#Morse and Joan I mean

[to-be-frank-i-dont-care]

Joan looking at Morse

(Morse looking at Joan)

[thekenobee]

Hold me in the dark and when the day appears We'll say we did not give up on love today

[redeemed-wren]

Why did I start watching Endeavour again this is just gonna make me SAD

[oeuvrinarydurian]

This letter—-it is the torment of my existence in “Striker”. It’s like Joan was taken over by a pod person.

“Dear Miss Thursday, Contained herein are materials that I ask you bring to the attention of your father. To my lasting regret we parted on poor terms. The fault was mine entirely.”

[lifeseffort]

Tag drop, part two!

[xserpx]

morse for the ask game?

How I feel about this character?

(Caveating this with the fact I haven't yet watched Inspector Morse, so this is only about Endeavour.)

Normally I'm not at all a fan of whump and I don't like feeling sad for well-meaning characters who are hurt repeatedly through (mostly) no fault of their own, but I really love Morse's brand of melancholia. The way he struggles to deal with change is too damn real, I'm a sucker for characters who struggle to voice their feelings and whose anxiety causes them to say nothing, because bitch me too. I also like that he's shy but it's kind of a selective shyness? Like if you catch him at the right moment or say a certain thing, he can be very snappish and outspoken and even funny, but then in those (incredibly important!) moments where he feels truly vulnerable, he just clams up, and it's heartbreaking and delicious to watch.

It's also undeniable that he is a massive prick sometimes. His treatment of women, his pretentiousness, there are moments when I want to slap him upside the head and I'm like you deserve this shit buddy! Monica my beloved, she deserved so much better from him. As much as he craves deeper connections with people and as much as I really want him to find a place to belong and settle down, it's so clear why he can't, why he shouldn't, and it's so deep rooted that in a way if he actually made a more concerted to change and do better he'd pretty much be a different person. And I like that the show never compromises on providing answers or catharsis for his struggles. Change happens, that's life, and there's often no way to deal with it that doesn't hurt.

I also love his dark academia style and the way it's grounded in finding meaning/belonging. It's not that it doesn't give him a sense of superiority at times, but like... that was his rebellion in the face of anti-intellectualism and abuse at home, and in a way I feel like he's earned the right to that pretentiousness. I think it dilutes some of the intimidating effect that opera and classics and poetry can have - some people listen to the Beatles, he listens to Wagner, one thing isn't "better" than another - but without binning it off entirely so that we still get to enjoy the commentary on classism. Plus watching him school the Oxford dons is always fun :P.

All the people I ship romantically with this character?

Romantically, hmm... The trouble is I end up feeling sorry for either Morse himself or whatever woman he's got his eye on at the time!

I love Joan and Morse, and I'd love for them to work things out, but the more time passes the less and less suited they seem to be. It's one of those relationships that's more about yearning than it is about getting together. They struggle to communicate and they're constantly miserable. He puts her on a pedestal because of her family, and Joan likes him because he's an enigma, and they can't move past that. But at the same time, fanfic exists for a reason, and I still love the yearning despite it all.

I'm not sure if I ship it romantically per se, but Max is another one where I feel like they could be more than friends, they're very Sherlock and Watson (and this fic by gaytobymeres is so good I love it). That scene with Morse and Max having tea in Max's garden is one of my favourites in the series, and I want that life for Morse so badly! Literalllyyy at the end of Exeunt I was like dude just move in with Max!! He'll never leave Oxford! He'll come along to your choral recitals! You have way more interests in common than any of your girlfriends have thus far! And he's lonely too, bless him ;w;.

My non-romantic OTP for this character?

I don't think there's a single character I don't ship Morse with platonically?? All I want in the world is a pub quiz fic featuring all of Cowley CID (and Trewlove) but I'm not clever or patient enough to write it. I wish we had more teamwork episodes tbh, and I think that's the best thing about seasons 5 & 6 (as dissipated as CID is at the start, that just makes them coming back together all the more heartwarming).

