History Recap / EndeavourS9E01Prelude

* RuleOfThree: The newly sober Morse refuses the offer of a drink from three people -- Dorothea Frazil, Max DeBryn and Ronnie Box, all of whom react in a surprised way when he turns them down.

* TheCon: As the manager of the Oxford Concert Orchestra, Fisher has been fiddling the books to make it look like the various hotels the orchestra stayed in while touring Europe were charging more than they actually were, and pocketing the difference. Margaux found out about this and was threatening him about it at the time of her death.

* IJustWantToBeNormal: Christina, a very talented violinist since she was a schoolgirl, expresses this.

* INeedAFreakingDrink: Two examples.
** After being released from the military prison, Sam Thursday asks his father to take him to a pub before they go home. Later on, Morse comes across him in a drunken state.
** What pushes Morse back to the booze is the revelation that Joan Thursday and Jim Strange are engaged, added to which, Strange wants him to be the best man.

* PlotAllergy: Margaux's allergy to nuts is used against her to by Mabs, triggering a fatal allergic reaction mid-performance.

* RuleOfThree: The newly sober Morse refuses the offer of a drink from three people -- Dorothea Frazil, Max De Bryn and Ronnie Box, all of whom react in a surprised way when he turns them down.
* SeventiesHair: Somewhat downplayed; the two men in the orchestra have pony-tails, and Strange is sporting a pair of sideburns.

* WeaponizedAllergy: Margaux Quincannon, the lead violinist in the Oxford Concert Orchestra, suddenly chokes to death during a performance. Max concludes she died from a fatal reaction to a nut allergy, but the police struggle to determine how she was killed as she hadn't ingested anything before the performance. Morse eventually figures out the killer ground the nuts into power, then embedded it in the wax that was used to prepare her violin bow. Thus during the performance as she played the dust came loose and she was unwittingly inhaling it.

* WeaponizedAllergy: Margaux Quincannon, the lead violinist in the Oxford Concert Orchestra, suddenly chokes to death during a performance. Max concludes she died from a fatal reaction to a nut allergy, but the Thames Valley police struggle to determine how she was killed as she hadn't ingested anything before the performance. Morse eventually figures out the killer ground the nuts into power, then embedded it in the wax that was used to prepare her violin. Thus during the performance as she played the dust came loose and she was unwittingly inhaling it.

** Margaux's hotel bill is from the Englischer Hof Hotel in Meiringen, Switzerland -- the hotel where Literature/SherlockHolmes and Dr. Watson stay before the former's final encounter with Professor Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls in the "The Adventure of the Final Problem".

* BusmansHoliday: Or rather, Busman's Orchestra Recital. Morse is enjoying an evening of classical music when one of the violinists drops dead. Played even straighter when the orchestra manager asks IsThereADoctorInTheHouse and it turns out the only in attendance is [[TheCoroner Max]].

* RuleOfThree: The newly sober Morse refuses the offer of a drink from three people — Dorothea Frazil, Max De Bryn and Ronnie Box, all of whom react in a surprised way when he turns them down.

** [[CowboyCop Ronnie]] [[DirtyCop Box]], last seen getting shot in "[[Recap/EndeavourS6E04Deguello Deguello]]", is now working as a private detective. How he managed to avoid the long prison sentence one would expect for the crimes he committed is not stated, although given his partial FaceHeelTurn (he being the one who shot [[TheManBehindTheMan Alan Jago]]) he might have got a lighter sentence by way of a full confession and a guilty plea.

* CallBack: Lots.

** As a result of the latter, Morse returns to Blenheim Vale; there are also several flashbacks from [[Recap/EndeavourS2E04Neverland that episode]], including footage of a distraught Jakes and Thursday getting shot.

