Original Airdate: 23 October 2013 Written by:Mark Gatiss, Ian Hallard Directed by: Peter Lydon Recurring cast: Captain Hastings, AC Japp, Miss Lemon, George Based on:The Big Four
Tropes:
Actionized Adaptation: Inverted. The original book had several action sequences that made it closer to a spy thriller, but the adaptation is not more or less as action-packed as a typical episode would be.
Adaptational Heroism: Li Chang Yen, Régine Olivier and Abe Ryland, three of the titular Big Four are innocent in the adaptation.
Adapted Out: Due to the massive changes of the storyline (which scales down the scope of the affair), the cast is considerably pared down. Among the deleted characters are Achille (the fake twin brother of Hercule Poirot) and Countess Vera Rossakoff.
And I Must Scream: Mr Paynter was killed by having his head burned in the furnace. The murderer drugged him into paralysis to prevent him from screaming, but he was apparently conscious during the whole affair.
Anger Born of Worry: Miss Lemon gives Poirot a big Death Glare at the end of the adaptation for making her think that he was dead.
Ascended Extra: In the original novel, Flossie Monroe is only one of the many Flat Characters whose sole purpose is to provide a single clue to aid the investigation. In the adaptation, she is the object of affection of Claud Darrell, whose unrequited love for her is the reason why the Big Four was even founded.
Death by Irony: Claud Darrell, a theatre actor, dies by having a curtain drop on him.
Death from Above: During the final confrontation, Claud Darrell tries to shoot at Poirot, at which point Tysoe drops a curtain on the former which kills him.
Demoted to Extra: In the original novel, Hastings served as Poirot's primary sidekick during the investigation; in the adaptation, Poirot is mostly aided by Tysoe and Japp, while Hastings plays absolutely no role in the case, appearing only after Poirot's "death", running off to try to avenge him in some way, only for him to return at the very end of the episode after everything's already wrapped up and not even finding out that Poirot's death was faked until he sees him standing there, no worse for wear.
Dies Differently in Adaptation: In the book, Savanaroff died in Siberia and his identity was appropriated by Claud Darrell as one of his many disguises. Here in the adaptation, Savanaroff makes it to the chess match and dies in Wilson's stead, ironically making him Claud Darrell's first murder.
Distressed Dude: Abe Ryland in the end, as he's paralyzed with gelsemine.
Door-Closes Ending: At the very end, when Hastings returns to find Poirot alive with his remaining old friends, he embraces Poirot, who joyfully cries out, "Bon ami!", just like in The Mysterious Affair at Styles. As soon as they embrace, George the valet closes the door behind them all before the scene cuts to the end credits.
Double-Meaning Title: The title both refers to the "Big Four" criminal conspiracy which drives the events of the novel (and adaptation) and to the reunion of Poirot, Hastings, Japp and Miss Lemon, who were the four original main characters of the series and to whom the episode reworks the novel as something of a tribute.
Dramatic Spotlight: Occurs during the reveal of Claude Darrell as the villain.
Emerging from the Shadows: After Albert Whalley tries to get Flossie to rule the world together, Poirot's voice is heard shouting, "I think not, Monsieur!" We then see a shadowy figure appear on the stage, and within a few seconds, Poirot himself emerges from the shadows, alive and well.
Failed a Spot Check: The culprit would have gotten away with his plan to kill Poirot had he not recognized the possibility that the building which he trapped Poirot in had an unlocked back door.
Faking the Dead: Poirot himself is revealed to have faked his death in the explosion.
Poirot notices that Régine Olivier and Stephen Paynter hold hands at the Peace Party gala, which hints at them having an affair.
When Tysoe shows the cards he found as evidence on the unnamed victim to Poirot and Japp, they notice that the edge of the third card is charred. This hints at Stephen Paynter's death by getting his face burned.
Four Is Death/World of Symbolism: Occurs quite a lot, unsurprisingly. For example, there end up four murder victims (Savanaroff, Jonathan Whalley, an unnamed tramp, and Stephen Paynter). Justified in that all of these are a figment of Albert Whalley's imagination. Whalley even lampshades this when he says that he, Number Four, is "death incarnate", which is also echoed in his ironic famous last words before he is killed.
From Nobody to Nightmare: Number Four is just a common actor from a no-name company, with neither wealth, fame or position of power. His role as the Big Four's mastermind turns him to a global threat.
The Ghost: Downplayed with Li Chang Yen, who never appears in person in the adaptation and is solely represented by his picture on the cover of his biography. In the denouement, he's represented by an empty Chinese-style chair whereas Ryland and Olivier are present. Justified, since his book counterpart was The Unfought.
Gratuitous Latin: We see a coffin being carried though to the cemetery both at the beginning of the episode and halfway through the end. Unlike most coffins, which only carry names and years of birth and death, this one bears an inscription that reads, "Hercule Poirot. Requiescat in pace" ("May he rest in peace.")
I Have Many Names: The culprit's birth name is Albert Whalley, and Poirot addresses him as such, however, he also goes by other names like Claud Darrell and Dr Quentin, reflecting his chameleon-like ability to adopt multiple personas.
In Name Only: This is a very loose adaptation of the novel, and the villain's motives and actions are completely different from the books. Somewhat understandable in that even Agatha Christie hated the book, which consisted of a few short stories strung together with a loose plot to meet a contractual requirement.
