*Lost for words*...


Definitely! Thanks Alex x


Hello MH, great to see you here! And thank you very much x


Thanks so much Kathy! x


Interesting post, thank you Starfish x

Great post.
And Zainab still doesn't get it, or rather chooses not to. Amira wasn't the wrong woman, she was wrong because she was a woman.

Oooh I shall enjoy!


Hi Jen, fantastic post. I was nervous too, and some of part 3 was a real and genuine surprise! What a lovely man.

And worth repeating again, yes, thank you very much to Alex and Mercs for conducting such a superb interview, you have done a splendid job. And big thanks to Dessie for the editing, very important job and it wouldn't be the same without all your effort too.


Good point about the hips, bet there was a line about childbearing hips or something.


BIB 1 - a better way of phrasing it, yes. I still see it as more of an act of will, than simply wanting to please others. He also (for most of the storyline up to this point) wants it for himself too, (only IMO). I see him as someone who split his personality due to the intense pressure he was under. He wanted Christian, fell in love with him, but he did also want to be the other person, the one he described in MQ - it's his vision for himself, tied into his spiritual beliefs. I always used to say it would have been like having a civil war going on inside himself, those two halves fighting against each other. Wonderfully complex anyway, and ideal for hours of analysis!

BIB 2 - thanks. I always thought it was deliberate, so interesting how I have read all this into it when it wasn't necessarily intended to be like that!

S: I’m still married. remember
M: Technically.
S: Genuinely.

I always find it genuinely shocking how quickly his marriage to Amira is dismissed by the family. I think much of it is still an attempt to convince themselves that the marriage failed because she just wasn't the right woman - because if it wasn't her fault, then they have to remember that it was because of Syed's sexuality, and that's no longer a problem any more, right? If he was as 'cured' as he was trying to make out, or if they were in any way convinced by his moping around sadly and snapping that everything's OK, then why not call Amira, try and repair the marriage? But they won't do this because they know how fragile this pretence of 'straight' Syed really is.

It also shows how Syed is still trying to buy some breathing space. He says earlier in the episode 'It's too soon.' then reminds them that he's still married, but it can't stop the train. They just keep going, irrelevant of how he feels or what he wants or even the fact that he is still a married man.

It is also a sign of how seriously Syed took his marriage. He hasn't forgotten it. And this is quite some time after Amira left. Yet his parents, backed by the community, write it off as unimportant, no obstacle to finding a new wife. So much for a pious honouring of a lifelong legal and religious commitment. As Nick said, a slow uncoupling of Syed from his family - unravelling his unwavering following of what he's always been told, and a slow movement towards working out for himself what he fundamentally believes.

Cheers for that :sleep: That list is really funny though, I remember laughing so much when we were compiling it

Genius!
The pics are most distracting.

Oh, God, it was so funny. Especially you. They kept getting more and more tenuous as the night went on... There were looooads of genuine ones, though. I'm sure some writers had fun making as many allusions to sex as they could without being flat-out 'we're going to have sex now/we've just had sex'.

Really good post
BiB - I think this really reflects the strength of Syed's morals. In some ways it's the end of his journey in that he finally makes the break away from his family, but really it's just the start of discovering himself and a truer life.

They're so desperate to restore the status quo they're prepared to rewrite history in their heads.

Z: I can’t stop Bushra now. And somewhere out there is The One.

Again, the community, their values, can't be changed, or derailed. Staying in the family, choosing to live by their rules, means that Bushra, and by extension, cultural tradition, will dictate everything in his life, right down to the type of meat he buys. Even his mother is controlled by this - strong, force of nature Zainab is a slave to Bushra, to expectations, to appearances. Another uncoupling in Syed's head - if they can't be changed, then I have to change to fit in. And if I can't change, then I will never fit in...

...and then Zainab pipes up with the second sentence, thus laying the answer out on a plate. Out there IS someone who you will fit with, who will feel right, and good, and who you won't have to pretend with. The one person who is right for you. Z's homophobia and basic inability to understand that Syed feels genuine love for Christian mean that it doesn't even occur to her that Syed's thoughts would immediately turn to him. And thus she unwittingly sows the seed that makes what's to come ALL about Christian.

Love the NHB interview thank you, great to have his insight

I like to think that Christian sang this to Syed when they'd got settled in at home after reunion, at least sometime during DC week

Oh this is amazing, I forgot about this! Thanks!


*chuckles*


Totally agree with all you wrote here!



