Absolutely correct. An idiotic and unprofessional statement. didn't you love Louisa's rejoinder --- "you're only 32."

That hill scene was really awkwardly worded. I'm having trouble parsing it.

Did you hear him say "loveYA"? I thought the "I" was swallowed, but I heard 'you." Still, could have used one more take, b/c it was a bit odd.

I'm not sure they laid all the blame on Louisa -- however, she was the one who found the marriage so intolerable that she left and wanted a separation when she returned. So maybe it's on her to make the decision to come back?

I thought she was saying that she had put too much emphasis on something that wasn't nearly as important as the fact that he always was and always would be there for her, and that the idea of divorce really being possible made her come to that realization. -- Although he will still irritate the hell out of her, justifiably for the most part, I don't think she'll leave again. I don't see him going back into a S6 funk.

Okay Ms. Sarah and New Park, i wasn't going to go there, but you opened the pathway.

After Louisa and Timoney displayed their best resting bitch faces throughout the therapy sessions, they ended with the perfect bitch smackdown. Louisa's better rejoinder was her "by-uh" which really means "bitch bye." Martin was smart enough to shut up because he realized he had lost control and his life was now in the hands of Louisa.

After allowing herself to be the doormat in series 6 (which --- as you say Sarah -- was the real show because that is what marriage would be like with Martin Ellingham), the writers restored Louisa to her delicious spiky-ness.

Martin crawled to Timoney, tail between his legs and self-diagnosis in hand, because he had to get his Louisa back. He lost control of her in Series 6 and in the interim period when she decamped to Spain. He was ready to do anything to get her back (and I hope that includes James Henry because no one seemed to care about his fate in Series 7).

Agree with both of you that the conversation on the hill was weird, but hillsides do unusual things to Martin: he hugged Aunt Joan on a hill when John Slater sailed off; he listened to Aunt Ruth, legs akimbo, on the hill in Series 6, and he plopped on the hill (a most un-Ellingham position) to tell Louisa "loveya." That was so out of character -- no awkward throat clearing, no "rights" or "uhms" -- just not Martin.

Louisa wasn't the only one who had to help the men in this series:

Sally had to seduce Clive back into her life
Janice had to ask Penhale to the two for one at the chipper
Morwenna had to tell Al to ask her out (Morwenna, you can do so much better, but I will play along -- plus she is such a good actress I don't expect to see her back after this series -- like Katherine Parkinson, she is ready for bigger roles)
Mrs. Winton had to save Mr. Winton (what terrific acting -- love Gemma Jones)
Finally, Ruth had to save Bert and set him up in business

So this was the series of women in the manner of PB

Best part: As MMD pointed out -- Action Martin.
Worst part: Sigourney Weaver. She was probably moritifed when she saw her lack of acting talent compared to even the school kids whose toys were being stapled to the way

Portwenn effect: That someone with Martin's long proclaimed horrible issues from his childhood could be cured in one episode with Dr. Timoney. That someone whose marriage was failing within two weeks would be set straight in 5 sessions with Dr. Timoney. Maybe she isn't so bad if she could do that.

Most disappointing: Dr. Timoney was great, and I was thrilled that BP was actually taking the marriage problems seriously. Then came the accident and the downfall of Dr. Timoney. Why can't one character escape unscathed from the BP cauldron of mischief?

Most surprising: Janice. She has become Louisa's right hand woman who can run the house, mind the baby, be sassy to Martin, and dole out advice to her boss. If there is a series 8, a bigger role for her would be good. I would even tolerate Penhale if we had more Janice.

Nicest new relationship: Louisa and Ruth. Very warm with nice cheek kisses and little hugs at the birthday party.

Most likely to go: Aunt Ruth and Bert. I cringe thinking what horrendous endings BP will dream up for them. I'm guessing Bert is killed when the still explodes and Ruth drops dead at a forensic conference after ignoring Martin's advice.

Missed the most: the gaggle of girls. I don't know what was better -- their reappearance in Ep. 8 or Louisa telling them to bugger off. Most insulting: Martin's fancy woman would only be in Delabole -- surely he could have gotten someone better in Truro!

