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Doc Martin (Part 17 — Spoilers) |
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#51 |
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All I seem to be thinking about is Martin committing suicide. That would be the end of the show. I'm really sorry and that is very macabre. Something has to happen in E8. Those Clunes wouldn't do that, would they? They're not that kind of family.
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#52 |
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They have virtually recreated the program. The direction of this series has been clear to me from the very beginning and on the whole it is magnificent. I like the realism and seeing the humanity in all of the characters. I am sympathetic with all of them. They even have made Mummy believable despite not having a vestige of humanity left in her. The whole story is credible to me and I have no trouble buying into every bit of it. We have grown to know the characters as human beings, and I think it is a groundbreaking program.
Martin is lost in a very dark place. He has completely withdrawn into himself. Louisa is not a therapist and is doing the best she can to reach out to him. Her coping mechanism, for better or worse, is to leave when she is overwhelmed. They are both so beat up. From literally slogging through the mud, to exposing their asses to the school governor, to throwing up all over someone in public, to just completely breaking down. They have this little boy they have to raise and neither of them want him to be like them. They are both broken and they are the only people who can put each other back together. They will stay together because I don't think either of them has a choice not to. The producers have taken a huge artistic risk and have gone out on a limb with this series. The creators are exposing themselves and delving into unique emotional and artistic territory. I applaud them. It was a lot of hard work to make this program. They have gone to great pains to make this shift in focus and message, and I think they have succeeded. Certainly, this is not the program that fans originally signed on for, It's now a drama about a failing or failed marriage, not something I would ordinarily choose to watch, were I not already "hooked." , And, I really feel that now there's no going back to the dramedy of previous seasons (although precious little of that in S5). But most fans will likely continue on to watch S7, just to see how it comes out, and I think that's what they are basically up to . |
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#53 |
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I hear what you are saying, and to a great extent, I agree with you.
Certainly, this is not the program that fans originally signed on for, It's now a drama about a failing or failed marriage, not something I would ordinarily choose to watch, were I not already "hooked." , And, I really feel that now there's no going back to the dramedy of previous seasons (although precious little of that in S5). But most fans will likely continue on to watch S7, just to see how it comes out, and I think that's what they are basically up to . Now tell me honestly, have you not thought that through this tragedy laden, morale dissipating process of Martin decompensating and Louisa's flippant mood and behavior swings that it could set up a pretty good S7 romantically? Now THAT would be something to look forward to. If only BP would be that simple....but that would be a different show. |
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#54 |
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I think maybe she's expecting Martin to say something tactless, as he almost always has in the past (breath, urine-like perfume, etc), so Louisa jumps in and intercepts with, "Whatever you say". That's one of the theories about this somewhat confusing exchange.
It's also been suggested that Louisa said, "I'll open that champagne", and she expected that Martin would object or start talking about dreadful effects on the liver and such, so she said, "Whatever you say," before he had a chance. There's also the possibility that Louisa's "whatever you say" means she's accepted him for who he is and she's not going to get upset or angry no matter what he says. And, of course, there's your choice, that whatever he says goes (interesting!) tonight. It's a confusing conversation. This blogger seems to go with the first option. I'm not sure. I've changed my mind a few times. Me too! I am completely in the dark with this series.
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#55 |
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This is such rubbish. The new writers are AWFUL.
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Different, yes.......... rubbish.............no.
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#56 |
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Next week is written by Ben Bolt.
Ben Bolt was commissioned to write 2 episodes but only wrote one - episode 2 this series before he quit the show. |
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#57 |
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I hear what you are saying, and to a great extent, I agree with you.
Certainly, this is not the program that fans originally signed on for, It's now a drama about a failing or failed marriage, not something I would ordinarily choose to watch, were I not already "hooked." , And, I really feel that now there's no going back to the dramedy of previous seasons (although precious little of that in S5). But most fans will likely continue on to watch S7, just to see how it comes out, and I think that's what they are basically up to . The main problem I see with this series is the inconsistency of the characters. In e1 we had a great start to what could have been a process of growth. But that was totally derailed for no apparent reason by e2 and continued on a downward trajectory to the train wreck that will be e8 with either a miracle "I was wrong, wrong about everything" repeat or a "I can't make you happy" repeat. I find, and I am extremely sorry to say this because I am an avid DM fan (as some of you may know DM is morose in the beginning of the ep. I see that downward slide and understand it. But then suddenly, and for no apparent reason, he is happy chappie (DM happy) when he goes to pick up Louisa and doesn't understand why she would want to go away without him. I am very sorry to say that I don't find the character development in this episode believable. I could maybe accept the huge shift to depression tv if they had some lighthearted comedy moments but even the side stories are depressing. Manny and his OCD etc. |
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#58 |
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This is such rubbish. The new writers are AWFUL.