In the Hood: Throughout the episode we see three creepy people with cloaks and hoods over their heads. We eventually find out that one of them is truly evil.
Intrepid Reporter: Tysoe causes a lot of stir by publishing news about the Big Four's activities in spite of Poirot's warning that he be discreet.
Love Makes You Crazy: Claude Darrell falls in love with Flossie Monro, who told him that he's not good or famous enough for her. He then forms the Big Four to win her affection.
Master of Disguise: Deconstructed. Claud Darrell is so good at blending in to his roles that he becomes practically invisible to everyone else, to the point where his love interest rejects him because his talents have made him too good at blending in rather than standing out.
"Not So Different" Remark: Poirot tells off the villain regarding his taste for theatrics. He points out that Poirot is the same, given his need for a Summation Gathering instead of just sending in the police to arrest him.
Out-of-Context Eavesdropping: Subverted. Mrs Paynter overhears her husband and Madame Olivier talking to each other, assuming that they're talking about their affair. Poirot and Japp, however, assume that they were talking about their involvement with the Big Four. It turns out that the two really were talking about their affair, as the killer had suggested to Paynter to end it, and by doing so end up implicating Olivier as part of the conspiracy after he's murdered.
Plot-Based Voice Cancellation: While Poirot is narrowing down the suspects until he gets closer to the true culprit, he gets a phone call from the mystery caller, whose voice we don't hear often, before heading for one apartment... and into a Death Trap in which he survives while faking his own death. After the confrontation with the mystery man, who is revealed to be Albert Whalley, while Poirot explains to his friends the whole story toward the end of the episode, we get a flashback to the same scene when he answers the same phone call, and this time, we hear Albert's voice telling Poirot to come into his apartment for a supposed interview, in the hope of luring Poirot into the Death Trap... a trap that Poirot is clever enough to discover just in time to escape.
Pragmatic Adaptation: Adapted from a novel that itself was adapted from eleven unconnected short stories thrown together by Agatha Christie in a hurry.
Reestablishing Character Moment: For Hastings, Japp, and Miss Lemon, after they return to the series for the first time in over a decade.
Hastings is found lazing about on his porch at his Argentinian ranch, where he gets handed an invitation to Poirot's funeral.
Miss Lemon receives her own invitation at her home, where one of her cats waits by the door.
As for Japp, Poirot meets him again at a gala for the Peace Party, where Japp informs his friend that he's been promoted to Assistant Commissioner now.
Related in the Adaptation: Claud Darrell is a stage name for Albert Whalley, who is made Jonathan Whalley's nephew in this adaptation.
Rule of Symbolism: Each of the Big Four is represented by a playing card of some sort. A Chinese playing card marked with the number 1 stands for Li Chang Yen (as the supposed ringleader of the gang from China), a Monopoly Chance card marked with the number 2 stands for Abe Ryland (as the group's American industrialist), a French Queen playing card marked with the number 3 stands for Régine Olivier (as the group's French representative and sole female member), and a Tarot card displaying Death with the number 4 stands for "the Destroyer" (representing his identity as the cipher and The Heavy). Of course, it all turns out to have been invoked by the real killer to lend credence to a Conspiracy Theory.
Setting Update: The setting is moved from the 1920s to the late 1930s, on the eve of World War II. This provides the context for the Big Four's supposed actions, with them attempting to engineer a war for their own ends.
Ship Tease: In the final scene of The Big Four, Flossie Monro accepts Tysoe's invitation for lunch, and the two leave hand-in-hand.
Shout-Out: The newspaper headline that reads, "Hercule Poirot Dead: Famed Belgian Detective", is a nod to the August 6, 1975 headline obituary on The New York Times.
Sore Loser: Towards the end of the episode, just when Albert Whalley seems to have been defeated after defusing the Time Bomb, he still refuses to surrender quietly and points the gun at Poirot in an attempt to shoot him, all the while declaring that Whalley is "death incarnate itself". Good thing Tysoe has a trick up his sleeve.
Spared by the Adaptation: Flossie Monro is allowed to live, as are the three Big Four members who are innocent.
Starts with Their Funeral: The episode starts with what appears to be Poirot's funeral before flashing back to how his friends got there in the first place. Of course, none of them have any idea that Poirot is Faking the Dead until after the final showdown with Claud Darrell, the only villain of the so-called Big Four.
Time Bomb: Towards the end, Albert Whalley/Claud Darrell says that he intends to blow the Methuselah Theatre sky-high "in a blaze of glory" by setting the time bomb for one minute. However, Poirot tells him that in doing so, he might end up killing the girl he once loved (Flossie). Finally, Whalley admits defeat, and at ten seconds, he approaches the time bomb and defuses it at the last second.
Unwitting Pawn: Tysoe receives "classified information" about the Big Four from dubious sources. Sure enough, his informant is actually Claude Darrell, the mastermind himself, who deliberately fed the enthusiastic journalist with such incredible news in order to stir worldwide panic.
Visual Pun: Toward the end, Albert Whalley says that he threatens to "drop the curtain on the Big Four" by taking everyone all out in a blaze of glory. Then, when his plan is foiled and he points the gun at Poirot, Lawrence Boswell Tysoe cleverly drops the literal curtain on Whalley, killing him instantly.
