So, I think IMDB screwed up on this one as it gives both episodes of this two parter the exact same title, but, you know, there’s nothing so wrong I can’t be anal about it, so I’m keeping the title as IMDB lists it. Regardless of that housekeeping, I was curious to see how this Japanese adaptation of Christie’s story would deal with one very particular element. There’s a clue here that is one of Christie’s absolute best in my opinion. She pretty well gives the entire game away in one line of dialogue, but she trusts that the reader will misinterpret it and damned if the reader doesn’t do just that. At least, I did. It revolves around an English idiom, however, so I wondered if this show would find a way to work it in. Well, they didn’t, which is too bad because it’s my favorite thing about this story. But Poirot in Egypt and a shadowy figure with the head of a Jackal and mysterious curses . . . this story has enough going for it that it all still comes to a nicely entertaining head. This is the best, I would say, of the short story adaptations so far. 3 stars.
tl;dr – Poirot in Egypt, a jackal-headed figure lurking in the shadows, a mysterious curse; a couple of things get lost in translation, but this is still lots of fun and high energy. 3 stars.
More Agatha Christie’s Great Detectives Poirot & Marple Reviews!