* CallForward: A big one to the [[Series/InspectorMorse original series]], given that the dead man found in Beaumont College went by the surname Lewis and was from the [[OopNorth North East of England]].
* ComicallyMissingThePoint: When Morse refers to Hardy when talking of his recent trip to Dorset, he obviously means Creator/ThomasHardy. Strange, though, thinks he means Creator/LaurelAndHardy.
* TheCon: As the manager of the Oxford Concert Orchestra, Fisher has been fiddling the books to make it look like the various hotels the orchestra stayed in while touring Europe were charging more than they actually were, and pocketing the difference. Margaux found out about this and was threatening him about it at the time of her death.

* GoingByTheMatchbook: A variant; Thursday finds that his surname and phone number have been written on a matchbook that was among Mickey Flood's personal effects.

*** As Strange points out in the episode he and Morse have been through a lot together and he regards him as his best friend, (And Morse being Morse he's never made his feelings for Joan Thursday known to anyone including the woman herself.)

* MeetCute: Invoked with Morse and Christina, who meet when he catches her when she trips over.

* RuleOfThree: The newly sober Morse refuses the offer of a drink from three people — Dorothea Frazil, Max [=DeBryn=] and Ronnie Box, all of whom react in a surprised way when he turns them down.

** Andrew Lewis's mother worked for several Oxford-based companies that have been the subject of police enquiries in this show, among them British Imperial (the arms manufacturer in "[[Recap/EndeavourS1E03Rocket Rocket]]") Richardson's (the supermarket in "[[Recap/EndeavourS3E02Arcadia Arcadia]]") and — more ominously — Landesman Construction (the corrupt building firm in "[[Recap/EndeavourS2E04Neverland Neverland]]").

* IsThereADoctorInTheHouse: Shouted out word-for-word when Margaux Quincannon collapses mid-performance. Fortunately, there is -- Max.

* MissingMom: Andrew Lewis came to Oxford to track down his; she's not been seen since 1962.

* ShoutOut: A few, as ever.

* RuleOfThree: The newly sober Morse refuses the offer of a drink from three people — Dorothea Frazil, Max and Ronnie Box, all of whom react in a surprised way when he turns them down.

* DeadpanSnarker: Max is on good form, as usual.
-->'''Dr [=DeBryn=]'': We can probably assume he wasn't lying dead in the middle of a drinks reception, Sergeant. People tend to notice that sort of thing.

* Morse refers to his having taken part in an Oxford Scholars' Choral Association performance the previous year; his performing with this group got him in the paper in "[[Recap/EndeavourS1E02Fugue Fugue]]".

** Morse's enquiries into Lewis's death lead him to Burridge's, the department store in "[[Recap/EndeavourS2E03Sway Sway]]".

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: For Margaux Quincannon, the lead violinist in the Oxford Concert Orchestra, it's guest soloist Christina Poole, who she tries to intimidate with a bullying tactic she used on another rival at school (driving the poor girl to suicide in the process). In turn, Margaux is this to supporting violinist Mabs Portman.

** When Morse visits Burridge's, mention is made of a "Young Mr Burridge", further emphasising the similarities between that department store and the one in ''Series/AreYouBeingServed'' in which the store's owner was always referred to as "Young Mr Grace".

** When Morse visits Burridge's, mention is made of a [[Series/AreYouBeingServed Young Mr Burridge]].

* INeedAFreakingDrink: What pushes Morse back to the booze is the revelation that Joan Thursday and Jim Strange are engaged, added to which, Strange wants him to be the best man.

* Morse refers to his having taken part in an Oxford Scholars' Choral Association performance the previous year; we saw him perform with this group at the start of "[[Recap/EndeavourS1E02Fugue Fugue]]".

* INeedAFreakingDrink: What pushes Morse back to the booze is the revelation that Joan Thursday and Jim Strange are engaged.

* ComicallyMissingThePoint: When Morse refers to Hardy when talking of his recent trip to Dorset, he obviously means Creator/ThomasHardy. Strange, though, thinks he means https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Creator/LaurelAndHardy.