2022 Season - UK Episode Discussion

[Slade]

One of the most enjoyable things at the moment is watching the first look preview on 5 recapping the whole Heather/Marilyn thing in half a minute.

Irene should just shut her mouth.  Heather should have hit her across the back of the head.  It's been frustrating having to sit through the better part of a week watching various characters pander, apologise and praise Marilyn.  Alf has been particularly annoying especially the way he was with Cash, demanding to know where she was and I was disappointed Cash caved to him and Roo, giving them Marilyn's whereabouts.  Pretty fed up with all of it TBH.  I'm curious as to when Marilyn ran away how long she actually planned to help the homeless to compensate for Heather.  It didn't take much convincing from Roo and Nikau for her to return and (surprise, surprise as predicted) she's virtually back to her old self.  Presumably her giving the statement was closure.  Not sure I was entirely convinced when she told Rose she loved Heather, given that she abandoned her a second time.

Whilst I wasn't surprised Felicity changed her mind about the wedding I was surprised she wanted to get married so quickly.  Felt like a knee-jerk reaction and some form of appeasement.

I'm glad Cash doesn't want to take things further with Eden.  I would much prefer for him to get with Rose.  I do agree with him not being a good idea for them to remain friends at least until Eden's feelings have gone.

Once again feel sorry for Bree.  Jacob is such an unpleasant individual.  It must be hard for her to constantly have to put up an act and tread on eggshells.  Presumably he wasn't always like this else Bree wouldn't have married him in the first place.  I wonder at which point in the marriage he changed, became controlling and started to hit her.  Remi seems very invested in this.  Don't like part of the storyline because it very much feels like Remi is going to rescue her from Jacob and win the girl when I feel whilst there should be people to support her, the focus should Bree being the one to rescue herself from the abusive husband.

[atrus]

6 hours ago, Red Ranger 1 said:

She's a selfish liar who manipulated and gaslighted her friends

Sure, you can keep boiling it down to that and making an argument as to why it's the case (though I think "gaslighted" is particularly tenuous - it usually implies you're deliberately setting out to make someone think they're insane), but it still ignores all of the complexities of the situation, and all the times she wasn't selfish, and her pre-existing mental health issues. You're entitled to take that view, but I doubt most viewers would describe Marilyn in the same way. If I'm to be similarly pithy, Sloane is a selfish, obnoxious thief with an entitlement complex and a chip on her shoulder, while Heather is a selfish, devious liar who manipulated and gaslighted and put her stepmother in a freezer and kidnapped her mother, then drugged and held a load of innocent people hostage and deprived them of medical attention, but you're still calling for sympathy for them, so... excuse me if I keep calling for sympathy for Marilyn.

It would be deadly boring if we all agreed on everything, anyhow.

[Red Ranger 1]

26 minutes ago, atrus said:

(though I think "gaslighted" is particularly tenuous - it usually implies you're deliberately setting out to make someone think they're insane)

It is, it has to be said, a word that has become overused to the point of being meaningless, but the strictest definition of it is "manipulating someone so they doubt their memory, perception of reality or sanity". I think, broadly speaking, Marilyn's frequent use of outright lies to convince everyone they were wrong about Heather whenever they got close to the truth wouldn't be too far away from the definition.

[CaptainHulk]

Wouldn't the proper term be "Gaslit"?

 

 

[H&Alover]

I think Bree and Jacob's storyline has been handled well and everyone's story is different and it's not been on that long so how is it 'dragging on and on'? For some real folk out there it goes on for years like Brees, we are only seeing, hopefully, for Bree, the tail end of it.  It was a totally unwise decision  on Jacob's part just to jack his job in like that. It's obviously well paid, isn't it something to do with mines and he's the setter upper of new projects?  Won't be anything like that in the bay so Bree's reasoning  made perfect sense, look for something else while away, then make the move. My thought was when he left he hadn't, but maybe hiding somewhere and hoping to catch Bree out.  At least she knows she has someone she can turn to, maybe she never had that option before or didn't feel she could trust them enough.   We haven't seen Jacob interact enough with other people apart from glowering  at Remi to know how others are taking him. He did bring up the fact he helped support her through medical school which you don't do if you love someone.  I don't think he does, just wants to control her. OK so Remi stomping abut and snapping at people wasn't helping but I feel it's because he really cares about Bree, dare I say he even loves her. 

Ziggy didn't 'forget' to go into work, she was about to have a shower when she had the cramps so naturally everything else went out of her mind.  She felt awful about it when Justin called round to call her out about it.  Dean isn't helping putting his oar in, Ziggy will be furious with him, but yes Justin and Ziggy should talk about what will be expected of her and her hours.  

