payday that he didn’t really need. All again… because of the power of money and how it transforms us.

But what was amazing was that this story had more commentary to offer us regarding the power of cash. Because this tale also explored how it can help us to reinvent ourselves since we can in fact… buy our way into a new life and a new look, and how problematic that can be. Which was explored by way of the fallen art dealer. Who as it turned out, used his love of art to turn his life into a dream one. With a perfect husband and wealth untold, and well… his desire to be someone new and to forget about his roots is what cost him his life. For an old friend from a past life was employed to run a scam on the dealer’s very own gallery. Because he was dying of cancer and had nothing to lose by committing a little fraud, and well… arrogance and forgetting one’s roots… brought forth the end. Since that old chap couldn’t fathom how on earth someone, he called a close friend could have become so cold and so rude when an argument over who was in higher standing and how the robbery should have gone broke out.

All of which brought forth, a cerebral and powerful tale, one that really did dive deep into the horrible power of money, and of course… it offered so much more than those lessons. Since this was also a story that really did take the time to build the all-important dynamic between Layla and Max in the right manner, so they can work seamlessly together in future tales, and it also made sure to grow Max as well. Since he finally began to better communicate with his ex-wife Astrid here, and that might pay off in spades down the line. For this episode hinted that his actions might be exactly what Astrid was waiting for in their marriage in the first place. But what matters most, is that this wonderful series is back on the air. Because it really is different, it really is special and it truly does engage us with its wondrous writing and its wondrous characters and well, it will be genuinely interesting to see what amazing lessons we will take away from this refreshing series, as season two of continues along. Until next time.

Watch ‘The Chelsea Detective’

0 Comments