The original post: /r/television by /u/RazorOfSimplicity on 2026-01-19 22:24:27+00:00.

Did anyone find this series enjoyable? My general opinion of it was that it was fine, until the last episode where the killers’ master plan is unveiled and the story collapses in on itself. Spoilers below:

I haven’t read the book, so I’m just going off of what Wikipedia says about it, but I’ve noticed the changes they made to it introduced a whole lot of plot inconsistencies that completely smothered the basic premise of it.

  • The killer’s signature mark for the first murder is that he arranged seven alarm clocks on a mantelpiece. In the book, this is apparently to draw out any reactions from anyone who could be a part of The Secret Society™ (this is still a stewpid-ass plot point even in the book, but whatever). In the miniseries, however, the guy who does this is neither the killer (just an after-the-fact accomplice), nor the one behind the master plan, nor even aware of the existence of the Seven Dials society. Instead, it was done just because. I don’t even remember what was said to justify him doing this.
  • Also, later on, while the group is chasing down Loraine, the same guy (who is HER ACCOMPLICE) suggests she’s planning on making her escape on a train, which is obviously correct since he’s in on the plan and revealed this information 'cuz it wouldn’t be fun if it’s too easy, right?
  • The next bit is the whole stupid trope of “dying guy, just before dying, mumbles a cryptic message about the killer.” He explicitly says, “tell… Jimmy Thesiger… the Seven Dials…” before croaking. Jimmy Thesiger being the guy who shot him, of course, and him trying to deliver unto us the killer’s identity phrases it in that specific manner for reasons that were never explained, of course.

None of the killers’ master plan had anything to do with the actual Seven Dials in this series, so I’m once again enunciating how egregious it is that: A) The guy arranges alarm clocks to make a Seven Dials reference even though they’re trying to disguise the murder they committed as a suicide and B) the guy who was killed mumbles about the Seven Dials in his dying breath.

I’m interested if anyone could expand upon whether these plot points in the book made more sense or not.