Doc Martin (Part 14 — Spoilers)

12467145

Comments

  • Shop GirlShop Girl Posts: 1,284
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    whale wrote: »
    Thks so much Connie interesting to see MC in a minor role, can't wait to see episode 2, I have my suspicions... Interesting billing "and Martin Clunes"

    I found that curious too. I just did a Google search on opening credits and found this:
    THE “AND” ACTOR

    A step up from the “with” acting credit, the final title card for the cast is reserved for the actor who has a meaty part in the movie, but not a leading role. It’s like, wow, isn’t it amazing that Big Actor blessed this movie with his presence, and I bet he’s gonna be great!

    It’s where the elder statesman is listed, the uber-star. Many times the character’s name is listed here as well, such as “And Sam Elliott as The Stranger” from The Big Lebowski

    Also, there was this headline in an article on Digital Spy this morning:
    Martin Clunes ITV drama, C4's Paralympics dent BBC One's 'New Tricks'

    Nice to see he is so well regarded. Of course, WE knew that all along :D
  • dcdmfandcdmfan Posts: 1,540
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    [/SPOILER]
    NewPark wrote: »
    I think that "and Martin Clunes" is a nod to his star status, even though he doesn't have a leading role.

    Am quite excited to see Part 2 tonight -- MC has said this called on his acting chops to the max and didn't see that evident in Part 1.

    For those who did watch part 1:
    On which kid's computer did the mom discover the violent porn?
    It was her own son's computer. She hacked into it with the help of the guy at the computer repair shop. She tipped him to hack in to it for her.
  • dcdmfandcdmfan Posts: 1,540
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Shop Girl wrote: »
    I found that curious too. I just did a Google search on opening credits and found this:
    THE “AND” ACTOR

    A step up from the “with” acting credit, the final title card for the cast is reserved for the actor who has a meaty part in the movie, but not a leading role. It’s like, wow, isn’t it amazing that Big Actor blessed this movie with his presence, and I bet he’s gonna be great!

    It’s where the elder statesman is listed, the uber-star. Many times the character’s name is listed here as well, such as “And Sam Elliott as The Stranger” from The Big Lebowski

    Also, there was this headline in an article on Digital Spy this morning:
    Martin Clunes ITV drama, C4's Paralympics dent BBC One's 'New Tricks'

    Nice to see he is so well regarded. Of course, WE knew that all along :D

    It's the same way they bill Eileen Atkins in the opening credits of DM.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 911
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    bookfan2 wrote: »
    It's not to say that Martin doesn't want and enjoy sex with Louisa -- but he is clearly waiting for her to take the lead. Perhaps when he feels more comfortable and assured about the relationship, we'll see a bolder Martin -- sure hope so :)

    Series 5 notwithstanding, it's clear Martin is very physically drawn to Louisa - even mesmerized by her at times. Here's to lots of sex in Series 6! :D:D:D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,018
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    bookfan2 wrote: »
    I think Louisa is insecure and Martin is clueless. That seems to be a constant theme between them - in and out of bed :)

    But what strikes me about those two "engagement" episodes is the lack of physical affection between the two. I don't expect huge PDAs from Martin, but he seems surprised that Louisa expected to spend the night after the nutritious dinner. It is once again Louisa taking the initiative for any physical intimacy. He says he is pleased -- but if she hadn't brought it up, would he have asked her to stay? For that matter, why did they not just move in together once they were engaged?

    It's not a question of sex, but rather the idea that, as an engaged couple, they would have wanted to spend their time together.

    Which leads me to the conclusion, which I think we've often discussed, that Martin is, in Series 3, more in love with the "idea" of Louisa than with the actual woman. He doesn't know her that well. And it leads me to think that some of his actions, like suggesting the nasal strips, pointing out her use of salt on potatoes as unhealthy, were unconscious attempts to end the engagement before they reached the wedding day.


    mmDerdekea wrote: »
    I don't think it was necessary or appropriate for them to move in together. Both are rather traditional that way, and I think living together after they were married seemed to fit DM best, and maybe LG, too, being the head teacher at school. After all, it may indeed be that DM didn't feel comfortable having sex without a clear sense of deep commitment between them. He had intimacy issues, absolutely, but it also seemed that he wanted real commitment before having sex, which is old fashioned, indeed, but also kind of sweet.