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I haven't posted on this thread in a very long time but I wanted to say that I agree with Terry Wigon's post entirely. I'm really sad to say it but I now find little left to enjoy in the series. Everything feels rehashed and delivered with so much less lightness of touch than we once saw. The Doc has evolved to simply one grim note, with barely a shred of humanity left. The scenarios are utterly predictable and exhausted. Early Doc Martin was a joy, with some genuinely comical moments and his diffident relationship with Louisa was often touching. The whole thing is now pale imitation of what it once was and with each series, is delivering diminishing returns. A real shame.
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#59 |
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Its about time the writers put some happiness into the docs marriage.Its beginning to resemble Eastenders in its misery level.
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#60 |
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Martin is lost in a very dark place. He has completely withdrawn into himself. Louisa is not a therapist and is doing the best she can to reach out to him. Her coping mechanism, for better or worse, is to leave when she is overwhelmed.
The producers have taken a huge artistic risk and have gone out on a limb with this series. The creators are exposing themselves and delving into unique emotional and artistic territory. I applaud them. It was a lot of hard work to make this program. They have gone to great pains to make this shift in focus and message, and I think they have succeeded. I also agree with someone else's comment that DM is so busy thinking about himself that he doesn't notice anything else. I suppose he snapped out of it a bit due to the accident and also when he was waiting in the car and JH started to cry. It was the most tender interaction with his son during the whole series, I suppose. I also like the direction the show is taking us and I am willing to follow. |
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#61 |
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I find, and I am extremely sorry to say this because I am an avid DM fan (as some of you may know
Honestly, I don't think DM understands the concept of happiness, so he can't relate to that and can't even notice when someone, e.g. Louisa, is unhappy. I also see a character development, and as strange as it seems for the better. In S1-2 he didn't let anyone close enough emotionally to affect him. Now he is emotionally involved to a degree that he even feels sick. It's something he doesn't know, can't cope with. He has to learn, and I am optimistic that he will be able to adapt. And give the poor couple a break! Just think what had happened in the last three years Portwenn-time to them: engagement, non-wedding, abandonment, pregnancy, bickering, jealousy, fighting the haemophobia, losing the battle, getting a new job and having to give that up, JH is born and AJ dies, they start living together with a newborn for the first time, job insecurities, kidnapping of their child and the appearance of two horrible mother's! To be honest, after such a time I bet I would suffer from depression, too! |
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#62 |
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S6-e7
The blogisphere will be humming today! But having written a teeny bit, I do admire the dramatic plot twist. Do I like recent events? No. What a curve ball to throw; but this been heading our way for some time.
Vallium anyone?
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#63 |
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Join Date: Nov 2011
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The blogisphere will be humming today! But having written a teeny bit, I do admire the dramatic plot twist. Do I like recent events? No. What a curve ball to throw; but this been heading our way for some time.
Vallium anyone? ![]() I am loving the twists and turns of this series But we should have expected this MC is an actor - not a soap celebrity BP would not let that happen to their baby I am on the edge of my seat waiting for next week
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#64 |
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Join Date: Feb 2011
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I can't quite decide where I come out on this ep.
I missed the POTW (Mrs. T doesn't count). I liked BAMF Ruth. I find DM OOC with respect to his "illness." The doctor who won't see a doctor when he's ill is cliche. Also, as someone above noted, there has always been a bit of humanity in DM when he's stressed -- especially when he's stressed. And given that half the patients are leaving the office in tears or a huff, someone would have reported things are no longer "normal" even for DM. Should have used Chris Parsons in this series to provide balance -- if nothing else, LG might have reached out to him. Wonder if the actor was busy. ![]() I thought Penhale was ok . . . his clownishness was juxtaposed with some cleverness and a willingness to help people. I think the clownishness is overdone but can live with it -- gotta have SOME light moments in this series. Can't quite figure out what Mummie Dearest is doing. She must be needed at the end. And I don't think the warning to LG not to get on the plane has to do with her medical issues . . . not spoiled, just a suspicion. |
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#65 |
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I think I'm really missing the comedy in DM. Don't get me wrong, I love how they're exploring Martin's character a lot more and I suppose I do enjoy the dramatic turn the series has taken, but in my opinion, the show has lost some of its charm. Penhale and the stupid situations he gets himself into is pretty much the only bit of comedy we see these days.