Morse & Thursday are of course the freaking bedrock of the show, they're just insanely good and I genuinely want them to be together forever. As much as he misses Joan at the end, I really want a happy ending where Thursday and Morse can stay together. At the same time, what with the whole men in the 60s reinforcing one another's emotional repression, I kind of wonder what would've happened if Thursday had been able to steer Morse in a different direction, and if it would have had a knock-on effect with helping Morse express his feelings for Joan and maybe end up somewhere better. But their characters are so intertwined it's hard to separate out the what-ifs. I do think Thursday had more of an impact on Morse than Morse did on Thursday, but you could maybe chalk that up to age. Leopards don't change their spots, etc. Still... lamenting lost potential is what grief is.

I'm also a huge fan of Morse & Trewlove tbh, he's so relaxed around her?? He tells her stuff he never tells anyone else?? They fake marry?? Ridiculously sweet. They share the trait of being incredibly dedicated and detailed in their work, and it bleeds over into a genuine appreciation for one another that they don't really have with any of their other colleagues (save for maybe Trewlove & Bright, another fantastic platonic OTP in my book). I also can see them being friends w bennies but I def don't ship them romantically.

My unpopular opinion about this character?

Not sure if I have one tbh. I haven't been here long but I generally think the wider fandom has it right about most things. Maybe not including Jakes as some brand of OTP? I feel bad because I love Peter, I just don't see him and Morse being particular friends any more than Morse and Jim are tbh.

One thing I wish would happen / had happened with this character in canon.

Um, happiness. Just, all the happiness. I wish he could communicate better. I wish he'd had a better childhood. I wish his house hadn't been burgled and that he could still listen to Rosalind Calloway without taking emotional damage. I wish he hadn't been beaten down and that he could feel secure and safe, and have a fulfilled life outside of work. Great tragedies always keep the happy ending in sight, and Endeavour does that incredibly, painfully, well.

If I had to choose something specific to have happened in the show, I guess I would have liked to see more of Joyce. I'm fascinated by their relationship and I really loved every cameo from Morse's past that we saw, plus episodes like Cartouche with cousin Carol. Tbf I have heard that Joyce shows up more in Inspector Morse, so... 👀

[alias71]

Endeavour & Joan - Missing Scene

It all started with this print (© The Red Dress London on Etsy):

I noticed that the moment depicted between Endeavour and Joan was not included in Season 6, which this artwork was commissioned to advertise. I didn't think much about it until the wonderful @sircolinmorgan posted this image from shutterstock:

Finally! Evidence that the deleted scene existed! But where from? Some investigation was required...

Okay, so when lightened up a bit, what you can tell just from that pic alone is that there’s a blackboard in the background, someone sitting at a desk, and you can see the edge of a camp bed (you can also see that she’s holding his other hand!) All of that of course suggests ‘Deguello’ and the aftermath of the tower collapse in the gymnasium. As far as I can tell there’s only one scene in the episode at this location and it’s when Endeavour escorts a child to a waiting parent and then Strange and Thursday are there and reach for him (quite a lovely caring moment):

Compare the first of these three pics and you’ll see the blackboard, the person at the desk, and that the blue area in the shutterstock pic is the privacy screen next to the blackboard.

Endeavour is wearing his blue shirt that’s consistent with both images, but he never takes his jacket off in the actual scene and it’s very odd that Strange touches Endeavour’s shoulder and he turns around, only for the scene to immediately cut to the makeshift morgue scene with DeBryn. You never see another scene at that location as far as I can tell. Does that imply something was cut there? The shutterstock pic shows Joan at that location, but she was never there in the episode.

The next scene with Endeavour is when he visits the little girl in hospital and meets Joan there:

Their conversation is extremely brief with Joan telling Endeavour he should be at home:

Morse: I wanted to see if she was all right. How is she? How's her mum?

Joan: Hanging in there. You should be home.