    Well, in S4 we learn that they did indeed have sex more than the once we know for sure, and the one we imagine happens, the after the nutritional dinner sex. It seems from LG explaining to EM when she and DM had sex, it was more than just twice. So, what we see on screen is not wholly what happened between them behind scenes. And, DM does do the leaning forward of the kiss on the patio scene, and is obviously very sorry (sorry, sorry, sorry) his phone interrupted them. I think we are led to believe he would have initiated that bit of closeness if his duties had not stopped them. That sort of bonding no doubt happened more than that, and we were given a brief glimpse of some of their off screen closeness.

    And, even though I think they spent close time together, we do see that LG and DM are going to have to adapt as a couple to him being on call 24/7 as the doc to PW and surroundings. We see that theme from the get go at the beginning of their relationship and all throughout all of the series. DM is as committed to his duty of care as he is to being with LG.

    Bookfan, I agree with you that she was insecure and he was clueless. I don't agree, however, that he was surprised that LG expected to stay the night after the nutritious dinner. I think this was just another example of DM being socially inept. I think he hoped she would stay, but didn't assume she would. His asking about her plans for the rest of the evening was his own fishing expedition, his strange way of saying, "You are staying, aren't you?" More ineptitude: there's cheese and apple for after. He's just an awkward fellow, generally, in matters such as this.

    Would he have asked her if she didn't say she planned on staying? I don't know if he'd have figured out how to ask. I do think he wanted her to stay. He might have figured out a (clumsy, no doubt) way of asking her.

    Why they didn't move in together? -- I agree with you, Mona. DM is a very traditional fellow. It wouldn't have been appropriate, in his mind. I'm less sure about LG, but she projects a kind of traditional viewpoint too. Yes, I know, in S5 they ended up living together, but caring for JH was the reasoning behind it. And it was a sexless time for them, which somehow made it okay.

    About the lack of physical affection between DM and LG in the engagement episodes, well, we did see some kisses, more than before or since, and hand-holding, and we know for a fact that there was "affection" going on off-screen. JH is da proof! Yes, Mona, I think it's inferred that they were intimate on a regular basis during the three week engagement. We know of three times: proposal night, optimal nutritional dinner night, and, I assume, nasal strip night. In fact, during the nasal strip dinner, Doc says the strips were needed because they're spending nights together.

    Sorry, but I'm afraid I don't fully agree, Bookfan, that DM was more in love with the idea of LG than the woman herself. You're right that at that point they didn't really know each other that well (which is why a three-week engagement was nuts). But he knew he loved her. That's why he blurted out the desperate proposal. He had to have her, couldn't bear to be without her. Then and now, he's in love. I guess the question could be asked -- how realistic was that love at that point in S3? Skipping forward in time, though, to S5, we fortunately found out that his love for LG survived the realities of daily life.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,018
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    My observations (S1E2)

    2. First patients: Martin’s first official day at the surgery sees him all dressed up with no place to go. He is so eager to start treating diseases, to help actual patients with genuine medical problems, but his first two callers come to see the improvements he’s made to the surgery, drink cups of tea, and the third (Mrs. Black, am I right that she is later reincarnated as Dr. Dibbs?), comes to make him a match. I never have quite understood her line: “If it’s the breast you’re after and she’s a Scotch pancake, there’s much that could be done – chicken fillets.” Is it supposed to make any kind of sense? Who’s the flat-chested “she.” Martin quickly loses patience with his surgery full of “gawpers” in this scene, but he certainly bites his tongue more in the name of politeness, even cordiality, even eagerness (to do a good job for them as their GP), than we see him in later interactions with patients where his watchword seems to be: “stop talking.”

