#endeavour: pilot

[oeuvrinarydurian]

Good afternoon, delightful Tumblr people. It’s a gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous weekend in upstate New York in the Catskills. I’ve had Morse on the brain all weekend. Between writing that little vignette, and trying to explain to my mother why the show is so amazing, and our season seven project, I’ve been talking a lot and thinking a lot about his various life stages and iterations. It made me think of the very very very beginning. This scene never fails to move me. There’s so much emotion in it, and yet he isn’t even shot from the front. We barely see an entire profile. And of course, his eye roll…it says so much. it’s hard to believe this was supposed to be a one off, and he’d never played the character before. It’s just remarkable. The music is everything here too.

[jessieren]

I’ve watched these waaaayy too many times

[morse-perez-and-davenport]

Shaun Evans as Endeavour Morse in the Endeavour pilot

[sarkylittlemonster]

Imagine everything is bleak, everything is colourless. Feeling escapes you. Everything escapes you. Life, is some distant thing that other people have, something you think can't be made for you, something you think you can't have. And then one day, one precious day, you hear it. The strains of something so beautiful, it's like colour is trickling into your vision, like you can taste, hear for the first time. And you realise there is beauty in the sadness, there is hope in the desolate. And you realise to slip away is to give in, is to waste the chances your mother didn't get. Imagine that. Imagine hearing something and realising that this is the thing that saves your life.

If you can imagine that, then you will realise this is what Endeavour is. To endeavour, to find the beauty in the darkness.

[lazzarella]

Gosh, but Sam Reid is such a magnetic actor

[fanficrocks]

Love this Baby Morse fanboy phase. He is so cute and awkward here…

actual fanboy Endeavour Morse

[ilicythings]

still a wip, and i'm going to have to rearrange bc series 9 came out after i started this, but proud of what i've got so far

[prettyish-kind-of-wilderness]

Morse's relationship with Rosalind Calloway was very special. He says something like he didn't know what beauty was until he heard her voice somewhere. The lonely clever & sensitive boy whose mother had died and who lived with a probably never speaking father and a too-much-speaking step mother... So to him Rosalind became something ideally motherly & angelic. When he meets his idol he is drawn to her on all sorts of levels. Until the end...

This was such a strong opening.

Endeavor (itv) | pilot

[paranormaljones]

so i'm rewatching Endeavour

[oeuvrinarydurian]

Ohhh, my heart.

Endeavor Pilot (2011) + faceless

[tired-of-straight-lines]

Sam and his eyelashes in the Endeavour pilot

[mindhowyougo]

oxford's finest

[emiline-northeto]

Still thinking about how in the pilot of Endeavour, when we first see Morse, Thursday, and Lott, we don't see their faces, unlike the rest of (or most of the rest of the characters) in this episode, who we will not see again.

We see Morse's hands first, typing his resignation letter, and then his back, and the back of his head, and the record has been playing all this time and it's a measurable amount of time and finally, finally, after his coworker has tried to get his attention several times, he turns around and we see his face.

The shot of Thursday and Lott is particularly interesting because we see the car coming in but it is framed so you can't see who is driving and who is in the passenger seat. Then they cut to Thursday and Lott seen from the back, from a distance and there's a height difference there but unless you know the actors and you recognize their voices, you can't tell which one of them is speaking.

[hurricane-eva]

In honour of Morsetober 2.0 beginning today, may I reblog this old speedily executed doodle from way back when i first binged the show??? I can't believe it has already been roughly a year since then!

link to the reddit discussion group: https://www.reddit.com/r/EndeavourTV/s/vmDOSXGcSD

I actually watched the pilot last because it wasn't free and i signed up for the PBS trial so I could see season 9 and the pilot. So today's viewing was only my second viewing of it and I had forgotten a LOT.

Spoilers under the cut!

There is SO MUCH HERE; the foreshadowing is insane to me. Of course we have some for OG Morse, like moment contemplating the red Jaguar, but we also get the If Morse Wants Her, She Must Be Evil trope that we'll never escape from. The visuals are stunning. Morse jumps right into being a sasshole.

The Lott setup is great as well. I had forgotten it.

And of course we get Vulnerable Baby!Morse, talking about his mother and telling Rosalind how her voice saved his life. We get people telling Morse to Stop Being So Dramatic. We get DadFred who listens to the So Dramatic. WE GET FAINTING BABY DETECTIVE. Max and Dorothea are launched into orbit, very brilliantly. I love how neither of them have a whole lot of patience with him just at first!!

Finally but not leastly, I want to hear your thoughts on the montage during Rosalind's performance at the end. Is he imagining the whole scenario of her hanging herself and himself being unable to save her? Where is the line between imagination and reality?

My assumption is it is his own vivid imagination. That "I know who you couldn't save" is burned so deep into his psyche before Fugue even happens that every time a woman lets him down (even if he's at fault wholly or partially) he feels that sense of loss all over again. That he will never succeed or have anything to show for his life in the end.