OooLaLa-very sassy tonight (bitch smackdown)

Good call and Martin was smart to lay low.
Series 6 was a hard pill to swallow, wasn't it. It was a smart move by BP to shift the focus in series 7. I was thrilled about the therapy and their short scenes were the best part of the series, imo. The Bickersons became watchable again and regained some of their appeal and charm. That was a hurdle and they succeeded, imo.

Great commentary on the season, Bloodphobia. I'm with you on most but you lose me on Morwenna and SW. Morwenna is the weak link and doesn't come close to the personality of Pauline (or the natural talents of KP).
The Doc's surgery with Pauline was often the main attraction. The interplay between Doc and P was always great tv, imo. Morwenna is a weak substitute.

The Doc/MC was superb in E8 ! Honorable mention to JM...PenhalePerfection.

I lost my reply so I'll try again.
The medvac lift and the exteme shoot might have been a factor. Of course, the line about "never letting her down" was the highlight and the actress played that scene
with real conviction. She had words on a page - they gave her something to say and it must have been very gratifying (after many years) to express them. His lines fell short, imo. If you think through the couple's journey - they were battered, beaten, bruised and surely after all that, the scene should have been the jewel of the show. The writers didn't give it the weight it deserved. She rose above it - he didn't.

Think back to finale S4 (it was all about him, of course) but she came through. She made the most of every second that was given to her and (again) she gives 100% to him. The hilltop scene could have been a compromise and he just wasn't into it, imo.

Edit: Agree about her progress/growth and the shift we'll see (re hubby and marriage). Martin, as well, discovered a few secrets in making a marriage work.


Correction in original post: layed should read laid. Where is my mind tonight.

Perhaps Martin's off-putting funk in S6 was somewhat due to his having lost control in his own house? He is a person to whom control is supremely important, and not only has he, probably permanently, lost control to a wife who means everything to him, but his tidy and quiet life was disrupted. He now says that's OK with him -- we'll see.

Actually, the power relationship between them is a very interesting issue -- as it probably is for all newly married couples. But I think Martin is in thrall enough with her (to her?) that, if she chooses to be clear and assertive about what she wants from him, to a degree we haven't yet seen from her, she will most often win her point.

I don't think we're meant to think that Dr. T cured him. I think we're meant to think that Ruth, on the S6 hillside, cured him! Apparently, some but not all, medical professionals are wizards, with a magic wand. Now he's sad, but not depressed. There's a difference. Attachment disorder is a rubbish diagnosis and Dr. T was quite right to disregard it.

I'm still thinking about the way that therapy and Dr. Timoney were portrayed. But you're right -- no one escapes BP! Suffice it to say, it is extremely odd to see a therapist suggest to a couple, after 3 or 4 sessions, that they should think about separating. Maybe it was a ploy. But as Sarah so rightly points out, this couple is duck soup compared to many couples who present for marital therapy.

I love your comments about women. The men are most often portrayed as a hapless lot, aren't they.

Morwenna is a dear, and does indeed deserve better than Al, but agreed that Pauline's snideness added a touch of spice to the receptionist- DM interaction. I really didn't 'like" her as a person, but I think whoever said it was a better character was right.

Yes definitely! I really liked On The Edge though! And I did enjoy that Peter Cronk appearance, I'm glad we saw him as he is now! I think the series was an improvement on 6 as it was more focused on the ensemble aspect rather than the doom and gloom!

For me, Louisa's final speech in the final scene was earned long and hard in this series. She started pretty clueless about her upbringing - "Normal as you like" was how she described it in her first session with Dr. T. It was a journey from that to her speech and admission that she has been obsessed with normal, and that nobody is really normal in the way she has believed normal to be.

I can see where BP has laid some of the blame on her for the problems in the relationship. Ultimately, though, she is the partner who is going to make or break this relationship. It is vital that she understands why she has been unhappy in the relationship. While a good bit of it is Martin, plenty of responsibility lies with her. In her quest for "normal", she was of the belief that everything had to be "normal" in order for her to be happy with Martin.

Early on she was fixated on the things about him that make him "not normal" - the blood phobia, his "OCD" (which he doesn't have), and his need to eat fish all the time. Her obsession with "normal" made her think that was the problem.