    3: Mr. wool-in-ear: The extra who puts his hand up, and then lowers it when Martin asks whether there’s anyone who has come to see him with a genuine medical complaint, I believe is another local who has been cast. We see him quite often throughout the series. In S3E4 he dances with Louisa at Penhale’s party. In S5E1 he is the man Martin lets through with his Dibbs-proferred prescription at the chemist’s – he says it is a “toilet matter.” Having been an extra at one point myself (see my appearance in the long-forgotten basketball movie “The Sixth Man”) I thought there was some rule about not giving speaking lines to people who do not belong to the actors’ union. Yet, Mr. wool-in-ear is given a word or two to speak here or there (as in that S5 appearance).

    2. I've always wondered about the "chicken fillets" comment too. "There's much that could be done. Chicken fillets." Huh? Does she mean a woman could stuff chicken pieces in her bra? Doesn't sound too pleasant for the woman or the man. Or is there a slang expression we're missing here? Very strange. I'm hoping someone will jump in and explain this.

    3. Mr. wool-in-ear is Mr. Armstrong. He's a rarity in that he's been in every series, and has been there for several significant scenes (for example, he's the one who comforts Pauline after her scooter has been repossessed). There's another one, Mrs. Poustie, who I think is always there. I'm curious about the man who plays Mr. Armstrong. Is he a local, an actor, what? He has lines in several episodes, but I don't think he's ever in the credits. I remember someone posting somewhere, here or at flickr, that they met him when they were in Port Isaac for filming. If anyone here knows anything about him, I'd love to hear.
  • dcdmfandcdmfan Posts: 1,540
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Biffpup wrote: »
    2. I've always wondered about the "chicken fillets" comment too. "There's much that could be done. Chicken fillets." Huh? Does she mean a woman could stuff chicken pieces in her bra? Doesn't sound too pleasant for the woman or the man. Or is there a slang expression we're missing here? Very strange. I'm hoping someone will jump in and explain this.

    3. Mr. wool-in-ear is Mr. Armstrong. He's a rarity in that he's been in every series, and has been there for several significant scenes (for example, he's the one who comforts Pauline after her scooter has been repossessed). There's another one, Mrs. Poustie, who I think is always there. I'm curious about the man who plays Mr. Armstrong. Is he a local, an actor, what? He has lines in several episodes, but I don't think he's ever in the credits. I remember someone posting somewhere, here or at flickr, that they met him when they were in Port Isaac for filming. If anyone here knows anything about him, I'd love to hear.

    I figured that chicken fillets is a euphemism for breast implants.

    Just found this on docmartinonline:

    http://www.docmartinonline.net/doc-martin-re-watch-project/
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,018
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    I'm also concerned that too much merchandising (eg. the "cottage industry" in Doc Martin bobble head dolls) will make MC and PB turn their backs for sure on the character they have cleverly and lovingly "created out of clay."

    What makes you say that, PoorRichard? PB and MC have their own website selling Doc Martin merchandise, so they must be agreeable to the idea. They seem to be pretty savvy about merchandising and I assume they've licensed the bobbleheads and surely get a cut.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,018
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    dcdmfan wrote: »
    I figured that chicken fillets is a euphemism for breast implants.

    I figure you're right. In fact, this apparently is a British slang term for implants or temporary enhancements. Armed with your info, I plugged it into google and here we go. Among others, here's a description from one website selling inserts:

    Breast Enhancers and Chicken Fillets

    Undercover Glamour provides the solution for smaller busted women looking to increase their bust without the risk of surgery. The breast enhancers and silicone chicken fillets are the way forward to giving your life and breasts an added boost. Undercover Glamour offers three different sizes of breast enhancers; from a subtle lift with Mini Voila!, to a confidence boosting extra cup size with Voila!, or for the maximum 'wow' factor with Maxi Voila!


