I agree about the growth, but I would include Louisa, too.
If we look at the ending of each season, I personally think we see a developent to more mature behaviour.
S1-2: He makes a stupid remark and she throws him out of the taxi or slaps him. I'd say it's the maturity grade of six year olds on a playground.
S3: They suddenly realise a few minutes before the wedding that this is for real. I'd say it's the maturity grade of teenagers who are in love for the first time.
S4-5: They try to stand their own ground, try not to give in too much. In the end, a critical situation let the adrenaline and hormones boil over and a desperate, emotional realisation of desire brings them back together.
Again, they are more like teenagers.
S6: They have both realised by now that relationships need work. They won't be able to stay who they are. They need to change and nudge forward, accommodating the other ones need.
They now rather stay apart an d work on themselves first than been thrown back together by sheer emotions. There is no shouting and emotional outburst in the season's finale. They talk quietly and civilised and are - surprise! - agreeing on the direction they have to take.
They have reached early adulthood.

They are on the right track.

Interesting view. A friend of mine has a case of Aspergers in the family, and she particularly likes DM because it has an Aspie as the hero (her opinion, which I tend to share) without making a big deal of it.

Does anyone know how fan fiction works? There were a lot of good stories by the best writers that seem to have been stopped. Madmother, Snowsie, Declan, Chiccola, Boots, Olivelouisa, Sherlock/Doc crossover. Do they have to be posted in a certain order, etc? Is there a moderator who decides which story is put int he queue? TIA

I think it has a lot to do with how we expect people to communicate. We are used to the polite niceties we exchange, even when they don't really have much substance (do we really want to know how someone's feeling every time we say 'How do you do' or when we say 'nice to see you', are we really glad to have bumped into that person?).
Martin skips that as unnecessary timewasting, and we are appaled as it violates the unwritten rules of social behaviour.

I always find it interesting that my granny, who doesn't speak a word of English but loves the show nevertheless, has a far more positive opinion of DM as I have ever encountered. She doesn't understands what he says but only sees what he does. That helps. Obviously.

While Martin said the clock had some value, it wasn't specified what kind of value. Monetary or sentimental? I think she took it for spite as well as hoping it had monetary value. And it confirms what Ruth said about her being a thief.

Just because AR tells us he had been sensitive and vulnerable as a four year old doesn't mean he can't have Asperger's. She didn't say he had been social and emphatic.
Besides, Aspergers can also be damaged by outrageous upbringing. One doesn't exclude the other, IMO.

Maybe he just suffered from understanding human nature too well.

Well, you likely know that real life and other activities do get in the way? Sometimes "we" need a break, too. Believe it or not writing fanfic is real work as well. . And the siren call of "real" fiction is out there, somewhere.

And, no, there are no moderators!

Rob

Thanks so much, Connie! No wonder the searches came up dry---it is billed under the female star's name instead of MC's!

I love how you describe Louisa's process of maturing into adulthood. I had never focused on that, and you articulated it very well. They have grown up together and on parallel paths.

I loved the ending of this series. It was definitely a new direction for BP. I almost feel like the creative team is hitting their stride. Not to carry the maturity theme too far, but I feel the production values in series 6 are more sophisticated than in previous years. The style of the writing is more consistent as is the directing. It is more cohesive. I thought as I watched it from week to week that the program itself is more mature. It focuses on its intent and is clearer about the story it wants to tell. Each episode builds on the previous ones more than it did in some of the earlier series. I thought S2 and S3 did it well, but now I feel S6 has done it the best of all of them.

I feel that series 5 was the worst about the continuity of the story. Their gentleness with one another in episode 8 came out of nowhere after they were barely able to communicate in eps 6 and 7. Series 4 is the funniest. All my personal opinion of course.

It is too bad that series 7 will probably be the last one. Maybe BP will create a new series for MC and bring to it all that they have learned from the success of S6.

Yes, Margaret is a lowdown and shameless thief. She justified her stealing in school because everyone did it. All of her friends did it, maybe, but not everybody. She is an opportunist and doesn't care who suffers in her wake of destruction. It is all about Margaret. She is a piece of work. Great writing, acting, and directing. They very clearly showed us her true colors and every minute of it was totally believable. It is not easy to show that much evil without using stereotype and exaggeration but BP pulled it off without a hitch.

I recently contacted one of the authors whose works I hoped to read more of, and got a non-committal answer about taking a look to see if she could find the time to complete hers, but that a change in jobs changed her ability to have writing time. I keep hoping, but it seems to be totally up to each author. I agree that there were some great stories out there I was looking forward to hearing the end of as well.

