Death in Paradise teases Neville's exit – but will Florence stop him?
"I missed him, more than I thought I would."
Death in Paradise threw everything but the kitchen sink at viewers this week.
Not only did Danny John-Jules's Dwayne Myers return to offer the team some support following Marlon Pryce's unexpected exit, beloved detective inspector Neville Parker made a huge announcement towards the end of the episode: he's leaving to go travelling.
With his broken heart now fully healed following Florence's knock-back in 2019 and the Sophie/Rebecca saga, he's finally ready to explore a romantic connection – but not with his ex-girlfriend Zoe aka SunsetChaser, who recently arrived on the island to see if there was still something between them, or with anyone else in Saint Marie, for that matter.
"If there's one thing this job teaches you, it's that life's too short," he said to Naomi. "It's not just the cases, it's what happened with the commissioner a few weeks ago. So I need to be more like Zoe, take a risk, before it's too late."
"What do you mean?" asked his colleague.
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"This is a small island, it's full of ghosts for me," he explained. "Florence, Rebecca. What are the chances of me finding love again here? So if I do want to find the one, and I really do, I'm going to put myself out there, literally."
For Neville to openly embrace love once again is a heartening, hopeful development in light of everything he's experienced, but it could also spell the end of Ralf Little's time on the show, which would be a huge disappointment for many Death in Paradise fans.
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But is the detective really going to leave now that Florence Cassell is out of witness protection and back in the vicinity?
"I missed him, more than I thought I would," she says in the teaser for next week's episode, which hints that romance could, at long last, be on the cards for them – something that much of the show's faithful have always wanted.
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Will they both stay and finally make a go of things in Saint Marie, where it all began? Or will they both head off into the sunset together?
Alternatively, could Neville leave, with Florence replacing him as the show's first female lead?
Little is now the longest-serving detective inspector on the show, so his departure will happen sooner rather than later. But it remains to be seen if we'll be waving goodbye to him at the end of season 13 – and if romance is on the cards for Neville and Florence.
Death in Paradise airs on Sundays on BBC One at 9pm. Check out more of our Drama coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.
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