The Crow Road: Episode 4 - “Rory” (1996)

The last episode of The Crow Road builds to a great climax, but slowly – sinking realizations and a growing, creeping sense of foreboding as Prentice starts putting things together and the secrets begin to take shape.  Lost things are found, something that was there all along is truly seen for the first time, and stories are put to rest.

 

Obviously, since this episode is called “Rory,” and the miniseries is driven by Prentice's search for the truth about his uncle (trying to reconcile a lost man's stories at the behest of a dead woman – I like that,) there's a lot happening here that I should mention under no circumstances.  Overall though, I think the mystery is a pretty good one, and once you know the score, you can see the hints that were scattered along the way.

 

As for PC?  Again, I don't want to give too much away.  I'll just say that there's a really lovely flashback of Uncle Rory and a young Prentice going out to see a group of standing stones.  It's the only flashback that features just the two of them, and I really love their dynamic.  Such great uncle stuff – he's the caring adult doting on the child, but he also lets the two of them get away with things a parent wouldn't allow, and he never talks down to Prentice.  Seeing this scene, I can very easily believe that they would have gone on to have much the same dynamic that they do in Prentice's subconscious.

 

It's not a huge role, but it's a very well-executed role.  Rory interacts slightly differently with each major character, and yet there's still a distinct unifying Rory-ness that runs through all his scenes.

 

The last word:

 

Accent Watch

 

Still Scottish, of course.  Aside from Danny Boyle movies, I haven't seen a lot of specifically Scottish film/television, and PC’s filmography is quickly expanding that.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – Very much so.  I liked this a lot – better add another book to my reading list (can’t just read different version of Neverwhere one right after another.)  The characters and relationships are so well-drawn, and I adore the themes of memories and stories.

 

PC-wise – Yeah.  PC is none too shabby in this small but important role.

 

Warnings

 

In addition to the previous warnings for The Crow Road, “Rory” has a few more violent scenes and some dark subject matter.  Also, there's one sex scene here that's a little longer and better lit than most of the sex in the other episodes.