The only part of last nights episode I didn't enjoy was Mike's storyline. It was so abrupt! One minute we find out he's A.W.O.L and hates the army and the next he's willing to go back after a 2 minute (if that!) pep talk from Martin. It was just pointless. |
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#66 |
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Join Date: Feb 2013
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After all the fuss to bring them together and the lovely way series 5 ended I really hope they don't ruin it now. At the end of 5 it was suggested that Martin's character was going to develop, I was hoping he would open up in this series. It would be crap if they ended up divorced.
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#67 |
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Now tell me honestly, have you not thought that through this tragedy laden, morale dissipating process of Martin decompensating and Louisa's flippant mood and behavior swings that it could set up a pretty good S7 romantically? Now THAT would be something to look forward to. If only BP would be that simple....but that would be a different show.
Maybe that is the meaning of MC's very unsettling comment before this series aired -- that they had to figure a way to keep the relationship alive even though they weren't a couple. They have to keep it alive, so that there is a chance that they can ultimately reconcile. Quote:
Next week ep 8, the final in this series, is written by Jack Lothian - he also wrote the wedding that wasn't in s3.
Ben Bolt was commissioned to write 2 episodes but only wrote one - episode 2 this series before he quit the show. Quote:
I like your description, and I agree that the Doc has retreated far beyond the lines where non-professional help can reach. However, I applaud LEs attempt until the beginning of this episodes. It's really all she can do.
I also agree with someone else's comment that DM is so busy thinking about himself that he doesn't notice anything else. I suppose he snapped out of it a bit due to the accident and also when he was waiting in the car and JH started to cry. It was the most tender interaction with his son during the whole series, I suppose. I also like the direction the show is taking us and I am willing to follow. Quote:
Honestly, I don't think DM understands the concept of happiness, so he can't relate to that and can't even notice when someone, e.g. Louisa, is unhappy.
I also see a character development, and as strange as it seems for the better. In S1-2 he didn't let anyone close enough emotionally to affect him. Now he is emotionally involved to a degree that he even feels sick. It's something he doesn't know, can't cope with. He has to learn, and I am optimistic that he will be able to adapt. |
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#68 |
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Join Date: Oct 2011
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The blogisphere will be humming today! But having written a teeny bit, I do admire the dramatic plot twist. Do I like recent events? No. What a curve ball to throw; but this been heading our way for some time.
Vallium anyone? ![]() Let's name this episode: LG is trying to get DM to communicate, but he won't. Then, she is in a car accident and he screams out "LOUISA!". He then becomes so obnoxious to the medical personnel caring for her, she kicks him out of her treatment area. He then becomes pensive and thoughtful. And, this episode is.....yes, S4 finale. Or, let's name this episode: DM is so unromantic, so difficult to live with, so apparently uninterested in being happy and having LG be happy, that LG packs up JH and moves in with her mother. And, this episode is....yes, S5E6. It's not a "dramatic" plot twist, Rob, to me. It's an unoriginal and repetitive plot twist. |
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#69 |
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I can't quite decide where I come out on this ep.
I missed the POTW (Mrs. T doesn't count). I liked BAMF Ruth. I find DM OOC with respect to his "illness." The doctor who won't see a doctor when he's ill is cliche. Also, as someone above noted, there has always been a bit of humanity in DM when he's stressed -- especially when he's stressed. And given that half the patients are leaving the office in tears or a huff, someone would have reported things are no longer "normal" even for DM. Should have used Chris Parsons in this series to provide balance -- if nothing else, LG might have reached out to him. Wonder if the actor was busy. ![]() I thought Penhale was ok . . . his clownishness was juxtaposed with some cleverness and a willingness to help people. I think the clownishness is overdone but can live with it -- gotta have SOME light moments in this series. Can't quite figure out what Mummie Dearest is doing. She must be needed at the end. And I don't think the warning to LG not to get on the plane has to do with her medical issues . . . not spoiled, just a suspicion. |
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#70 |
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And, remember, that when you "Call an ambulance" which I imagine DM could have done himself with his phone in his pocket, it takes around 45 minutes for it to arrive. Imagine how pleasant that 45 minutes were with LG on the side of the road and DM in the worst DM state possible, so that even I, a huge DM character fan, could not stand him at all.
