"Taggart" is one of my favorite detective shows, especially the Mark McManus era and earlier episodes. I like the combination of dark, harsh atmosphere, of the types Glasgow, interesting, original and unexpected scenes, tense production, good acting, stiffness and sarcastic, caustic humor from the Taggart performed by Mark McManus and, of course, absolutely stunning theme song, "No Mean City", which made the show even better.
There is no doubt that "Taggart" started out great, and the first 4 seasons were great and all the episodes in them ranged from good to masterpieces. Season 5, unfortunately, did not start so confidently with "Flesh and Blood", which was not bad, but given the high quality of the first seasons, not bad was not enough, and it was about the same with"Love Knot". "Hostile Witness" was a great episode and a great return to form. Unfortunately, "Evil Eye" is a bit of a step down, though not bad.
Often, I wanted a harder, more confident pace and less drawn-out (such as the beginning) and meaningless (such as the gypsy curse) scenes. The direction is fuzzy and a bit blurry, the episode once again looks crowded and cluttered and sometimes tiring. I still don't understand why the line with the gypsies and the murder of the old woman was necessary at all, since it didn't make much sense and was too obvious and added to the story more of a long and slow pace. The unmasking is too fabulous and made up rather crudely even for "Murder She Wrote", and even more so for "Taggart".
But don't think that "Evil Eye" is a bad episode. No, it's pretty good and better than many "average" episodes of such TV series as" Lewis "or"Midsomer Murders". The story itself is pretty solid, with some good finds (and now I find the scene in the hospital very funny), and generally fascinating, despite some drawn-out moments. By the end, the plot becomes more interesting and intense, and the final decision is completely unexpected.
Overall, not bad, but a step down from the previous episode. 7/10.