Title: Old School Ties
Directed by: Sarah Harding
Written by: Alan Plater
Air Date: February 25, 2007
Previous: Whom the Gods Would Destroy
Next: Expiation
Guest Starring: Owen Teale, Don Gallagher, James Russell, Gina McKee
"Old School Ties" is the third episode of the first season of Lewis, aka Inspector Lewis in the United States.
Nicky Turnbull (Owen Teale) has been invited to Oxford to speak to the Oxford Union
. Turnbull bills himself as a "rock and roll hacker" who broke into all sorts of classified areas over the then-new internet and stole quite a bit of money, before he was arrested and sent to jail. Now he's out of prison and he's written a memoir. Turnbull says that he's received death threats, so he asks for police protection, and naturally he gets detectives Lewis and Hathaway.
Turnbull's talk to the Oxford Union goes well. Quite well, in fact, as Turnbull walks away with not one but two lovely young Oxford students, Jo Gilchrist and Caroline Morton. The next morning, someone has been murdered—but not Turnbull! In fact, it's Jo Gilchrist who was found strangled to death in another room of the same hotel where Nicky was staying.
Lewis focuses on Nicky, but he has an alibi in the person of Caroline Morton, who had sex with him that night. So who did it? Maybe Professor Weller, who was the subject of articles by Jo Gilchrist in the student newspaper, accusing him of running an "exam scam". Maybe David Harvey, a rugby player and Jo's boyfriend until she dumped him after he blew out his knee.
Nicky becomes less of a suspect a few hours after Jo's body is discovered, when he is shot to death by a sniper, leaving Lewis and Hathaway with two murders to investigate. Turnbull's wife Diane (Gina McKee) comes up from London to identify the body, and is surprised to meet Robbie Lewis—her old schoolmate up in Tyneside, and her first boyfriend.
Tropes:
- Bonding Through Shared Earbuds: Lewis and Hathaway, believe it or not. The episode ends with Hathaway giving Lewis an earbud and letting him listen to the "world music" that Hathaway plays in his spare time with a few other musicians.
- The Cracker: Nicky, who wasn't that malevolent but who did steal a lot of money from various places, including Oxford.
- Die Laughing: Or at least die snarking, as Nicky, shot through the heart, has time to say "I'll make the front pages tomorrow, bonny lad" to Lewis, right before he croaks.
- Dies Wide Open: A closeup of the staring, sightless eyes of Jo Gilchrist, lying in the hotel room where she was strangled.
- Fictional Document: Nicky's memoir, Confessions of a Rock 'n' Roll Hacker. He does a book signing. Nicky has just sold the movie rights to some American producers for a fat sum.
- Foreshadowing: For several seasons into the future. Diane says to Robbie that she met Dr. Hobson and "I think she fancies you." Much later on the run of Lewis, Lewis and Hobson would in fact become a couple.
- Hollywood Hacking: Nicky is a hacker who was recently released from prison who hacked into the CIA, FBI, and various other government agencies - and who is functionally illiterate (the illiteracy being a plot point - sort of). Anyone who knows anything about computer security knows why this wouldn't work.
- Honey Trap: Discussed Trope. Nicky uses this exact phrase when saying he suspected that Jo and Caroline were up to something, but he went along anyway because he figured it was a small price to pay for a three-way with two hot college girls. Caroline admits that, yes, she and Jo were planning to sell their story to one of Britain's sleazy tabloids.
- Jerkass: Nicky doesn't quite rise to the level of Asshole Victim but he was an unpleasant guy, arrogant and condescending, and totally unashamed of his crimes. He also irritates Lewis by playing into his Oop North background.Lewis: I might end up killing the bugger myself.
- Never One Murder: Part of the Lewis formula, although this episode really rushes things by having the second murder barely a third of the way through the episode.
- Old-Fashioned Rowboat Date: David and Caroline take one, although they don't look like they're having too much fun, what with all the murders.
- Oop North: Discussed Trope. CS Innocent says she assigned Lewis to guard Nicky Turnbull because they're both northerners, to which an annoyed Lewis says he's never been "a professional northerner." He also calls Nicky a "professional Geordie" (someone from Newcastle, like Turnbull and Lewis). Later, Nicky tells Lewis that he's fabricated/exaggerated much of his background to more closely resemble the pugnacious Oop North stereotype, something which Nicky says really impresses Londoners.
- "Pan Up to the Sky" Ending: The camera pans up to the sky as Lewis and Hathaway walk down an Oxford street, having cracked the case.
- Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Charlie Read openly confesses to having hurt a lot of people, but never a woman. He recalls how even Inspector Morse gave him credit for that.