The  scenes with Stacey were a bit random, suppose TPTB thought we needed some normality from the other dramas. 

 

 

[atrus]

It doesn't really feel like anyone is quite respecting Bree's boundaries with the Jacob stuff; she really needs to be the one to set the parameters of what other people know, because otherwise she isn't going to have confidence that someone won't inadvertently clue Jacob in, and it's essential that she's able to trust people in order to feel secure enough to make a plan. Remi is doing his best but I feel like he's a bit too emotionally invested and it would be better if she had some other friends to confide in too (as opposed to just people Remi unilaterally decides to loop in). Though, I do feel some sympathy for Remi in needing advice from others about how to deal with the situation.

While I'd support Bree going to the police if she felt comfortable doing so, it's really a secondary issue to my mind, and the most important thing is to make sure he doesn't have access to her living space, whether that's on her own or with friends, somewhere where he can't hurt her and try to manipulate her. That said, obviously it's H&A so wherever she is, it's just going to escalate when he comes back until someone is tied up in a burning barn or worse - but getting Bree into a living situation where it's harder for him to achieve that would be a first step at least.

The Ziggy/Justin stuff is yawnsome. Not much else to say on that really.

[Red Ranger 1]

And so, yes, things improve immeasurably once Ziggy's actually in the episode as a person, rather than a plot device to give Justin and Dean screen-time. I'm glad Justin and Ziggy talked things over, at least a bit, and admitted that there were faults on both sides.Ziggy staying back late to work on John's car and refusing to let Justin help her was stubborn, but I can see why she felt she had something to prove.And Dean worked a lot better as a sounding board for Ziggy rather than picking arguments with Justin for the sake of artificial conflict.So, Ziggy's kind of admitted that she can't just plough ahead and ignore things, and it's up to her and Justin to come up with a workable arrangement.

I must admit I was more on Remi's side than Bree's during their spat.She recognised she needed help, and she's right that he shouldn't pressure her into going to the police before she's ready, but there was still that tiny inkling that she was having a go at him because he's an easy target.(To be fair, she's not completely passive with Jacob but she knows she has to tread carefully.)To his credit, Remi handled things well by just being a supportive friend and letting her talk.Eden asking Cash for some quiet advice when Remi wouldn't was also sensible.

[pembie]

I might be the only person here that doesn’t find the Bree story very good I don’t think we have seen Jacob be abusive enough really 

[H&Alover]

Bree has only just come out, so to speak, about Jacob's abuse so would find it hard to think about telling anyone else let alone the cops.  I can see why Remi want's her to talk to the cops, there are actual injuries she's suffered,  but it has to be her choice and when she feels able to. Her reaction to Remi suggesting she go to the cops was quite natural I thought as deep down she knows he's right.  It's not unlike addicts being  told they need help but they have got to be the ones to admit they do.  There is three months for her to to sort it out, while no pressure ought to be put on her, she just needs to know Remi and Eden are there for her, find somewhere safe for her if needs be, the motel room is 'his' too.  

It did seem from her talk with Remi when he brought the apology lunch to the hospital Jacob hadn't always been the way he is now, you could tell that by the tone of her voice so something has changed him.  She mentioned again how he put her through med school so still feels maybe she owes him.  It is something to do with mines and he does it seem go down them, looking for any faults, possible dangers  in the future? 

Remi's note to Cash didn't give anything away as to  why he needed his advice so bad timing that Cash called round while Bree was there.  Remi is too emotionally involved, though Eden isn't which is why she approached Cash which must have been awkward for them both.   She did use the old ' a friend has this problem' line which for once wasn't about her but I felt at the end Cash had twigged who she was talking about.  Eden did slip up when she was sitting with Remi and Bree by asking how things were going. 

We kind of got the Ziggy/Justin fight sorted out.  I did smile when Dean suggested Zig talk to Justin and she said he was so stubborn and he  at her implying she wasn't!  They do need to have a proper talk not a half hearted chat about it.  Needs to be sorted out now because as Justin said there will be hospital appointments to fit in around her work and what down the line what work she won't be able to do. Ziggy will have to learn to listen to her body, she was already knackered from working late to prove she could do it. I dare say her doctor/midwife will be warning her to be careful because of her job, it's not just her she's got to take care of, it's also about the unborn grommit.   It's going to be tougher as time goes on so she's got to  accept she is a pregnant woman and not get all feminist about it.  I also smiled when Dean made the throat cutting sign to John  when he was babbling on.  

[Foellfan]

The last part re: Ziggy definitely, sheer practicality as well as in bump mobility!