Morse: Home. So should she. So should her mother. So should everyone.

Joan: Accidents happen.

Morse: Yeah, not like this. You know, somebody's got to be responsible. Is there anything I can do?

Joan: You've done your bit and more.

Morse: Good night.

Joan: Good night.

Joan is of course wearing the same as in the shutterstock pic. The next time we see Joan she runs into Endeavour when he’s investigating the surveyor and she’s changed clothes:

They talk about the survivors and then have this little exchange:

Joan: How are things with you?

Morse: Oh, one day's much the same as the next.

Joan: I didn't mean work, I meant you.

Morse: Oh, it's the same thing, isn't it? Have you seen your father lately?

Joan: Not much. Why?

Morse: Well, I just wondered if he was all right. He hasn't seemed himself lately.

Joan: Oh.

Morse: Anyway, there it is.

It’s extremely halting and Endeavour leaves looking all awkward and uncomfortable. Make of that what you will because neither of the filmed scenes between Endeavour and Joan play like they could have had such a close moment as in the shutterstock pic with Joan touching his face and holding his hand. Obviously one was switched out, but it seems to me the entire tenor of their interaction in 'Deguello' was changed. These are the only scenes they had together and Joan isn’t in the rest of the episode or the next season for that matter! I wonder if it played a part that Sara Vickers wasn’t available - I have no idea how far in advance they could have known. It's also possible they felt that a romantic moment would have been out of place in the midst of a tragedy, or perhaps they simply decided against allowing Endeavour and Joan to be close. No matter the reason, it's a real shame - it looked like a beautiful scene!

Anyway, that was my little Sherlockian endeavour (snort!) into the missing Endeavour/Joan moment everyone was robbed of. I think it’s probably much like the sigil scene in BBCs ‘Merlin’ where a totally different version was filmed with a very different feel, and we don’t know why that was swapped out either! Damn my favourite shows.

[fanficrocks]

Joan and Morse are so totally playing Elinor Dashwood and Edward Ferrars here.

Time to stop the flirting at the altar, given you are bride-to-be and NOT-the-groom-to-be.

😢

Morse: You alright? Joan: Yeah. Reverend: Is this the lucky man? Joan: Uh, no, this is Mr. Morse. Morse: I'm the Best Man. Reverend: Ah! Well don't worry. If the Groom doesn't turn up we shan't be calling you to step into the breach.

Endeavour | Exeunt

[too-antigonish]

They come at you through what you love.

It's very much like a fairy tale. We get this line—or something close to it—on three different occasions.

The first time is in Home just after Thursday tells Morse about what happened to Mickey Carter (his first young protégé) and why he left London (to go into his first exile).

THURSDAY: They come at you through what you care about. MORSE: That's why you moved to Oxford.

The second time is in Uniform. Morse tells Thursday, "Whatever we find here's not gonna be forgiven," and tries to convince Thursday to put Jim (meaning also Joan) on secondment somewhere.

MORSE: What was it you said? "They come at you through what you love.” You have to keep them safe now, all of them.

And then finally in the churchyard of All Angels in Exeunt after Thursday has just revealed to Morse that he is being blackmailed by Lott. Morse tells Thursday that he knows money alone wouldn't be enough to give Lott a hold over him. Thursday tells him what is enough.

THURSDAY: I told you. They come at you through what you love. Family! You got to let it go. For everybody's sake

I'm sure I'm not the first or the last to point this out that this seed was planted all the way back in S1. There has also been a lot of attention paid to the issue of Morse not seeing himself as being included in those statements. He doesn't see himself as someone cared for, as loved, or as family, when he is very much all three.

However to come at it from a different angle, every once and a while it strikes me again that so much of this show is about a very simple premise:

It explores the idea that love and connection are what make you most vulnerable to the evils of this world. At the same time, they are also the things that make life worth living and that give us strength.

So how do you live that terrible paradox—with both of these things being true at the same time?

And how do you respond when your love is used against you?

