Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Cast: Jason Watkins, Tale Gouveia, Claire Skinner, Hugh Quarshie, Charlie Jones, Bhavik C. Pankhania, Sophia Myles, Rilwan Abiola Owokoniran, Charley Webb, Will Young, Zaquis Riddick. Jared Garfield, Enzo Squillino Jr., Robert Goodman, Don Gallagher, Roy Smiles, Bill Blackwood, Simon Markey, Matthew Wynn, Michael Howe, Melanie Marshall.
The argument can often be discussed that a social myth or legend can enhance any story that it is placed into, that the subject matter held within the past experience can, and often will, benefit the lore even further.
One such legend is that which surrounds the aura of Robert Johnson, the myth, the invention perhaps, of selling his soul on an American crossroads is not only well-known, but almost has taken on a life in which it has featured across many genres of storytelling and used for its colourful anecdotal evidence that the individual cannot achieve greatness without acceding to a demand for compromising their worth, for selling their soul just to be acknowledged as a little more than others see them.
The latest media representation of the legend of Robert Johnson comes in the agreeable episode of McDonald & Dodds, Jinxy Sings The Blues, and it is one that raises the spirits of anticipation for its adherence to the myth, to the possibility of the exact place on the American highway map where the Devil offered the chance of immortality to the young guitar player.
Not only does the episode grant the viewer an engagement with a genre of music that is at its heart one of a purity of spirit, but also a deeper confidence of introduction to the characters under the skin of detective work, namely in this case D.S Dodds, played with a subtle compliance to the world by the calming persuasion of Jason Watkins, and a brief peek at his private life away from the job as the episode opens up the area of friendship, of how we often view the perceived oddball as being a distinct loner and how wrong we are in that assertion.
Jinxy Sings The Blues brings the ever reliable Hugh Quarshie in the role of Clarence Adderley, and the delight of Sophia Myles as Geraldine Bridget DeVere as two people to whom Robert Johnson’s legend means widely differing prospects and eventualities to them both. It is a tale of revenge, of dishonour, of broken friendships caused by a word spoken in anger, and the damage almost irrevocably caused.
The piece is almost sentimental in its appearance, the agreement to treat with reverence a legend and a very human approach to art, and yet refuses to let go of the hard truth at the very centre of murder, that we die alone, the devil does not hold sway on that which is appropriated by a disdainful God.
Whilst McDonald & Dodds can be viewed as a lighter approach to the world of Detective television fiction, there can be no doubting of its reach, of its engagement with the viewers, and in Jinxy Sings The Blues that commitment to explore themes of mismatched is retained and incredibly delivered.Ian D. Hall