Detectorists: Series 3 Episode 6
December 13, 2017 2:53 PM - Season 3, Episode 6 - Subscribe
Comedy series about two metal-detecting friends.
Andy and Lance have a last day on the farm, one last chance to pull out all the stops and find that gold. Terry's got a new gazebo.
"There's something about karma going on" is Lance's wise observation, and there certainly seems to be something in the air. They have one last day on the farm, one last chance to pull out all the stops and find that gold. Terry's got a new gazebo. Perfect time for a rally.
Andy and Lance have a last day on the farm, one last chance to pull out all the stops and find that gold. Terry's got a new gazebo.
"There's something about karma going on" is Lance's wise observation, and there certainly seems to be something in the air. They have one last day on the farm, one last chance to pull out all the stops and find that gold. Terry's got a new gazebo. Perfect time for a rally.
Yep, it was wonderful.
The whole series was great, although it's a slight shame that Aimee Ffion-Edwards wasn't in it at all this time.
posted by dng at 5:36 PM on December 13, 2017
The whole series was great, although it's a slight shame that Aimee Ffion-Edwards wasn't in it at all this time.
posted by dng at 5:36 PM on December 13, 2017
In the end, the real treasure they found was the friends they made along the way.
That and a giant pile of gold coins.
posted by Mick at 3:24 PM on December 14, 2017 [2 favorites]
That and a giant pile of gold coins.
posted by Mick at 3:24 PM on December 14, 2017 [2 favorites]
Thanks for Fanfaring this, fearfulsymmetry. There's not been a lot of action in the comments but the series is such a quiet delight. I saved up three episodes to watch all at once tonight, laughed, and cried. It's the best.
posted by glasseyes at 7:43 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by glasseyes at 7:43 PM on December 14, 2017 [1 favorite]
SPOILERS
My head is buzzing after Star Wars Day, but I don't want to forget watching this episode the night before, and particularly that very last scene (walking to the tree, onwards). So perfectly shot, and such a satisfying resolution. Just enough, in a tiny corner of a 40"+ flatscreen TV, to know that it's worked out as we all hoped.
When Lance and Andy slung their detectors over their shoulders I feared for an instant that we might have some hokey resolution where the detectors go off as they walk under the tree, breaking the realism (because they couldn't possibly be in range); but Crook handled it so, so much better.
The auction: perfect. The resolution with Simon and Garfunkel: also perfect. They're real human beings, not pantomime villains.
I loved it. I loved everything about it, from S01E01 to S03E06. I'm tearing up just thinking about it. Some of the very best television of the decade, no question, and if there's any justice people will be rewatching it forty years from now.
posted by rory at 2:05 AM on December 15, 2017 [4 favorites]
My head is buzzing after Star Wars Day, but I don't want to forget watching this episode the night before, and particularly that very last scene (walking to the tree, onwards). So perfectly shot, and such a satisfying resolution. Just enough, in a tiny corner of a 40"+ flatscreen TV, to know that it's worked out as we all hoped.
When Lance and Andy slung their detectors over their shoulders I feared for an instant that we might have some hokey resolution where the detectors go off as they walk under the tree, breaking the realism (because they couldn't possibly be in range); but Crook handled it so, so much better.
The auction: perfect. The resolution with Simon and Garfunkel: also perfect. They're real human beings, not pantomime villains.
I loved it. I loved everything about it, from S01E01 to S03E06. I'm tearing up just thinking about it. Some of the very best television of the decade, no question, and if there's any justice people will be rewatching it forty years from now.
posted by rory at 2:05 AM on December 15, 2017 [4 favorites]
MORE SPOILERS
Maybe that's part of what I loved. Once we knew all that gold was sitting above their heads, any positive outcome was going to feel contrived, whether it involved the bat-box or the metal detectors, so why not go full-on, and shower them with it? It may not feel true to life, but it feels just: we want these characters, all of them but especially these two, to be rewarded for being such decent, likeable people.
posted by rory at 2:13 AM on December 15, 2017
Maybe that's part of what I loved. Once we knew all that gold was sitting above their heads, any positive outcome was going to feel contrived, whether it involved the bat-box or the metal detectors, so why not go full-on, and shower them with it? It may not feel true to life, but it feels just: we want these characters, all of them but especially these two, to be rewarded for being such decent, likeable people.
posted by rory at 2:13 AM on December 15, 2017
Well I was wrong about a bitter-sweet ending!