And, again, the fans have no real clue what is going on. We still have no reason why his blood phobia returned. We have no reason why he could not sleep (which we again never ever saw actually affect him during the day). All he does is become more and more irritable and irritating while out of the blue LG gets better and better as a wife from her initial shrill, screeching tenseness. I'm not the stupidest person in the world, and neither are all are you. If none of us really can fathom what is going on and why with the characters, that is a glaring light on the poor writing, plot theme and directing of a show. Last, just to defend DM in the only way I can see in E7, for LG to have developed a DVT and pulmonary embolism in the hospital (however far-fetched that is), and for the nurse and doctor to not notice it or immediately care for it, as that is a life-threatening situation, is really, really incompetent medical care. I mean, unbelievably bad medical care. And, no, until your Deep Vein Thrombosis clears up entirely, which is not overnight, but takes weeks, no, you shouldn't fly for at least two weeks after experiencing a DVT: http://www.patient.co.uk/health/deep...bosis-leaflet# (and longer, really, if you suffered a pulmonary embolism). The anticoagulants LG is on do not dissolve the clot she already has. They keep new clots from developing. |
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#71 |
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And, remember, that when you "Call an ambulance" which I imagine DM could have done himself with his phone in his pocket, it takes around 45 minutes for it to arrive. Imagine how pleasant that 45 minutes were with LG on the side of the road and DM in the worst DM state possible, so that even I, a huge DM character fan, could not stand him at all.
And, again, the fans have no real clue what is going on. We still have no reason why his blood phobia returned. We have no reason why he could not sleep (which we again never ever saw actually affect him during the day). All he does is become more and more irritable and irritating while out of the blue LG gets better and better as a wife from her initial shrill, screeching tenseness. I'm not the stupidest person in the world, and neither are all are you. If none of us really can fathom what is going on and why with the characters, that is a glaring light on the poor writing, plot theme and directing of a show. Last, just to defend DM in the only way I can see in E7, for LG to have developed a DVT and pulmonary embolism in the hospital (however far-fetched that is), and for the nurse and doctor to not notice it or immediately care for it, as that is a life-threatening situation, is really, really incompetent medical care. I mean, unbelievably bad medical care. And, no, until your Deep Vein Thrombosis clears up entirely, which is not overnight, but takes weeks, no, you shouldn't fly for at least two weeks after experiencing a DVT: http://www.patient.co.uk/health/deep...bosis-leaflet# (and longer, really, if you suffered a pulmonary embolism). The anticoagulants LG is on do not dissolve the clot she already has. They keep new clots from developing. I do have to say, it takes more guts (or foolhardiness) than I possess to get on a plane within a day of having a pulmonary embolism and go off to a place where I didn't know anything about the medical facilities, and rely on the tender mercies of an unreliable mother. |
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#72 |
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Join Date: Sep 2011
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The producers have taken a huge artistic risk and have gone out on a limb with this series. The creators are exposing themselves and delving into unique emotional and artistic territory. I applaud them. It was a lot of hard work to make this program. They have gone to great pains to make this shift in focus and message, and I think they have succeeded.
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#73 |
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Join Date: Mar 2011
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Tragicomedy?
I must say, this was not pure unalloyed "drama" in that even in the serious moments, there were comic touches. E.G. when Margaret asked if the cup he got was for sports, he spat out "it was for chess" -- inviting us both to laugh and feel sympathy for the lonely little boy. And in the scene where the doctor was finally listening to Louisa's lungs, and DM was simultaneously poking a thermometer in her ear -- a funny piece of business (or meant to be) in a dramatic moment. They don't usually, except in what are meant to be pivotal moments, play it for straight drama, it seems to me.
That aspect hasn't really changed -- it's just that the purely comic moments are fewer and far more leaden. And the overall story arc, of course, seems to have been downhill. |
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#74 |
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So, Mona, here's another repetitive diagnosis -- remember Clive? and "you could die?"
I do have to say, it takes more guts (or foolhardiness) than I possess to get on a plane within a day of having a pulmonary embolism and go off to a place where I didn't know anything about the medical facilities, and rely on the tender mercies of an unreliable mother. Geez, the creative well has run dry this season! |
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#75 |
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Join Date: Feb 2013
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One thing that I really can't understand is Louisa's seeming inability to realise that Martin and school children do not make a good combination. Why oh why does she persist in involving Martin in every single school event when she knows that it will end up in complete disaster! He is totally lacking in social skills, is extremely rude to everyone he comes into contact with (especially children), and needs to be kept as far away from her school as possible except in medical emergencies! So, she decides to insist he leaves a busy surgery and is the special guest at the school's sports day. Give me strength!! It's no wonder their marriage is so strained!
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I am completely in the dark with this series.