Throughout the series her belief system gradually breaks down, and she can see where it is keeping her unhappy. At the end she says "nobody is normal". That means her and not just Martin. She has taken a lot of pressure off herself.

So that belief is gone, and she has more emotional intelligence than she did when she returned from Spain in episode 2.

I think this self-revelation goes beyond her need to try to change him, which is how they used to describe what she was trying to do. Thanks to the writers and Caroline Catz they got to the core of Louisa's belief system. It isn't a superficial fix.

She now knows that she doesn't have to be "normal" because there is no such thing as "normal". She was judging her life based on something that doesn't exist and therefore can never be achieved which is a recipe for unhappiness - to paraphrase Mrs. T.

Nobody is "normal". Martin is unusual. I love that word to describe him.

There are all kinds of things that happened in series 6 where she thought that wedding band was a quick fix. She believed that made everything normal. I haven't watched it in a while, but I look forward to looking for that next time I do.

Finally, I've been reading comments from around this time in 2013 after series 6 ended. I'm sad that many people no longer post. It is interesting to see what folks predicted and what BP actually did in series 7.

Great post.

I think we can see at least some of the source of Louisa's "obsession" with normality in her anything but respectable, conventional parents. She has worked her way up from the child of a disgraced father and an absconding mother to a position of eminent respectability -- head teacher. No wonder it is so important to her.

I think that has always been the push away of the push - pull with Martin -- that his oddities don't seem normal (they're not) and are commented on by everyone else and perhaps she feels that reflects on her and her hard-won respectability. Indeed, I think that hearing how her "friends" thought of him on their first wedding day was one of the things that decided her against marrying him.

But I do think that her desire for him to be more "normal" as she defines it, has been a goad to her trying to change him, something which was bound to make both of them unhappy. According to CC, this is what Louisa realized when she called off the wedding. And this is what Martin heard from the drycleaner -- she'll always be trying to make me something I'm not.

Looking back over the 7 series, I think this has been a major motif from the beginning.

And yes, good for Louisa -- it's like she realized that not only is no one "normal" including herself, but that his oddities, and how they affect his dealings with others, are his issue and really have nothing to do with her. Only when his oddities directly impair their relationship need they be addressed.

I absolutely loved CC's delivery of the "32" line to Dr Timoney.

You are correct NewPark. He kind of swallowed the "I" and it absolutely was "you" and not "ya".

The way I look at it, Jack Lothian wrote those lines on the hilltop and Martin Clunes said them. I don't think there are any two people on the planet who know better than those two what Martin Ellingham would say and how he would say it. I would never be presumptuous enough to tell them how to do their jobs.

There is that, Shopgirl.

Dominic Minghella

Well, certainly Dominic, but he hasn't had anything to do with the character since he invented him and plopped him into Portwenn. The wooing of Louisa started in S3 after he left. He's gone through the short engagement, non-wedding, becoming a father, his beloved aunt's death, raising a child for a year now, a marriage, the falling apart of that marriage, his father dying, sending his mother out of his life, and then in S7 making the changes in himself necessary to save his marriage.

I'd say that Dominic wouldn't recognize his creation. But that's okay, because Martin has really grown as a person since Dominic left him - and it's understandable and good.

As Shopgirl has said....Dominic Minghella?..........bullsh*t

You are correct, DM definitely said 'I love you Louisa'!

Noticed on your website that Dominic MInghella wrote most of the first and second series. Did he only create the series or write episodes of it?

Yes, he did write most of S1 and S2. But as I stated in my post, most of the experiences that shaped ME to be the man he had become by the end of S7 happened after Dominic left. It wasn't until the beginning of S3 that he actually started to woo Louisa. That was what set him off on the journey he has taken.

The character that Dominic created was a very broken man. As promised by MC, he has not been "fixed" or had a personality transplant, but he HAS become a better man. Becoming a father, getting married, learning how to BE married, losing Aunt Joan, losing his father, disowning his mother. All of that in just a few years will change a person and it looks like the changes in him will help him to have a more fulfilling personal life. When he found himself losing the career he loved and in a village where he certainly didn't "fit", he could never have foreseen this outcome.

Thank you for clarifying. Although I don't agree with you, I respect your opinion.

