Everything You Need to Remember Ahead of 'Miss Scarlet & the Duke' Season 4

Mystery series Miss Scarlet & The Duke is set to return for its fourth season in January, and fans everywhere are rightfully excited about what's next. Seasons 2 and 3 aired back to back as 2022 rounded into 2023, which means it has been about a year since we last saw the adventures of Victorian London's first female private investigator on our screens. The story of a woman determined to make her way professionally in a man's world, Miss Scarlet & The Duke mixes case-of-the-week procedural-style storytelling with a unique focus on female characters and feminist themes that helps set it apart within the larger mystery television landscape. Even the most mundane cases are often grounded in the specific ways that women's lives are affected or that are particular to the female experience. 

Eliza Scarlet was introduced in Season 1 as someone determined to prove herself in a patriarchal society that refuses to take her or her investigative skills seriously, dealing with everything from simple disbelief at her chosen profession to downright hostility. She shares a complicated history with Scotland Yard detective William "The Duke" Wellington, with whom she solves a lot of cases even as she resolutely refuses to investigate the unique bond between them too closely, and the will they/won't they vibes are excellent, even if the show's dedication to not confronting those feelings is starting to feel more than a bit untenable. The central relationship between its two lead workaholic idiots who can't seem to get out of their own way, romantically speaking, is a big reason the show is as successful as it is. (And it doesn't hurt that the chemistry between stars Kate Phillips and Stuart Martin is top-notch.)

Season 2 introduced several new characters to the steadily increasing ensemble, fleshing out William's Scotland Yard world with Evan McCabe as new detective Oliver Fitzroy, a blatant nepotism hire whose overzealous father is the Police Commissioner. After a bumbling start that epitomized the "unqualified men failing upward" trope, Fitzroy revealed himself as a hardworking, kind nerd, determined to do his best. There's also hardnosed but frequently shady Detective Phelps (Tim Chipping), who gleefully takes bribes and sets up a boxing gym for disadvantaged youth. 

On Eliza's side of the proverbial street, talented criminal Moses (Ansu Kabia) became a more permanent fixture in her inner circle. His connections to London's underworld help find leads and track down less-than-upstanding figures around town. She also has the help of an assortment of less-than-strictly above-board friends, including the sex worker Clementine (Laura Rollins) and shopkeeper Solomon (Brian Bovell), who deals in both shadily sourced jewelry and information. Even Eliza's housekeeper and surrogate mom, Ivy (Cathy Belton), started helping and struck up a relationship with coroner Mr. Potts (Simon Ludders) even as she prods Eliza about her own ill-defined, pseudo-romantic bond with William.  

The introduction of Patrick Nash (Felix Scott) gave Eliza a professional rival that had nothing to do with William or Scotland Yard, and though the two spent the better part of two seasons at odds with one another, a begrudging sort of respect formed between them. (Particularly after Nash himself was nearly murdered in the Season 2 finale, and Eliza had to find the man responsible.) So much so that, by the end of Season 3, when Nash offered to make her the lead investigator at his London office, Eliza said yes, despite the shake-up to her life and identity that kind of significant change would likely mean.

But most of us are here for the relationship between Eliza and William and whatever it is that's going on with their whole deal. The two are so good together, as partners and friends, and maybe (hopefully) something more, and watching them together is a great time. The show has taken a deliberate one-step forward, roughly five-steps-back attitude toward their relationship, and it's a testament to how strong their bond is that we're all willing to tolerate how frustrating that dance can often be.

As Season 2 began, Miss Scarlet & The Duke seemed as though it might be ready to go there with its leads: Eliza and William are having dinner constantly, touching hands lingeringly, and giving all the signs of friends who might very easily transition into something more. They don't, of course, because no show on Earth has ever given its fans what they want that early in its life. What happened instead is the pair essentially friend zone one another. Eliza is determined to maintain her independence, and William is insistent that he can't have a romantic partner who might, at times, be a professional rival. 

The problem is Miss Scarlet never bothers to interrogate the fallout or how acknowledging the path they didn't choose might make things awkward between them. Instead, the duo is kept apart for much of the series' second season. Their story only creeps forward when it becomes unavoidable: A case where Eliza and William have to pretend to be a newly engaged couple, another where they become trapped in a room with a ticking bomb, and a finale with a looming threat where William might return to Scotland. However, these necessary reminders of how much they care about each other bring no real concrete change.

William's decision to start dating Arabella (Sophie Robertson), an old friend of Eliza's with whom she has a complicated and frequently jealous relationship, throws a new spanner in the works between them, forcing Eliza to wrestle with some issues of jealousy and awkwardness we hadn't seen before. But, it's the fact that Arabella dumps William within a couple of episodes that really makes things interesting. She, quite correctly, informs him that she doesn't need a boyfriend who is so openly in love with another woman. 

The use of the "l-word" lands like a bomb in Wiliam's lap, which doesn't look as though it is a label he, himself, had ever bothered to apply to his relationship with Eliza. Is this revelation the catalyst he (and the show!) needs to finally have an honest conversation with Eliza about what they mean to one another? Here's hoping, at any rate.

Miss Scarlet & The Duke will continue with more cases, and will they/won't they drama when Season 4 begins on Sunday, January 7 at 8 p.m. ET on most PBS stations. All six episodes will be available to watch on premiere night via PBS Passport. (As always, check your local listings.)