I really liked this episode -- great ending for Morse personally and professionally, complete with a satisfying comeuppance to the reckless and ruthless and utterly creepy Clixby Bream.
But Clixby was right about one thing; Shelly Cornford certainly was naive.
I can somewhat see how he tricks her into not telling her husband the first time he propositions her. She's in an alien environment, after all, and might quite innocently believe Clixby's representations about how things would go awry if she told Denis.
When we come to the second episode, however, Clixby's winning argument is that Denis would never forgive her if he lost the Mastership because she was unwilling to whore herself out for him. If that were true, surely she would lose nothing by running it by Denis first. (After all, the argument is premised on Denis eventually finding out that she didn't have sex with Clixby and being permanently angry and resentful about it.) So when she sends Clixby to the other room, surely all she has to do is call Denis and say, "Hey, sweetie, Bream is telling me he'll make sure you get the Mastership if I have sex with him. And he told me you'd never forgive me if I didn't -- is that true?"