    Funny the odds and ends from Doc Martin that drive me crazy. Now that we've answered this important question, we can move on to world peace.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 516
    Forum Member
    ✭✭
    NewPark wrote: »
    I think that "and Martin Clunes" is a nod to his star status, even though he doesn't have a leading role.

    Am quite excited to see Part 2 tonight -- MC has said this called on his acting chops to the max and didn't see that evident in Part 1.

    I am on the same track as you NewPark, as usual

    Have deleted the ' Spoiler ' for the enjoyment of others

    But I do think this is where MC's talents are going to come to the fore...
  • Shop GirlShop Girl Posts: 1,284
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Blue-Eyes wrote: »
    NewPark wrote: »
    I think that "and Martin Clunes" is a nod to his star status, even though he doesn't have a leading role.

    Am quite excited to see Part 2 tonight -- MC has said this called on his acting chops to the max and didn't see that evident in Part 1.

    I am on the same track as you NewPark, as usual

    Have deleted the ' Spoiler ' for the enjoyment of others

    But I do think this is where MC's talents are going to come to the fore...

    I have a theory about the killer - just my fanciful thought. Don't read if you don't want to hear my speculation :D




    I wonder if it might just be Ben. Perhaps he caught his son and the murdered girl doing something at his wife's graveside and stabbed her in a rage. Maybe that's why she said she was sorry? Could be why his son is acting strangely and maybe planted the bloody trainers?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 292
    Forum Member
    Biffpup wrote: »
    What makes you say that, PoorRichard? PB and MC have their own website selling Doc Martin merchandise, so they must be agreeable to the idea. They seem to be pretty savvy about merchandising and I assume they've licensed the bobbleheads and surely get a cut.

    Yeah, I know they get a cut. It's just that when you've prostituted the child of your creativity, you sometimes can't ever look at her/him the same way again.

    Thanks to you and to dcdmfan for clearing up the chicken fillets question. Now my new question is how Dominic Minghella would happen to have that little piece of esoteria in his general knowledge.:D And thanks for recalling the other scenes with Mr. Armstrong and for giving me his name.

    Re: lemster, it's on a curve. I admit, a bad hair day for CC is like a good one for the rest of us.
  • NewParkNewPark Posts: 3,537
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    First of all, English actors are great. I'd seen Hermione Norris in MI5 and she was fine there, but this was a much better performance, I think. Nice to see Nicola Walker -- Ruth Evershed in MI-5 - in the role of the police detective.

    And I think Martin Clunes deserved the lead just as much as the guy who played Hermione's ex-husband (who I first I thought was Danny Steele, then realized, nah, couldn't be).

    And I agree with cc.cookie that it's odd to run those dorky Churchill insurance commercials starring Martin Clunes in the same program in which he has a major role. Have never seen that done before.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 292
    Forum Member
    Very un-Aristotelian, this idea that you can be a good person and yet do nothing but bad things. Sometimes if it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck and smells like a duck, it's just...a duck. It was well written though, raising lots of questions around whether you can have a true one-flesh union (a marriage) when some things (ie. the kids) are irremediably "mine" and "yours." I was able to forget Doc Martin as I watched Martin Clunes in this role, which is a tribute to his acting. He is very good at acting in an understated way that makes you posit all sorts of thoughts and and emotions that may lie within. I wonder how that is accomplished. Does he think and feel those things within himself and hope that they project across to us telepathically? I'm about to speak heresy I know, but our boy is getting old-looking; those bags under the eyes -- perfect for this role, but not so great when playing opposite an age-defying Louisa.
  • NewParkNewPark Posts: 3,537
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Very un-Aristotelian, this idea that you can be a good person and yet do nothing but bad things. Sometimes if it looks like a duck and sounds like a duck and smells like a duck, it's just...a duck. It was well written though, raising lots of questions around whether you can have a true one-flesh union (a marriage) when some things (ie. the kids) are irremediably "mine" and "yours." I was able to forget Doc Martin as I watched Martin Clunes in this role, which is a tribute to his acting. He is very good at acting in an understated way that makes you posit all sorts of thoughts and and emotions that may lie within. I wonder how that is accomplished. Does he think and feel those things within himself and hope that they project across to us telepathically? I'm about to speak heresy I know, but our boy is getting old-looking; those bags under the eyes -- perfect for this role, but not so great when playing opposite an age-defying Louisa.

