These days, "Motte and Bailey" is a term that usually refers to a dishonest type of arguing. What it boils down to is, someone will pretend to make a sensible claim (the motte), but they're just using it as cover to push something more controversial (the bailey).
I wondered if the makers of "Scott and Bailey" called it that as a pun, because a motte & bailey is what I got when I watched the first episode. It's presented as another British murder detective show, but turned out to be a celebration of police corruption instead.
The title characters are two cop partners. As so many of these modern series do, it spent a ton of time on Bailey's personal life, more domestic melodrama than mystery. Her boyfriend of two years, Nick, dumps her very unceremoniously. Some odd signs, like his abrupt sale of his condo, inspire her to investigate him, by abusing her police power to search his background. Scott warns her this can get her disciplined (I think she said Bailey could even get fired). But of course Scott goes along with it.
Bailey discovers the extraordinary and unlikely fact that Nick has been leading a double life as a married man with children and a fancy house. Such a development calls out for more insight into his character. What drove him to become a virtual bigamist?
If you're wondering this, you're out of luck, because the episode, and Bailey, couldn't care less. The whole thing is presented as shallowly as possible for such a plot twist. As far as they're concerned, Nick is a cad, and that justifies Bailey exploiting him. She actually *blackmails* him into giving her the condo.
And Bailey's supposed to be the heroine?
For a while, I thought they were setting up Bailey to come to her senses, by presenting a parallel plot in the murder investigation (Remember? This is supposed to be a murder mystery...I think), with another scorned mistress going too far. But no. Bailey fails to see any connection, and the episode acts like it's good she turned into a blackmailer.
Remember, deceiving a girlfriend isn't actually a crime. Blackmail is.
I watched this in the US in 2021, a time when police corruption doesn't go over so well here.
That does it for me and this series. I miss when heroines like Laura from "Rosemary & Thyme" would settle for throwing a rock through her hubby's window.
I wondered if the makers of "Scott and Bailey" called it that as a pun, because a motte & bailey is what I got when I watched the first episode. It's presented as another British murder detective show, but turned out to be a celebration of police corruption instead.
The title characters are two cop partners. As so many of these modern series do, it spent a ton of time on Bailey's personal life, more domestic melodrama than mystery. Her boyfriend of two years, Nick, dumps her very unceremoniously. Some odd signs, like his abrupt sale of his condo, inspire her to investigate him, by abusing her police power to search his background. Scott warns her this can get her disciplined (I think she said Bailey could even get fired). But of course Scott goes along with it.
Bailey discovers the extraordinary and unlikely fact that Nick has been leading a double life as a married man with children and a fancy house. Such a development calls out for more insight into his character. What drove him to become a virtual bigamist?
If you're wondering this, you're out of luck, because the episode, and Bailey, couldn't care less. The whole thing is presented as shallowly as possible for such a plot twist. As far as they're concerned, Nick is a cad, and that justifies Bailey exploiting him. She actually *blackmails* him into giving her the condo.
And Bailey's supposed to be the heroine?
For a while, I thought they were setting up Bailey to come to her senses, by presenting a parallel plot in the murder investigation (Remember? This is supposed to be a murder mystery...I think), with another scorned mistress going too far. But no. Bailey fails to see any connection, and the episode acts like it's good she turned into a blackmailer.
Remember, deceiving a girlfriend isn't actually a crime. Blackmail is.
I watched this in the US in 2021, a time when police corruption doesn't go over so well here.
That does it for me and this series. I miss when heroines like Laura from "Rosemary & Thyme" would settle for throwing a rock through her hubby's window.