MovieChat Forums > Foyle's War (2003) Discussion > Foyle's meanness

Foyle's meanness

posted 8 years ago by webbrl-177-543920
13 replies | jump to latest

In another thread, lilactime2014 wrote on Tue Aug 30 2016 13:23:46

Foyle, for the time, is one of the most well rounded, fair minded, non-judgmental characters ever written.

Actually, the more I watch the show (over and over and over), the more I see how mean he is. Take "Bleak Midwinter." He dresses Sam down brutally for trying to discuss whether or not Milner could have killed Jane. "Do we ever discuss cases?" Well, YES! All the time! In fact, he'd just sent Sam to a funeral to spy and report back. She was a plant in "Among the Few." They discuss cases all the time.

I find Foyle to be extremely judgmental. He's constantly giving people that "Shame on you" look. He speaks dismissively and smart-assedly to people, including his own staff. And he seems to have a very high opinion of himself, lashing out at anyone who suggests the slightest wrong-doing on his part. I'd love to know if Horowitz realized how mean Foyle could seem and if he wrote him that way on purpose.

[–] SrEditor 8 years ago

That's an interesting take on Foyle's behavior. I'd be surprised if Horowitz had your interpretation in mind, but who knows?

Does he Tweet? Maybe you could ask him?

[–] webbrl 8 years ago

Google Google Google. He has an account!

[–] Jes' Sayin' (6361) 6 years ago

Foyle's behavior is exemplary. Some people these days think everyone needs to be treated like a special snowflake.

[–] joegerardi (383) 6 years ago

I think you're mistaking high morality with meanness. Remember: he dressed even his own son down for how shabbily he treated Sam.

He saw black and white, and nothing grey, which is why he had so much trouble in MI5, which was pretty much nothing BUT grey.

..Joe

[–] Destinata (3335) 6 years ago

Which was the episode where he had a woman rescued from an interrogation unit? He leaves the room after sorting things out in his usual "take no prisoners" style, and leaves the two men behind -- one with too many secrets. We hear the gunshot, and as we do, Foyle merely pauses on the stairs, then continues his way.

There were a number of times when he looked the other way. Those who live solely in the realm of black and white never would have done.

[–] joegerardi (383) 6 years ago

No, that was still his black-and-white. A hard morality- the guy was dying from the tick bite, and was a traitor to his country- all he did was save the executioner some time.

..Joe

[–] Destinata (3335) 6 years ago

And what was the way in which he had the woman rescued from the interrogation unit? --using a man that MI5 had turned down. A man who sees things in black and white wouldn't have bent the rules that way.

And a man who sees things in black and white couldn't use psychology as skillfully as he does. I know because I'm more of a black and white kind of person. I believe the way to a man's heart is through his chest. When people flounce off in a huff, they usually fire at me what they think is the withering line, "Everything's black and white with you, isn't it?" I've long since quit firing back, "And your point is?"

I must say that Foyle's clear sense of right and wrong does appeal to the black and white thinker in me, but he's far more creative about how to achieve justice than I am.

[–] joegerardi (383) 6 years ago

MI5 turned him down because he wasn't the "old school tie" kind of person. Foyle used him, because morally, it was wrong to try to hide the mistake, so he used the man that should have been hired.

I still see that as black-and-white.

But we can agree to disagree.

..Joe

[–] GlenEllyn (21526) 5 years ago

I didn't see it as meanness. I saw it more as having scruples.

[–] jackronner (61) 5 years ago

It's an uncompromising adherence to form and fairness, tempered with compassion; an honorable approach to life which is almost unrecognizable in this world. Perhaps that's why I find this show so wonderful. Every character HAD character.

[–] Ranb (9642) 3 years ago

Perfect people are rarely interesting.

[–] Quasimodo (16388) 3 years ago

Foyle is not Sam's buddy he's her boss. It's a different kind of relationship. Foyle also knows that discipline is crucial for effective police work. Sam is young and inexperienced and Foyle keeps her in check.

[–] Weedhopper (1) 3 months ago

Yes, here I am watching the same episode nine years after you made your comments, and I found myself thinking exactly the same thing, he is really a mean bastard, very arrogant and self-serving and pretentious, and so on.
I also find Sam very annoying, she’s about asuseful as a one legged person in a bucket kicking contest, she remind me of that old Carol Burnett character, Alice Portnoy, a kind of Girl Scout, who is very annoying with all kinds of hidden agendas. Sometimes Sam seems like 12, and then they give her clothing and an hairstyle that makes her look 21. But she seems quite immature after meeting her father in a previous episode, I can see why.