    PoorRichard, I thought the same thing about how he looked but am trying to convince myself that it was skillful use of makeup. After all, he's only 50 (a veritable youngster, to me!) However, the neck tells the tale.

    I too wish I knew how he does it -- or any good actor. Wasn't it the Stanislavsky method to feel yourself into the role and then sort of project outward, so to speak? Somehow, I don't think that fits Martin Clunes -- I think he's a pretty conscious craftsman and is thinking all the time about what projects the image he's trying to convey, rather than trying to feel himself to be, in this case, Ben. But I truly don't know.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 366
    Forum Member
    I'm about to speak heresy I know, but our boy is getting old-looking; those bags under the eyes -- perfect for this role, but not so great when playing opposite an age-defying Louisa.

    Whoa! You said that aloud??? :D

    Martin Clunes is not a traditional silver screen leading man. Or at least not for me. I like them a little scruffier, hair a little longer than Doc Martin (Roger Fenn hair). And leaner (think Al). But I always like "smart" best of all.

    But it is the chemistry between Martin and Louisa (who is indeed age-defying) that is every bit as compelling as Rhett and Scarlett. It is the combo, like Tracy and Hepburn, that makes you think that Martin Clunes or Spencer Tracy is swoon-worthy.
  • BloodphobiaBloodphobia Posts: 448
    Forum Member
    Yeah, I know they get a cut. It's just that when you've prostituted the child of your creativity, you sometimes can't ever look at her/him the same way again.

    Thanks to you and to dcdmfan for clearing up the chicken fillets question. Now my new question is how Dominic Minghella would happen to have that little piece of esoteria in his general knowledge.:D And thanks for recalling the other scenes with Mr. Armstrong and for giving me his name.

    Re: lemster, it's on a curve. I admit, a bad hair day for CC is like a good one for the rest of us.

    I think Dominic MInghella was writing Martin as a lighter -- and I mean this in the most loose sense -- hipper version of the Doc. Martin, as Minghella wrote him, probably had heard the slang terms "baps" or "babs" for women's breasts since he was in boarding school. Remember when he told the surfer Ross that he knew where his "tits" came from? Another example of Martin being more in touch with contemporary life. "Scotch pancake" is a term for a flat chested woman, and Martin probably heard that before, given the fact that Edith Montgomery was a "Scotch pancake." Finally, he probably knew about "chicken fillets" or what we called in the day "falsies." He may not have know about the water bras that the Hooter girls wear, but I suspect he did know that flat chested women did have some means of enhancing their small breasts. Another show in which the breast theme was featured was the one in which he gave the flat-chest young teenager a placebo to grow breasts. Like his discussion with Elaine about her mother's death, I thought he was very sensitive in telling her to take the placebo until her breasts started to develop. He knew that they would eventually develop,

    I think most of Season 1 had tidbits from popular culture as most shows set in the contemporary times do. Those allusions left with the Minghellas.

    Now I have a question about Dominic MInghella. How do we think he feels about the direction in which the show has gone? Is he forbidden from commenting on it becasue he is still shown as "creator" of the show?

    Also regarding Louisa's shower: Compared to the extravaganza baby and wedding showers I attend, Louisa's shower was low key but probably typical of Port Wenn. I think it was Louisa who turned it into a pity party for herself, not because of the gifts, but because (1) she felt the other women were questioning her ability to manage without a man by offering the help of their husbands and (2) she felt sorry that she did not have the father's involvement in her life and maybe the future life of their baby.
  • mmDerdekeammDerdekea Posts: 1,719
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    I think it was Louisa who turned it into a pity party for herself, not because of the gifts, but because (1) she felt the other women were questioning her ability to manage without a man by offering the help of their husbands and (2) she felt sorry that she did not have the father's involvement in her life and maybe the future life of their baby.