[to-be-frank-i-dont-care]

I can't believe I never noticed this on any of my other watchthroughs

When Morse arrives at the Thursday's home in Fugue, Joan is staring out the second-story window already waiting for him to arrive

As soon as he rings the doorbell she is there to pull the door open, meaning she probably flew down the stairs so that she and she alone would be the one to answer the door instead of anyone else

And all I can think is that at dinners in the Thursday household, Fred has been telling his family about the strange new man he's recently been working alongside (leaving out the work details, of course), although the new fellow is no more than a boy, really, who's sarcastic and devoted to opera and has a bit of a chip on his shoulder but oh his mind is brilliant and he's got a peculiarly gentle and caring side to him that you don't often see in policework-

And after all those dinners of her father talking about his new bagman, Joan must have found out that one morning he would actually be coming to pick Fred up instead of Jakes. And after all she has heard about this new boy she is just dying to meet him because this is a guy her dad actually seems to like, someone he genuinely approves of instead of "scaring off," and maybe Joan is hopeful, and maybe she wonders if he's really as gentle as her father says, and maybe she wonders if he's at all cute, and maybe she thinks there could be something there in the future

and she would be one hundred thousand billion trillion percent correct

*cries*

[mywingsareonwheels]

In which I ramble about Morse again :D

Oh Morse. The endless dilemma that is this: he constantly feels like he's been abandoned and is alone, from more or less the age of 12 for the rest of his life, but from the moment Fred Thursday chooses him in the pilot of Endeavour, he isn't. From then on he's loved, and constantly has people in his life who have no intention of leaving it; who either don't leave it (Max, Strange, maybe Dorothea, perhaps Joan though that's complicated, Lewis once he arrives), who do so without remotely wanting to (Fred and Win), or who just do for reasons that don't mean any lack of love for him (Jakes, Trewlove, Fred and Win as far as Carshall, Bright, Sam, I assume McNutt). Um, or who he himself fucks up towards so he loses them that way (Monica, Adele). Not to mention the existence of Joyce! He doesn't find a long-term romantic partner, let alone someone he can marry and have children with. But he's always got at least a couple of people who adore him kicking around. <3

I so love the moment in s9 of Endeavour when Fred points out that Jakes always thought a lot of Morse, and of course Morse disputes that, because Jakes to start with was an absolute dick towards him. But as Fred says, Jakes turned up on Morse's doorstep! (I think that exchange really is key: I mean, sure, Fred can be an optimist, but when we see everything through Morse's eyes (which is mostly what we're shown)... oh my do we miss things. Morse doesn't see how much Jakes' opinion of him grows and changes, and that we are given an insight into; what else doesn't he see which we therefore have to infer?

Due to a) his own trauma, b) circumstances, c) the fact that he is monumentally bad at receiving love (and can get really unnerved when people try, so they stop trying), d) that most of the people who love him are monumentally bad at making their feelings clear even when c) isn't in play... oh, but his belief that he's abandoned and alone is utterly sincere and painfully understandable, even while it's also sometimes frustrating to watch. "I'm being left alone, no one I'm close to will still be in Oxford!" MAX. IS. RIGHT. THERE. MORSE. "Thursday is going and I doubt he ever loved me." His heart is breaking, Morse, you're both just idiots and he did the worst fuck-up of his life while trying to save his son.

And honestly, that's... I mean, it's desperately relatable, isn't it? We've all been there, or at least, a lot of us have. In that space where we can't see the love that's in front of us, and where we see rejection where there's none. His trauma growing up and then at college, all the appalling lack of emotional intelligence or openness among, well, everybody around him. The fact that the people he gets on best with are all ultimately really fricking traumatised too and have their own Stuff. There are some agonising mistakes all round, but...

... but ultimately, Max was with Morse as long as he could be. And Lewis was a loyal friend to him from almost the first moment they met. And Strange was with him when he died.