[i]Shopgirl:
The way I look at it, Jack Lothian wrote those lines on the hilltop and Martin Clunes said them. I don't think there are any two people on the planet who know better than those two what Martin Ellingham would say and how he would say it. I would never be presumptuous enough to tell them how to do their job

I was the one that questioned it and I said "I was thrown by it..." If what I heard was
love ya (and I haven't rewatched yet) It doesn't sound like a phrase or turn of phrase that he would say. But - I have now remembered another scene where he did say "ya" and it was when he was drunk. LOL "....just to get a glimpse of ya."

Go Doc!

And - thank you for avoiding "labels" and /or calling someone "presumptous" because they voice opinions that are different, brazen, or have the audacity to question or critique someone's work, etc.

I honestly think it's his accent you're hearing, not him being all casual and informal in that moment, which I agree would be out of character especially in that critical moment.

I disagree. The character Dominic created was NOT a very broken man. He was functional, could even sense when LG wanted him to ask him out, and did so (when he was washing his car). He shared about himself and his blood phobia problem. In S3, he was a thoughtful, caring fiancee to her. He listened to the pastor discussing what should be a goal of marriage; making the other person happy. He was always socially awkward, but he is still that at the end of S7; he is still "unusual".

MC deliberately wanted to darken DM. After Dominic left, by S5, DM was not at all like the character Dominic had created; he was much less talkative, much more grumpy, etc. Many of us could barely get through S5, S6 (the worst, except the near perfect E1, and exciting E2), and S7 (somewhat better). The season 4 finale was meaningless to S5, the season five finale was meaningless ot S6. This was all MC's desire and I think the DM of S1-3 was a LOT more entertaining than the DM of S5-6. At least DM was a much better character in S7, so it made the series easier to watch, (but then anything better than DM moping for 7 episodes in his office would be better!), and certainly not near the beauty and enjoyment of S1-3.

Mona

NewPark:
And yes, good for Louisa -- it's like she realized that not only is no one "normal" including herself, but that his oddities, and how they affect his dealings with others, are his issue and really have nothing to do with her. Only when his oddities directly impair their relationship need they be addressed.

Yes, as they did in S 6. I couldn't have said it better: "when his oddities directly impair their relationship need they be addressed." (You Rock, NewPark, as I LMHO)

Someone mentions that Louisa used the marriage as a "quick fix...." Are we sure and did we see that develop as a sub-plot or was it ever part of their "discussions" in the last series. Did Dr. Tim suggest or imply this in one of the sessions because it is not something I remember hearing.

The hilltop scene did trigger something (in me) that Dr. Tim talked about in the scene when she asks Louisa: So, you fall in love with men that you know will leave.

Louisa knew the answer all along. She fell in love with him for many reasons but obviously (it makes sense now) for one so important reason. He was the antithesis of her parents and the man that would never let her down.

Go Louisa.

(ugh...this is sounding rather cheesy, like bad fan fiction... my apologies!)

Edit: Re your other reply and it could be the accent. I will watch again soon when I have time for all the ads and the "interruptions."

Great points!!

I inferred from Louisa's behavior in series 6 that she thought the wedding rings were going to be a quick fix to his problems. She thought he would be able to go to school events, have people over, take James to playtime, and make speeches at sports day. I saw that as Louisa thinking that everything had changed with him since he was now married to her. They married, now everything is normal, and we can act normal because we are normal, and this is what normal people do.

It was never mentioned anywhere else, or discussed in therapy. It is a conclusion that I came to on my own based on Louisa's behaviors. She wasn't much aware of her own issues at that point.

dcdmfan Agree about Louisa. She was the one who was taking the marriage literally.

I am having a little trouble understanding the difference between Martin in the previous six series and how he appeared in series 7. Basically, he talked much more, seemed much more aware of even his surroundings and was acting more "normal" than he had in the past. Many of us wondered why he never communicated, but in series 7, he seemed to say a good deal. He may not have been saying the right things, but he was talking.

He had the typical short interactions was patients and people like Bert and Penhale, but he seemed to talk with Aunt Ruth, Mrs. Tishell, the various people who appeared in the show, like the Wootens and their son.

Am I imagining he talked much more? I thought it was great that he did so.