    Plus 3) getting a one eyed old teddy bear as a gift! ;)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 366
    Forum Member
    Louisa, both before the wedding that wasn't and at her baby shower, was in that peculiar position of defending Martin from the criticisms of the townsfolk, even if they were the very thoughts she had herself.

    He might be a "gruff, monosyllabic, rude" tosser, but he was HER "gruff etc." tosser and nobody better say anything bad about him :)
  • NewParkNewPark Posts: 3,537
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    bookfan2 wrote: »
    Louisa, both before the wedding that wasn't and at her baby shower, was in that peculiar position of defending Martin from the criticisms of the townsfolk, even if they were the very thoughts she had herself.

    He might be a "gruff, monosyllabic, rude" tosser, but he was HER "gruff etc." tosser and nobody better say anything bad about him :)

    Her great line at the shower, after she'd had enough of the snide remarks: "He may have issues with intimacy and commitment, but who doesn't."
  • Shop GirlShop Girl Posts: 1,284
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    bookfan2 wrote: »
    Whoa! You said that aloud??? :D

    Martin Clunes is not a traditional silver screen leading man. Or at least not for me. I like them a little scruffier, hair a little longer than Doc Martin (Roger Fenn hair). And leaner (think Al). But I always like "smart" best of all.

    But it is the chemistry between Martin and Louisa (who is indeed age-defying) that is every bit as compelling as Rhett and Scarlett. It is the combo, like Tracy and Hepburn, that makes you think that Martin Clunes or Spencer Tracy is swoon-worthy.

    Interesting - remember I mentioned a few weeks ago that I discovered my PT is a DM fan? She is what I would consider one of the "casual" fans. I was explaining to her the schedule they have used the last few years (2 years between series) and she remarked, "Well, that explains it! I thought the actress who plays Louisa seems like she has aged quickly!" She went on to say she has gotten bags under her eyes. I asked if she thought Martin has aged also and she thought not so much.

    Amazing how different people see things differently.
  • Shop GirlShop Girl Posts: 1,284
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Wow, wow, wow. I really liked that.

    MC had a much bigger part in the 2nd half and I thought he was terrific.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,018
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    ...So I was at a baby shower this afternoon. (What a lame social ritual -- a party (unlike birthdays, anniversaries etc.) that is really about nothing deeper than the gifts). I hadn't been to a baby shower since I was about 8, but in this case I had married the parents and was pleased to be kept in the family loop, as it were. There were roughly 30 women ranging in age from teenagers to great grannies. Of course, being afflicted with Docmartinitis, a condition where all real life events somehow remind one of scenes in Doc Martin, (or it could just have been that I was bored out of my skull), I started comparing this baby shower with the one we see Bert give for Louisa in S4.

    The kid at the shower today must have gotten (I do not exaggerate) 100 onesies. Some of the gift bags contained not one but 7 or 8 of them in different patterns and colours. Clothing predominated, but there were also a few toys including one stuffed monkey that looked very like the one given to Louisa, except that it was new and had both its eyes. What strikes me by comparison is how simple JH's entry to the world was. Perhaps Martin will prevail and he will end up a child of privilege, being put through St. Benedict's or someplace equally as expensive. When JH arrives, however, his creche is in a flat pack, he would have had no car seat were it not for Penhale, and he has no rocker or basinette at home. Instead we see him in A DRAWER! The gifts that Louisa is given -- a hand-me-down pram, a lot of hand-me-down junk at the shower, even Joan's gift of ONE onesie, not FIVE in co-ordinating colours on a string of interlocking hangers -- are making the point of simplicity.