And no one can tell me that Fred Thursday didn't miss him for the whole rest of his life. (Nor that they never wrote to each other! I still think they did. ;-) I also would be unsurprised if Morse gets letters from Trewlove, Bright, and Jakes. :-) )

[morsesnotes]

Jace Lacob: I love the scene at the fete, where Joan tells him that he doesn’t look like himself. ‘Maybe I’m not me, not anymore,’ he says. ‘Things change,’ echoing Thursday’s earlier remark. Why does Morse want to hurt Joan here? Is it just masculine pride after her rejection?

Shaun Evans: Yes it is as simple as that, I think. Also it’s again pushing away. You know, it’s like you said about Thursday. It’s a pushing away. You start something new, you feel terrible about what happened with Fancy. Things aren’t really working out. I mean, this is an incredibly bright guy who’s constantly being shat upon at work, right? And then has been put back in uniform despite having solved all of these cases the cream is not rising. He’s being put out to pasture, back in uniform, utter humiliation, his life isn’t moving in a way that I think it should be. You kind of, in the same way that Thursday, you kind of wanna push people away from you. ‘Ok I’m gonna start fresh. I don’t want you guys close to me to see how humiliating this is.’ But also you know you’ve got to remember that he said, like twice or even more times, he said, ‘Will you marry me?’ He’s followed her up to a roof thinking there’s gonna be a romantic moment, and she’s like, ‘So I’ve got this friend I’d like you to meet.’ I mean there’s gonna come a point where I think you’re like, ‘This is done.’

-- Interview with Masterpiece Theater (2019)

[dnickels]

I was listening to a very good podcast and it come me thinking about Henry V and Endeavour-- obviously Russ (may I call you Russ, Mr. Lewis?) is having a little fun with Roger Allam's wonderful performance as Falstaff, but what does it mean, to position Morse as Hal in their definitive rupture? To draw that immediate and direct comparison (I know thee not, old man)? Thursday is a killer (a murderer, if the semantics are important) and has a number of other flaws we've known since the first episode, but is he Falstaff? Thursday's not a drunk. He's not a thief. He's flirted with prioritizing his own comfort and personal wealth over his duty, but he's not a coward. A bully, maybe, on occasion, but a bully in someone else's service and operating under an ideology of 'preserving social order', which doesn't make much difference to whoever he's beating up today but its relevant for literary critique.

So when Morse rejects Thursday, what is he meant to be rejecting here? He's hardly a Prince Hal himself, outside of his problem drinking. And Morse is undeniably a moral actor and scrupulously so, but Morse of his later years is hardly a white-horse-riding rousing-speech "the mirror of all Christian kings". I could see an argument for Morse as Harry in a negative reading of Henry V, where there are questions about the justification of his war and the single-mindedness with which he pursues it, or Morse deluding himself into thinking he's ever going to win his long, endless siege at Harfleur. He did spend his thirties desperately trying to die leading various forlorn hopes, and perhaps no longer knows what to do with himself.

But looking at the denunciation in the pub compared to Hal's dismissal (and banishment!) of Falstaff more literally, there's a thread to pull apart: the prince is putting away childish things to become a man, to finally clean his act up and take up the mantle of duty he's spent the play dodging. It's ludicrous to say Morse has been thus far neglecting his duties, but here I think we see the apotheosis of the cranky old man: rejecting Thursday, no longer looking the other way on his little (and big) peccadilloes, means closing his heart to everything the Thursdays plural-- Fred, Win, Joan, and Ringo-- brought back into his life after his breakdowns and directionless drifting. He's going to take up the sword. Hal ascends to Harry, but Morse seals his own fate. He'll make Inspector, but at what cost? If he starts to believe that Fred was his Falstaff, leading him astray, he'll lose that fragile ability to trust, to be open, to make a connection that lasts.

What infinite heart’s ease Must kings neglect that private men enjoy?

