After the ‘Death in Paradise’ season 14 finale, one storyline feels unfinished—but the show might be all the better for it
One of Death in Paradise season 14’s most important storylines was the potential exit of Commissioner Selwyn Patterson (Don Warrington) after some organizational shenanigans threatened to remove his position with the police once and for all. Though Death in Paradise has seen numerous Detective Inspectors come and go—Don Gilet’s Mervin Wilson is lead detective #5—Selwyn Patterson has been a constant in the show, a calming and leading presence since the very first season.
Selwyn was understandably shocked by the news, but thankfully, his team and his friends rallied around him, fighting to keep his place. Now that the Death in Paradise season 14 finale has finally aired on BritBox, we know how the Commissioner’s tough battle to keep his job has turned out. Oddly, though, it still feels unfinished—but that might genuinely be a good thing.
Major spoilers ahead for the Death in Paradise season 14 finale.
I love Selwyn’s character as much as any other Death in Paradise fan. Don Warrington’s voice and presence are undeniably soothing; I can barely imagine the show without him. That’s probably why his quiet refusal to reclaim his job felt so shocking at the end of Death in Paradise season 14, episode 8—not only was so much of the season’s overarching narrative focused on getting him his job back, so seeing him outright refuse somehow feels like we’ve suddenly missed a step, but he’s arguably the backbone of the show.
Nowhere is this more apparent than when, after telling Catherine (Elizabeth Bourgine) that he’s leaving for a while to visit his daughter, he pays one last visit to St. Marie skeptic Mervin Wilson, who, after solving his mother’s death, finally feels like he’s accomplished everything he needed to on the island. Selwyn drops a bombshell on him, though. As it turns out, the staunch Londoner has a brother, giving Mervin a reason to stay on St. Marie and remain Death in Paradise season 15’s leading DI.
That’s what Selwyn is so good at. He reads people; he understands what they need, supports them, and helps them grow. Maybe, however, by taking a (hopefully brief) break from the island and its police force, Mervin and the rest of his team will learn to grow without the commissioner’s help. There’s nothing wrong with a bit of support now and then, but this way, they can discover what being a police officer on St. Marie means to them, rather than within the confines of what the commissioner built during his 50-year service. Who do they want to be? How do they want to serve their community? How can they change policing for the better?
I’m not saying I don’t want Selwyn to come back, and since he said “au revoir” to Catherine rather than an outright goodbye, I have hope we’ll see him again in the future (this has yet to be confirmed, however). Maybe, though, it’s worth exploring what Death in Paradise can be without his leading presence. Presumably, he would have retired one day, and then what role could he have possibly had in the show? This way, at least, by leaving his return open-ended, the series can not only give our favorite police unit a new challenge but also give Selwyn a chance to come back to the job and the island on his terms, after spending some well-deserved time with his daughter.
All episodes of Death in Paradise season 14 are now available on BritBox in the U.S. and BBC iPlayer in the U.K.
(featured image: BBC/BritBox)
Have a tip we should know? [email protected]