    Louisa, I suppose, is seen as "disadvantaged" at the shower by the other women in the village, because she has no husband. But there are many women in the village, eg. Mrs. Richards, Mrs. Lane etc. who may have had husbands at the time when their children were born, but do not enjoy that support any longer. Given that the position of head teacher in a village such as Port Wenn would be seen as fairly cushy employment (secure and well remunerated), I don't know what we are supposed to take from that shower scene, and the really quite pathetic gifts that Louisa is given by the other women. I do know one thing, she isn't enjoying herself at that shower, and it's not just because of the nasty things people are saying about Martin, it's about the way she is being caused to see herself. Are the other women of the village taking some sort of malicious pleasure in this, or are they being sincere in their sad gift-offerings, and in their offers of husbands-on-loan?

    I think the women of Portwenn were being sincere and weren't necessarily taking pleasure in Louisa's situation. Except, as Louisa said, his eyes aren't too close together.

    A million years ago when I was pregnant, I had two baby showers thrown for me. My husband and I were living in a small town about two hours from "home". We were broke. Really, really broke. Freaked out about the expense of a baby. Broke! I came home for a shower given by an old friend. Yes, it was all about the gifts (but who was I to say no?). I received lots of pretty baby stuff, silver spoons (literally), engraved cups, tons of onsies, etc. Back in the town where we lived, my co-workers, who also were seriously broke (no one there made more than a pittance), gave me a shower. The gifts almost all consisted of hand-me-downs. A highchair, used baby clothing, diapers, used crib sheets, a used rocking horse, hand-me-down maternity clothes, a cradle a co-worker made himself in his backyard woodshop.

    To this day I have no idea where that silver spoon is, or the engraved cup. The onsies got used (having so many saved a lot of laundry). But the used highchair, sheets, clothes, maternity clothes, toys, etc. were used over and over and over. I have wonderful photos of my toddler daughter having fun on that used rocking horse. That rough, not-so-pretty, handmade cradle is in my attic awaiting a grandchild.

    I guess my point is that oftentimes people who have little better understand what someone else who has little needs. They're more practical. I think Louisa understood that too. At that point, she thought she would be going it alone. Yeah, yeah, the monkey missing an eye was a bit much. But my response to her shower was obviously colored by my own experience. I think she was touched (except for the eyes too close together comment). Please don't kill off Bert.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,018
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    bookfan2 wrote: »
    Louisa, both before the wedding that wasn't and at her baby shower, was in that peculiar position of defending Martin from the criticisms of the townsfolk, even if they were the very thoughts she had herself.

    He might be a "gruff, monosyllabic, rude" tosser, but he was HER "gruff etc." tosser and nobody better say anything bad about him :)

    I remember once many years ago a British tabloid trashed Michael Jackson (okay, yes, I know). David Letterman, in a monologue immediately after, basically said, "How dare they?" Michael was, he said, a "space cadet", but he's our space cadet, so they need to lay off.

    I completely agree with your statement that he was her gruff, monosyllabic, rude tosser, so she always defended him. This scene, to me, was another obvious sign that these two were still a couple, throughout S4, just having an extended row. When I first watched the baby shower scene, I felt relieved. I knew they'd end up together.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 2,018
    Forum Member
    ✭✭✭
    Shop Girl wrote: »
    Wow, wow, wow. I really liked that.

    MC had a much bigger part in the 2nd half and I thought he was terrific.

    Wow, what a show! I just watched part 1 and, though MC had a small role in the first part, well, what a show! I've always felt concern for the parents of the "evil" kid, like the parents of the Aurora guy, or the parents of the Colorado kids. What must it be like for them? All teenagers are like aliens from Mars (well, mine was, and my nieces are now). What is it like to discover that your child is not just another bizarre teenager with an attitude? I also found the beginning, in which the parents' own child arrived home late, to be a solid link. Every parent of a teenager has been there.

    Is part 2 on YouTube now or did you see it via that Expat thing?
This discussion has been closed.