Why Selwyn's Death in Paradise departure isn't as disappointing as it initially appeared

So, when it was rumoured that Selwyn would be departing the island this year, presumably moving somewhere with fewer murders, it was naturally assumed that the character would get a big on-screen send-off.

However, Selwyn's departure in the season 14 finale didn’t involve a party, a big speech, or even a goodbye cake.

There were no former detective inspectors returning to bid him a fond farewell either, as much as we may have wanted to see Kris Marshall, Ardal O’Hanlon and Ralf Little together on-screen with newbie Don Gilet (sorry, Ben Miller, but one downside to your character being killed off is you don’t get to pop up at Saint Marie reunions).

Instead, it was all surprisingly low-key. Selwyn, whose Commissioner position has been hanging in the balance all season, finally got his job back... and then decided not to take it.

He also kept his big decision pretty quiet, only telling Catherine of his plans to leave Saint Marie when he turned up at her bar for one last chat while everyone else was off celebrating solving another case.

After she asked why he had decided to turn down his boss's offer, he told her: “I don’t know, but it felt wrong to say yes. Too much has happened and right now, I can’t see a way to get back to how things were.”

But aside from spending time with his daughter Andrina, he told Catherine that he had no future plans – and even agreed to say “Au revoir” to her rather than a final goodbye.

He then climbed into a black taxi – that old EastEnders chestnut – and headed off to who knows where, in a way that initially seemed far less momentous than we have come to expect when a DI departs the island.

Previously, Richard Poole was murdered (sorry again, Ben Miller), Humphrey Goodman moved to England to be with Martha (and solve crimes in Beyond Paradise), Jack Mooney returned to London for his daughter, and Neville Parker sailed off into the sunset with true love Florence.

Selwyn, by contrast, didn’t get anything quite so romantic, sweet or even deadly. But instead, he may have got something far better.

In the final scene of the season, he popped by Mervin’s place to drop one final bombshell: that the man leaving flowers at his mother’s grave was actually Mervin's brother.

In that one moment, as his taxi idled by the roadside, Selwyn made a huge impact on Mervin and the series itself, prompting the detective inspector, who was about to head back to London, to change his plans and stay on to solve his latest family mystery.

Once again, Selwyn has had a God-like hand in his detective inspector's decision-making, which could be considered a fitting goodbye. But it was also a clever move from the writers.

It may have been a grand departing gesture for him to help Mervin, but since he didn’t actually tell his DI that he was leaving Saint Marie for good, it may not actually mean Selwyn’s departure after all.

In fact, the door has been left so wide open that it’s hard to definitively state that Selwyn has actually gone.

The loveable ex-Commissioner could just need a few months away before he returns, refreshed and ready for season 15, or he could come back in a year or two, perhaps if his successor meets an untimely end, or if Mervin runs out of family members to uncover and needs further incentive to stay on Saint Marie.

Or, heaven forbid, Selwyn could have just slipped away, never to return.

Whatever the writers and Warrington choose to do, for the moment Selwyn’s future has become Death in Paradise’s biggest mystery. And for our unforgettable Commissioner, that’s the most fitting exit storyline of all.

Death in Paradise seasons 1-14 are available to stream now on BBC iPlayer.

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