I couldn't take screenshots watching on my phone so I hope someone will share some. Or some gifs. 👀

morse the woolgatherer

[oeuvrinarydurian]

I’ve been slammed at work. Happy Thursday Thursday! 

[augustinewrites]

as a captain in the luofu’s sky-faring commission, you’re no stranger to late nights. there’s always lots to do. there are expense reports to sign off on, mission summaries to type up, patrols to assign. the workload is never ending. 

“here are the reports you requested, captain,” a young, bright eyed cadet says as she places a stack of papers onto an empty corner of the desk. “and your coffee.”

“thank you.” you take the cup, flashing her a grateful smile before taking a quick sip. the warm, bitter sip of espresso is exactly what you need to get through the tail end of your night.  “i've sent you all the maneuvers we’ll be practicing next week, as well as patrol assignments for the month. if you have any questions–”

a few gasps cut you off, the attention of your fellow pilots drawn to the entrance. 

“it’s general jing yuan!” they whisper giddily. 

your brows furrow slightly. “jing yuan?”

“yes, love?” 

you startle slightly when a pair of arms wrap around your waist, a shock of white hair entering your peripheral as the most powerful man on the xianzhou luofu nuzzles the crook of your neck.

“dismissed. i’ll see you all tomorrow morning,” you say quickly to the starry-eyed pilots in front of you. they scramble quickly, leaving you alone with your husband, who gives them a lazy salute.

“i missed you,” he murmurs, his breath smelling strongly of osmanthus wine. 

“and i, you,” you assure him, twisting in his hold to face him and patting his cheek lightly. you see now that he’s dressed down in only the soft material of his shirt and trousers, forgoing heavy leathers and armour fashioned for a general.

when was the last time you'd seen him so relaxed in public? unburdened by the needs and conflicts within the luofu? 

jing yuan preens at your attention, grasping your hand to press a kiss to your palm. he gazes at you, cheeks rosy and eyelids already beginning to droop. “shall we take our leave then?”

gods, he’s starting to lean, resting his body weight against yours so you’re struggling to hold him up. “you certainly should, love. i’ll meet you at home once i’ve finished my work.”

“i suppose i shall wait for you then,” he concedes with a great sigh, suddenly pulling away. it appears your suggestion has fallen on deaf ears, because jing yuan drags an empty chair over to your desk, plopping down into it. 

given his drunken state, it’d be unwise to leave him to return home unsupervised. you wouldn’t be there to stop him from purchasing an unreasonable amount of baked goods (again) on the way home. 

“fear not, lover,” he grins, crossing a leg over his knee as he makes himself comfortable. “i shall endeavour to be as silent as a mouse while you work.”

you highly doubt his ability to do so, but know that arguing with him is pointless. once the general makes a decision, his mind is impossible to change. 

so he sits as quietly as he can manage, fingers drumming rapidly against his knee as he hums. it takes you a minute to identify the tune, but when you do your pen stops.

“is that our first dance song?”

“indeed.”

his chair scrapes the floor loudly as he drags it next to yours, leaning his head against your shoulder. 

“jing yuan,” you sigh, rubbing your temple. “i can’t work when you’re like this.”

he takes your hand, slipping his fingers between yours. “do you find my affection…distracting?”

“incredibly.”

you very nearly cave when he brushes your hair aside, nosing at the side of your neck before pressing his lips to your pulse. “then it appears i’m doing my job as your husband.” 

you stare hard at the expense reports, trying your best to focus with your lion of a man clinging to your side.

you feel a little guilty when you pull away from him, a whine escaping his pouting lips. you stand, straightening your uniform and stepping back to avoid his grasp

“stay here,” you instruct. “i’m just going to run to the archives room.”

jing yuan, as expected, does no such thing. 

giggles and odd looks are cast in your direction at the sight of an arbiter general trailing after you. 

“helm master!” he suddenly calls out, voice echoing through the building. your gaze darts to where his is fixed, spotting yukong walking towards you both. “i command you to relieve my wife from her duties for the night.”

she glances between the two of you, amused. “well, who am i to ignore an order from general jing yuan?”

“it’s really not necessary–”

yukong places a hand on your shoulder. “go.enjoy your night. besides, i doubt anyone will be able to get any work done with him moping about until you finish.”

she heads back to her post before you can protest, leaving you alone with the very satisfied general.

“come along, dear,” he says, scooping you up with ease and heaving you over his shoulder. he lands a firm smack to your rear when you squeal, arguing to be put down. “let’s head home and see if we can recreate the rest of our wedding night, hm?”

a/n: little drabble for @mydiluc for letting me ramble on about our fave men at random hours of the day ☺️ thank you my starshine sugarplum cupcake angel i appreciate you!!