Long story short: Watch My Show

[sircolinmorgan]

actually after posting that joan gifset i want to rant a bit about how she deserved a better ending.

she claims in s4 that she doesn't want the 'pram in the hall' type life and fights to get away from that. she moves out, gets a job that she loves and is fighting hard to make her way in the world..only to end up with the life she didn't want. you could argue that she grows up and realises that settling down isn't such a bad thing after all, the problem with the show being all about morse is that other characters don't get as much character development and you don't get to see joan's thoughts very often, which is why her ending up with that life feels jarring.

i don't necessarily think she should have ended up with morse (if you pretend IM doesn't exist) but she definitely shouldn't have married jim. i've seen people say how good jim is for her and how he treats her well and always checks if she's alright etc etc, but she doesn't love him! she as much admits it to sam. not to mention he's in a cult, would joan really accept jim being in that considering her work and views of the world? she should have called off the wedding and realised she's happier on her own. we don't see enough of jim and joan's romance but from what we do see, jim sees only the good parts of joan. morse has seen joan happy/flirty/scared/sad/angry, they've argued. yes jim checks how she is in 8x03 but so does morse! he's there earlier in the day asking if she needs anything, he's always asking if she needs anything! it's always just bad timing for morse and joan that means nothing happens, if they both weren't such a mess things may have ended differently. but regardless, the writing for joan was always kind of poor but especially her ending.

[thekenobee]

Season 9 ending leaked

my headcannon - their vows, their wedding...kiss the bride.

even though it was all in his head, it was a beautiful scene nonetheless and something for us fans to dream about and hold onto. At least we know for a fact that he loved her dearly. It was real love. And she loved him but was also too scared to say, and was obviously waiting for him to say those words for real, "I love you." How tragic.

[librawritesstuff]

In the spirit of the holiday season, I present to you all:

All I Want For Christmas (Is For Morse to Finally Make a Move On Me) (Joan)

Last Christmas (Was the Same As The Year Before. And the Year Before That.: Worked Until Midnight, Then Drank Myself Asleep)

This Christmas (Did You Not Listen to the Previous Track?!?!)

It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (*exasperated chuff*)

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas (But Maybe Don’t Use Tinsel On The Evidence Board Instead of String, Boys?) Strange

I'll Be Home For Christmas (Solely From Guilt, Most Likely Sleeping in the Lumber Room) Feat. Gwen

Baby, It's Cold Outside (Because I Wear The Same Crappy Car Coat All Year Round)

Do You Hear What I Hear? / That One Church Bell Is Slightly Flat (Feat. Peter Jakes)

Santa Claus Is Coming To Town / And He Best Not Be Bringing Any of That London Business to Oxford, If He Knows What’s Good For Him (Fred)

What Are You Doing New Year's Eve? And Will the Police Need to Get Involved?

The Twelve Days of Christmas (Dear God, try to properly staff a police station when everyone wants a holiday. Whatever happened to duty?) Bright

Silent Night (Except For The Occasional Gunshot)

Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer (A Hoof to the Head, or, In This Particularly Gruesome Circumstance , Matriarchal Death By Ungulate, Genus: Rangifer) Max

We Need a Little Christmas (No, We Don’t, Actually)

What a Wonderful World (Is It, George? Is It Really?)

Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree (Is That Really Proper Behaviour to Celebrate the Birth of Our Lord? Damned Impertinent of This Generation) Bright

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch (Maybe I Like Grinches?) Shirley

Do You Want to Build a Snowman? (Not Without the Proper Paperwork, Matey) Strange

The First Noel (Two More and They Pull Your License)

There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays (Except If You Grew Up in Lincolnshire With People Like Cyril and Gwen)

I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day (And That Swot Morse Keeps Insisting One is Flat) Feat. Peter Jakes

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing! (Violating the Oxford City Noise Ordinance #318(C)2(e)(1) subsection 16, £12 fine)

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas (That’s an Order, Morse. Go home!) Feat. Fred Thursday.

(With thanks to @too-antigonish for assistance with mixtape compilation)