New Order of Deaths

One of the things that I didn't like about this adaptation was the changes made to some of the crimes, because one of the themes of the book was that there was varying degrees of guilt among the criminals (and innocence among the victims), which determined the order in which they would die.

So, were I Mister Owen, using the crimes as presented in this adaptation and keeping in mind that some positions are dictated by the rhyme, this is the order in which my "guests" would be polished off.

MacArthur - yes, I know the commandment is "thou shalt not kill." Right after it is "thou shalt not commit adultery". MacArthur's victim is arguably the least blameless of the lot, so he gets the poisoned cocktail after dinner.

Mrs. Rogers - obviously pushed into the deed by her husband, her guilt is significantly less than the others. Into a glass of brandy goes the chloral, and "Mother Rogers oversleeps herself with a vengeance."

Blore - he killed a sodomite. A sinner, and one which a Victorian mind like Mr. Owen's would have viewed with disgust. Mr. Owen finds a way of isolating him, and one gets left behind.

Rogers - he's the only one likely to be chopping up sticks, so he has to go here no matter what.

Miss Brent - she didn't actually kill her victim, unlike everyone else remaining. The B stings her, and exit Miss Brent.

Wargrave - obviously, the chancery line means he has to be here, no matter what.

Armstrong - ditto, the red herring line.

Marston - the reason he's killed first in the book is because he doesn't actively choose to do wrong, like Blore or Lombard do. He simply does and thinks about it afterwards, if at all. In this adaptation, he's a little too self-aware for that to be the case. So, without the defect in his mental makeup that makes him less evil but simply dangerous (like a venomous insect), we weigh his crime against the others, and find it far more heinous than most. Bring on the bear.

Lombard - if I could figure out a way of putting him in one of the first few slots, I would. Changing his crime means that the only difference between him and Rogers is the number of victims involved: "This woman has / these 21 men have something I want, so I will kill her / them." The reason he's left until the end in the book is because he abandons his own men - men under his command to whom he has a responsibility. But there's no one else still alive at this point that Vera is likely to trust, so he has to die here.

Miss Claythorne - the most heinous crime of all of them. She kills a child who trusts her completely. You don't get more revolting than that.