Inside No. 9 (TV Series) Misdirection (2020) User Reviews

Back to their old tricks.

[benjaminchristopher · 9/10 · 24 February 2020]

I loved tonight's Inside No.9.

Watching this series reminds me of older days where tuning into a tv channel at a certain time to catch your favourite shows newest episode!

This evening gave us a mad feud between magicians and the code. Plenty of tricks and misdirections (see episode title..).

The young chap from Nolan's "Dunkirk" was superb. This is everything I love about Inside no.9;

Sharp script, Witty dialogue, Intense, Gruesome, Makes you think.

Hope the next two are on par! Maybe a comic relief episode, there's been some mighty dark ones this season.

Another skillful piece of writing.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 9/10 · 24 February 2020]

This series has been a total triumph so far, another very different, unique episode. As I watched this one, I felt like I was watching modern day Tales of The Unexpected, it had that sort of structure and feel, with a sting in the tale.

Shearsmith was particularly good, as was the wonderful Fionn Whitehead. It felt like a throwback to the early years, a very dark and sinister start.

Brilliant! 9/10

Shearsmith and Pemberton deliver another success!

[Cryptic_constable · 9/10 · 20 September 2021]

"Misdirection" is a beautiful concept, and unlike some episodes of Inside No.9 it is extremely successful and works well. After finishing the episode, all the loose ends tie together elegantly and the acting is nailed by all concerned. Some fly and some fall; this no doubt flies!

I would say 9/10 as it isn't a knockout success like "12 Days of Christine" or "A Quiet Night in", but it is still very good indeed.

Fantastically twisted

[sledgelam · 10/10 · 25 February 2020]

By far the strongest episode so far in S5.

Inside No.9 at its best evokes a harrowing humour, with characters whose fates you're forced to care about. It's no easy accomplishment given the show's runtime, but it's achieved in abundance this episode. Other examples include Tom & Gerri, The Harrowing, La Couchette, 12 Days of Christine and Private View. Perhaps the darker episodes excite me that little bit more.

Neville may well be one of my favourite characters across the entire show.

Well done guys.

Atmospheric

[eppingdrwho · 26 February 2020]

This is a fun episode that works well in a confined setting that doesn't feel confined. The cast all interact well and the script is tight, there is some wit akin to The Riddle of the Sphinx. This episode succeeds in being dark but not sombre.

"I'M DOING ME PROGRAM"

[southdavid · 8/10 · 25 February 2020]

After last week's dramatic diversion, "Inside Number Nine" returns to more familiar themes of Murder and Magic, ideas close to Reece Shearsmith's heart.

Neville Griffin (Reece Shearsmith) is an aspiring magician. An older magician, Willy Wondo (Steve Pemberton) shows him an inspired trick involving a levitating chair that could be a career maker. When Willy refuses to sell the trick to him, Neville kills Wondo and copies his notes. Nine years later, Griffin is an acclaimed magician, married and happy. That is until one evening when he interviewed by Gabriel (Fionn Whitehead) an aspiring magician himself, inspired by his grandfather, who mysteriously disappeared almost a decade earlier.

Whilst this episode is perhaps not as funny as some of the others in the run, it's one of the most intricately plotted. It's also works hard to acknowledge where we, as the audience are, in relation to the plot, so it rules out a few potential twists and turns as it goes along. That said, I felt slightly disappointed at the conclusion that there wasn't one more twist at the end, one final surprise that would take it over the top. I'd also say that it could perhaps have done with a story beat to remove sympathy from Griffin's wife, played by Jill Halfpenny. The price she pays isn't really justified as she likely doesn't even know her husband's guilty secret.

If Steve Pemberton got to show what he could do in the last episode, this one is Shearsmiths time to shine. Pemberton is barely in this one, following his cameo at the beginning - in fact it was interesting that he wasn't directing this episode - rather than next weeks - as you would have thought it would have given him more of an opportunity to do so (perhaps it allowed him more prep time for it). Fionn Whitehead, from Black Mirror's "Bandersnatch" episode is excellent too.

I like "Inside Number 9" the most when it takes its darker turns and this episode is no exception. (Still looking forward to another proper horror episode though).

Their back to best !!!!

[allanmichael30 · 9/10 · 26 February 2020]

This episode was what i love about their series and without spoiling it this episode was ace. They lead you in one direction only for a big reveal.

It cuts both ways

[srrrrdjw · 10/10 · 5 May 2023]

This is so good. The number of times I've been able to watch it and pick up on something new is impressive. The plot concerns a magician whose signature act is lifted from a former colleague and this results in a real time confrontation between a young, aspiring magician and a well established older one. There are a number of spectacular, memorable, unique and baffling elements at play, but the more you've seen the trick, the more it seems superbly clever yet logical.

Inside no 9 - among other shows like black mirror - often run with concepts that are self referential and illustrate a well known concept in overly literal and often ironic terms (an EC comic famously depicted a baseball team exacting revenge and then using body organs as equipment for example). The concept of misdirection is "an Inside No 9 style episode in which the misdirection is misdirection." And it works out exceptionally well. It's probably a bit helpful to be a little familiar with Derren Brown who is peripherally and at one point overtly referenced. A few complaints in other reviews are, sorry to say, objectively wrong. For instance, saying that the conversation between Neville and his wife is a plot hole because he ignores a huge warning is simply wrong. It may not sit well with people but the lack of attention to his partner is an integral part of the story. As for the suggestion that the ending should have been more shocking, I think this came from people who did not understood the trick properly. And I don't blame them for that, the show doesn't patronize its audience at all. Even the fantastic Mountweazle story was so confusing to me on first watch I had to rewind three times.

From there, it's a matter of taste, as the story is so exhaustively detailed, showcased, and brought to life with an amazing set and on-brand suspenseful score I'm not certain how much could have been changed without a whole rewrite. An easy top 5 episode for me and one of two or three that I would suggest to anybody watching for the first time.

It's all in the head

[safenoe · 8/10 · 10 December 2020]

There's numerous layers here that requires several viewings. Revenge in the magician world is on display here, along with two murders for good measure in this episode of Inside No. 9.

Like another reviewer, I thought that Jennie's head would be shockingly in the safe. Not to be. Anyway, Jennie (in a too small a role) is played by Jill Halfpenny.

Missed a trick

[smithuk-52308 · 8/10 · 9 March 2020]

An enjoyable darkish episode but the twist could have been much better if that when they opened the safe they had found jennies head inside instead of just the knife

Very good, but one part just didn't make sense for me.

[hellopaddy · 7/10 · 18 March 2020]

A very well crafted episode, but why did the magician not question the messages being left at the desk of his wife's hotel after she told him?!?

If I had a video call with my significant other and they told me I'd been leaving increasingly aggressive messages at the front desk, I'd definitely question it, and want to get to the bottom of what was going on. Knowing it wasn't me would immediately set alarm bells ringing. So the ending was marred by that one detail, and I thought it would have had some intricacy with the overall plot and twists, but it just didn't.

Maybe I'm missing something, but that turned what would of been a superb storyline into an OK one. Still well thought out, and Reece Shearsmith is brilliant as usual, but yeah, frustrating.

Episode 504

[bobcobb301 · 7/10 · 5 May 2021]

I think we all expected the episode to end how it did, but magic is always an intriguing premise for shows like this, and it was still entertaining even if it wasn't shocking.

Fantastic

[andrew_flay · 27 February 2020]

Wow great writing and great episode love this show.