I hardly guess in advance or speculate but I honestly thought that one of them was going to die! All that funeral imagery... and the bit in a previous ep where Lance replace the weedkiller with water and drank from the container, well I was guessing that would come back and he'd poison himself somehow. Glad to see he didn't!
I could have a couple of quibbles like seeing more of some of the other characters from previous eps like the mad farmer / landowner and how quickly the rivalry with the Dirt Sharks was sorted but overall very happy.
Loved the contrast of, in the end, gold falling from the tree/heavens with the characters spending trying to dig it up.
Oh and the discovery of the ring by the silent background character and the subsequent silent background engagement... one of the best scenes ever tbh.
I came to the show late, as the second series was coming to an end so watched all the eps practically back to back. No doubt I'll be doing that again sometime in the future with this series added.
Definitely one of the best comedies of the new millennium, I look forward to seeing what Mackenzie Crook does in the future.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:31 AM on December 16, 2017 [1 favorite]
I hardly guess in advance or speculate but I honestly thought that one of them was going to die! All that funeral imagery... and the bit in a previous ep where Lance replace the weedkiller with water and drank from the container, well I was guessing that would come back and he'd poison himself somehow. Glad to see he didn't!
I could have a couple of quibbles like seeing more of some of the other characters from previous eps like the mad farmer / landowner and how quickly the rivalry with the Dirt Sharks was sorted but overall very happy.
Loved the contrast of, in the end, gold falling from the tree/heavens with the characters spending trying to dig it up.
Oh and the discovery of the ring by the silent background character and the subsequent silent background engagement... one of the best scenes ever tbh.
I came to the show late, as the second series was coming to an end so watched all the eps practically back to back. No doubt I'll be doing that again sometime in the future with this series added.
Definitely one of the best comedies of the new millennium, I look forward to seeing what Mackenzie Crook does in the future.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:31 AM on December 16, 2017 [1 favorite]
The final episode of Detectorists is “one of the most satisfying conclusions ever”
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:37 AM on December 16, 2017
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:37 AM on December 16, 2017
Absolutely sublime. Rory said everything I wanted to say about this utterly perfect show. Not a single episode in 3 seasons has been a dud. Not a word wasted, not a scene not needed to drive the plot forward in some way or another. Superb.
I cried at the end, not just because I knew it was the end of the adventures of Andy and Lance, but because I've grown to love these characters and wanted that outcome for them so badly. (The week before, when Andy was installing the bat box just below the nest I actually shouted out "Find it! Find it!")
posted by essexjan at 8:36 AM on December 16, 2017 [1 favorite]
I cried at the end, not just because I knew it was the end of the adventures of Andy and Lance, but because I've grown to love these characters and wanted that outcome for them so badly. (The week before, when Andy was installing the bat box just below the nest I actually shouted out "Find it! Find it!")
posted by essexjan at 8:36 AM on December 16, 2017 [1 favorite]
That Radio Times article is lovely. But I have one quibble. I thought the lyric to the song is "Will you search through the loamy earth for me ..."
posted by essexjan at 8:43 AM on December 16, 2017
posted by essexjan at 8:43 AM on December 16, 2017
Aw. That was lovely. I don’t think there’s any other word for it. Lots of little stories given satisfying endings, but still plenty of room for some great lines. “I can’t feel my legs!”
posted by pharm at 1:59 PM on December 16, 2017
posted by pharm at 1:59 PM on December 16, 2017
"Will you search through the loamy earth for me ..."
It's clearly loamy (and the tv subtitles give it loamy) - but all those song lyric sites give it loanly
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:37 AM on December 18, 2017
It's clearly loamy (and the tv subtitles give it loamy) - but all those song lyric sites give it loanly
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:37 AM on December 18, 2017
Friend of mine has started a rewatch and he's pointed on out on fb that the ending of the series is hidden in plain sight in the opening scene of the first episode - 'the treasure... is very much above our heads'. I remember thinking 'oh that's clever' - the contrast with metal detecting, but didn't realise how clever it was going to be.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:39 AM on December 18, 2017
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 4:39 AM on December 18, 2017
While my wife was verrrry dubious when I suggested a show about metal detecting, I think that this was one of her favourite shows. The image from the end of the first season [the outline in frost of the ship burial seen from above] has featured in many daydreams since I first saw it.
The only note from the show that I disliked was every single moment with the ex wife and the pizza hut manager. After the way it resolved, I can retroactively see the worth of those scenes, but it was painful to watch our man be manipulated like that.
I think my favourite bit of this finale, among many strong contenders, was the scene where Lance trades metal detectors with Garfunkel. The connection over "antiques" that to others are obviously just garbage... sublime.
