Original Airdate: 31 January 1993 Written by: Anthony Horowitz Directed by: Peter Barber-Fleming Recurring cast: Captain Hastings, Miss Lemon
Tropes:
Adaptational Expansion: A plot involving shady dealings with Argentine military officers aiming for a coup is added to pad out the episode. It provides the the killer's motive in both the original death and the attempted one — he didn't want it to be known that he'd spent his ward's bank account in those dealings, or that they were lost forever when the coup was undone.
Artistic License – History: The 1930 Argentine coup is stated to have taken place in 1934 in this story.
Beneath Notice: How the murderer operates: disguising himself as a waiter to administer the fatal dose of cyanide in a glass of champagne, completely unnoticed. It comes back to bite him in The Summation.
Brick Joke: Early in the episode Poirot and Hastings have a good-natured argument on English cuisine, where the former displays his reservations. At the end of the episode, with Poirot left hungry after the case wrapped up, Hastings takes him out for a late-night meal - fish and chips.
Crusading Widower: Barton Russell presents himself as this, to the point where he's had the circumstances of his wife's death re-enacted two years to the day right after. It's a subversion, given that he murdered his wife.
Diabolus ex Machina: Poirot was on the scene when Iris Russell was poisoned, but due to the political situation of Argentina at the time, he was promptly arrested then deported the day after, making him unable to solve the case.
Faking the Dead: Poirot tells Pauline to fake being poisoned, in order to lull the murderer into a false sense of security.
Foreign Queasine: Downplayed: after solving the case and having the guilty party arrested, Poirot laments to Hastings that while the murderer had set up the events to take place in a restaurant, he himself had ironically spent so much time on the investigation that he didn't have the time to eat anything the whole evening and every restaurant in the city is closed. Hastings says he knows a place that's still open, leading him to a food truck selling fish and chips. Poirot naturally hesitates at first, having stated that the English don't have a concept called "cuisine" and that their "meat is overcooked, the vegetables, soggy and the cheese, inedible" at the beginning of the episode, but considering the circumstances, he then starts happily eating his portion, deeming it "passable."note Fridge Logic sets in when you remember that fried fish was invented in Spain and chips/French Fries most likely originated in Belgium!
When Le Jardin des Cygnes opens in London and Poirot receives a yellow iris shortly afterwards, Poirot realizes he has a chance to solve the case for good.
Anthony Chappell meets Poirot for the second time in similar circumstances as the first: after an argument with Pauline Weatherby.
How We Got Here: When Hastings and Miss Lemon ask about the significance of Le Jardin des Cygnes and the yellow iris, Poirot tells them the story associated with them.
Irony: Russell murdered his wife by disguising as a waiter and poisoning her drink while everyone was distracted by the singer. Russell is uncovered as the murderer while Pauline, his next intended victim, was disguised as a waitress and passed coffee to him while he was distracted by Poirot giving The Summation.
My Greatest Second Chance: Poirot failed to solve the case of who killed Iris due to his being detained as a spy and deported from Argentina. With the Jardin des Cygnes restaurant open in London and a yellow iris delivered to him, Poirot is determined for a second try, hoping that he will not fail again.
Quiet Cry for Help: The iris is sent to him by the owner of "Le Jardin des Cygnes", who takes a booking from Barton Russell identical to the night of Iris' death in Argentina, and doesn't want history to repeat on his restaurant's opening night.
