Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Steve Pemberton, Reece Shearsmith, Jill Halfpenny, Fionn Whitehead, Tom Goodman-Hill.
A sleight of hand always captivates the audience, their faces caught somewhere between incredulity and amazement, the wonder of how the penny drops as they conclude how the trick was conducted right in front of them, whilst all the time believing they could not be caught out, that they were alert to every possibility that could occur.
It takes real magic to get one over a television audience in the days of the keen eyed and the chance of slowing down frame by frame what is seen on screen, and yet what the crowd in front of the screen sometimes forget is that Misdirection comes at a cost, the head scratching, the questions and the feeling that you have been cheated out of understanding; something that you can never fall into the trap that Inside No. 9 offers, but you can still be enthralled by its delivery.
A deception that comes from the expected source is nonetheless a prize to worship and be fascinated by, and with Reece Shearsmith providing much of the episode’s intrigue, with a tremendous supporting role from Fionn Whitehead, the illusion of the magic is created but also the impression of murder is conceived. After gaining a trick of genius from Willy Wondo in the most brutal of fashions, Neville Griffin, Reece Shearsmith in particularly fine form, becomes the celebrity illusionist and magician that he had always dreamed of becoming; his secret is safe, his life is perfect and yet as with all things in life there is always an ill-tempered fly ready to land in the soup and create havoc.
Misdirection might not play upon on the mind as with others in the series but it perhaps the closest the team have come to capturing the essence of the early Tales of the Unexpected to which Inside No. 9 has ultimately seen itself as the worthy successor. Dark enough to leave you on the edge of your seat, insanely brilliant enough to have you pondering with pleasure just how far the art of deception can go; Misdirection is an instruction easily admired and one that shows Reece Shearsmith at his absolute best.
Ian D. Hall