You have chosen an excellent example here Rich of a man who is seemingly detached from the mimetic tensions that surround him. Foyle, so expertly and subtly played by Michael Kitchen, has extraordinary instinct about human nature but also great compassion. He resists the temptation to be drawn into the paranoia concerning suspected communists, who would have been seen as fifth columnists at that time in the war, as well as the neurotic behaviour of Ass Commissioner Rose. In fact he resists all of the excesses of that time by steering a middle course that usually results in justice without revenge. And all this without any obsequious attitude to authority. The character of Foyle would make a very interesting study for students of Girard’s mimetic theory.