Alex Thank you for sharing the pages and pages...great analysis!

None more obvious than Syed's confession in the market that he wanted to go back to bed. Right perv he was. :sleep:

Mad for it. :sleep:

Firstly I need to say a huge thank you to Alex, mercs and Dessie for the wonderful interview..


I really want to say something meaningful about reunion, Alex your posts are wonderful...I have always adored this episode and it still has the same affect on me, even after all this time


guh its perfect, its wonderful and I will always love it.

hiya

He was such a tiger I always thought he was, I mean remember how he said Too in response to Christian statement that they needed to talk...while Amiria was out shopping such a little minx...love him

Love this! Thanks


Thanks so much Starfish! x



Really great posts Alex, thank you!

Yeah, go back to bed. It's the afternoon, and they've clearly just gotten out of bed.

My favourite time, though, is when Syed suggests they say a 'proper goodbye' before Christian goes back to GC, and Christian points out they can't kick Jane out on her last day and says 'I know you would' and Syed looks SO pissed off, ha.

Lol at people who thought Syed was frigid.

edit: fabulous posts, Alex.

S: How can you be so sure?

And here we have it. Poor confused Syed, who has been brought up with Zainab's absolutely certainty about everything, in a world full of rules where everything is dictated with no room for doubt. This is a desperate plea, because he is racked with doubt and questions, about himself and his faith and his life and his feelings. It's also not a coincidence that he is drawn to Christian - someone who is so strong, and certain of himself. It's a quality that Syed is fascinated and drawn to because he is so prone to wavering and worrying. Standing in that kitchen, choosing to go along with the matchmaking because his mother is sure it's the right thing. But earlier in the day Jane has questioned him 'What do you believe, Syed?', then Christian has challenged him, then Tambo has asked him what he wants. He is being questioned and pushed by everyone, yet his mother remains absolutely convinced about what is right. Another uncoupling is that he is finally questioning her certainty - what makes her so sure that this is the right thing? He's begging her to convince him, to make him as sure as she is. 'I'm trying so hard and I'm still doubting. Please mum, tell me what I need to hear to believe as strongly as you do.'

#gutter

Excellent Alex, really insightful. It's scary how his parents are literally handing over control to someone who is not even a family member, and I think this is part of what makes Syed crack. Zainab and Masood actually come across as quite frightened themselves, maybe that is too strong a word, but anxious and cowed around her, and their crawling to desperately be back in favour too. I think it might be Syed seeing this, standing back and looking, seeing the power of the community over them, that provides him with thought about how much more he is willing to allow others to decide his life for him.


Thank you for the link brilliant, so funny, will save this.


That bit is what always made me think it! I really thought they were trying to do that. Perhaps we have the director and editor to thank for that impression, and Marc too of course!


Thank you hun. xx


Amazing post! I was always so shocked by how disposable Amira was. I think those scenes are very clever in showing the desperation that the cure has worked. I agree he is trying to slow things down, find some space, stop the runaway train (train again) of how things are going.I think the desperation and the lack of consideration for Amira makes him realise and stand back and observe them, and he is able to see that he is actually right and what they are doing is very wrong.

Very important point about how seriously he takes his marriage, - good insight - I think he makes a clear moral choice too, in that he cannot allow himself to pushed into deceiving another woman. I'd like to think he'd come to this conclusion even if Christian wasn't there, and he does, when you think about it. If Christian had rejected him again, I don't believe he would have gone back, he would still have continued on, alone. He finally walks out on his family with no certainty that his relationship with Christian can be re-kindled.

I've got about 10 tabs open, and I'm sat here starving, and I can't stop posting. Just like the old days!

Hello!
I'm surprised they ever left the flat! Still, at least we know what they were doing during black holes.
Should have been announced though, 'Chryed won't be appearing for the next few months as they are on a sex break.'

Helloooooo, lovely to see you here Chutneyed! ((hugs)) . Ahh, and Choruslinecab awesomeness!


Love this about them, hehe, how Marc and Johnny played it all. Chemistry city!

And then Zainab lays out the basis of her certainty. And Syed hears what he needs to hear. And all his doubts do indeed disappear.

"Because it is destined Syed. Because everything that we have been through, everything has brought us to where we are now. You were never meant to be with Amira, I understand that now. Everything happens for a reason, even if we don’t know what it is. All this, it was meant to be.”

I actually don't have anything to say about this. It speaks for itself. <3

Zainab unwittingly digging a great big hole for Syed to escape out of. Ha!