I'm really looking for a banjo or ukulele guide to playing that theme song. I'm really slow at picking those things out by ear. I found a good one for guitar, but my music theory is really basic and I think it will take me a long time to make it work. I think that is my project over this christmas break.
Can anybody recommend any other shows that have a similar feel?
posted by Acari at 5:59 PM on December 18, 2017
The only note from the show that I disliked was every single moment with the ex wife and the pizza hut manager. After the way it resolved, I can retroactively see the worth of those scenes, but it was painful to watch our man be manipulated like that.
I think my favourite bit of this finale, among many strong contenders, was the scene where Lance trades metal detectors with Garfunkel. The connection over "antiques" that to others are obviously just garbage... sublime.
I'm really looking for a banjo or ukulele guide to playing that theme song. I'm really slow at picking those things out by ear. I found a good one for guitar, but my music theory is really basic and I think it will take me a long time to make it work. I think that is my project over this christmas break.
Can anybody recommend any other shows that have a similar feel?
posted by Acari at 5:59 PM on December 18, 2017
Can anybody recommend any other shows that have a similar feel?
The obvious one is Last Of The Summer Wine... Three retired friends walking around the Yorkshire hills, drinking tea in coffees and getting up to mischief. Though it ran for like 40 years and towards the end got imho terrible as most of the original cast retired/sadly left us and the scripts deteriorated. The early series might still hold up.
I'd recommend People Just Do Nothing - which is a fake documentary (like The Office) about the guys running a pirate radio station - the humour is very subtle and low key.
Also Still Game. It's about two pensioners and their friends living in a tower block in Glasgow. It's very Scottish and the humor can be pretty broad at time but it's one of my fave sit-coms of all time.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:13 AM on December 19, 2017
The obvious one is Last Of The Summer Wine... Three retired friends walking around the Yorkshire hills, drinking tea in coffees and getting up to mischief. Though it ran for like 40 years and towards the end got imho terrible as most of the original cast retired/sadly left us and the scripts deteriorated. The early series might still hold up.
I'd recommend People Just Do Nothing - which is a fake documentary (like The Office) about the guys running a pirate radio station - the humour is very subtle and low key.
Also Still Game. It's about two pensioners and their friends living in a tower block in Glasgow. It's very Scottish and the humor can be pretty broad at time but it's one of my fave sit-coms of all time.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:13 AM on December 19, 2017
Just in case anyone is looking for ways to watch this: Series 3 is available to stream in the US through AcornTV. If you have Amazon Prime, you can get Acorn TV as an add-on with a free 7 day trial, but I was able to get access through my county public library system.
posted by amarynth at 8:39 AM on March 28, 2019
posted by amarynth at 8:39 AM on March 28, 2019
Anyone able to find out what happened with Mackenzie’s find that the British Museum was checking out? I’m having a hard time finding a news article.
posted by terrapin at 11:03 AM on November 23, 2019
posted by terrapin at 11:03 AM on November 23, 2019
Just finished watching the entire series, and I now understand why there were so many recommendations for it on Ask Metafilter. I'm so glad I decided to check it out! I'll be honest, I was like, how on earth is a show about metal detectorists going to be interesting?? But it was. I'll miss these characters.
The episode from the second season with Lance and Sheila was very moving. As someone who is part of a childless couple, I thought Sheila and Terry's relationship was very sweet and a nice thing to see because childless people are often portrayed as selfish, or deficient, or just pitiable. Sheila and Terry weren't any of those things, they genuinely loved each other and were happy and fulfilled, though they did seem to have a bit of melancholy to them (but perhaps I am influenced by the scene with Lance).
And it was also very, very funny at times. I laughed my head off when the trampoline came rolling by. "Was there a child in it?"
The final episode was lovely and perfect and I wouldn't want it to end any other way.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 8:57 PM on April 20, 2021
The episode from the second season with Lance and Sheila was very moving. As someone who is part of a childless couple, I thought Sheila and Terry's relationship was very sweet and a nice thing to see because childless people are often portrayed as selfish, or deficient, or just pitiable. Sheila and Terry weren't any of those things, they genuinely loved each other and were happy and fulfilled, though they did seem to have a bit of melancholy to them (but perhaps I am influenced by the scene with Lance).
And it was also very, very funny at times. I laughed my head off when the trampoline came rolling by. "Was there a child in it?"
The final episode was lovely and perfect and I wouldn't want it to end any other way.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 8:57 PM on April 20, 2021
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posted by rory at 3:08 PM on December 13, 2017 [1 favorite]