I like all that you say, and I do agree that they will probably spend most of S7 living apart, but how I wish that they could still be living together and trying to work things out together. It seems to me that the probability of success would be higher.

And (genuine question, not snark) do you think that Louisa has realized that she also has to make some changes? Is there something that makes you think that? Because I am not so sure that she yet grasps that she has a contributed to their dysfunction. I think that she imagines that his feelings for her have changed, and therefore reacts out of insecurity, but that's different to taking a hard look at what you might be doing that makes the situation more difficult.

Bodmin, I hope you are talking about their emotional maturity. For 6 seasons we have been told that Martin, in particular, has been functioning with great maturity in his posts, first as a genius surgeon and then as the master diagnostician in Portwenn. Louisa also has held responsible posts from teacher to head of school. I wonder how their emotional immaturity affected them professionally? I also wonder if they were so emotionally immature, although younger, in their relationships with Edith Montgomery and Danny Steel?

The fact that when they met each other you think they were acting as six year olds is of concern. That level of immaturity could not be contained only in their relationship.

For New Park. I think Louisa does realize she has to make changes, although not as profoundly as Martin. She asks if she is the problem in the marriage that is causing Martin's issues, and plans to think things through in Spain. This hints at her awareness that things cannot remain the same, but she has not acknowledged that she has to play a part in that change

In season 7, someone must be as gently blunt with Louisa as Aunt Ruth was with Martin. Some possibilities: Bert Large and new wife, Jenny; Terry Glasson, newly-released from prison and back in Portwenn; the always-hoped-for Roger Fenn or Chris Parsons; or -- my bet -- a new unknown character who emerges from Louisa's past to focus her attention on her problems

I do not think they will live apart. They cannot be individually helped and then thrown back together in the same situation that contributed to their problems. They will live together to learn how to live more harmoniously

However, my opinion of how season 7 and show will end would not be popular in this forum

Oh dear, Bloodphobia, do you think they will not end as a couple? that the final stage of maturity would be the realization that they both would be happier with someone else (presumably as yet unspecified)? So, e.g., DM departs for a surgical career in London, a sadder but wiser man, and Louisa does the best she can with what's available in PW.

That has definitely crossed my mind too, and it is true that it wouldn't go down well with fans, most of whom do have at least a streak of die-hard romanticism (including, I must say, me). But I think in dramatic terms, it would be rather anti-climactic, after all the angst of the previous 6+ seasons.

Oh no! Please don't leave us hanging. IMHO every opinion and creative thought should be up for discussion and analysis. P-l-e-a-s-e......

Looks like MC is a blonde again..

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz...a-Everage.html

The thing that would argue against that...not surviving as a couple was frankly something I heard more clearly in E8 than we had ever heard stated before. It actually took me aback. Aunt Ruth queries,"Do you really want to be with Louisa?" Martin says, "Of course I do." I actually did fear for their relationship...they have nothing going OBVIOUSLY but James Henry. That single statement made me realize there is more and Martin is willing to fight for more...no erms, ahhs...pregnant pauses..about it. I'm not coming at this from a Pollyannaish perspective. Yes, the fans would hate it and it could still happen that they end up apart but that one statement was the strongest indication I heard that would argue otherwise.

I get the feeling that BP cares something about their fans and certainly the quality of their product, but they are profiting immensely as we speak.....realistically they could do whatever they want. People won't be sending back their DVDs demanding a refund!

I think a resolution that saw them going their separate ways would put a big damper on their very profitable franchising business. And I think there's be lots of people like me, who, knowing there was a "negative" ending, would just never care to re-watch it any of it.

Plus it just seems dramatically implausible (no matter how plausible in real life). Our hero is going to fight for her, but lose, in the end? That's a damp squib if there ever was one, or, to use PoorRichard's term, a real fracture in the fairy tale.


OTOH. MC did say on some talk show, that "we haven't even decided if they'll stay married." So maybe they are still giving that some thought, hopefully pondering also how they could reach the no-longer-married decision without really ticking off their long-suffering fans.

It wouldn't bode well to have a whole season of angst leading to a reunion or final break up at the end of the series either. It would end up being a repeat, of a repeat of a repeat of earlier series. :yawn:

I think S7 will be a challenge for the writers. Lots of deep stuff for them to work with and work through. I think the writers will fail the fans if they continue the degradation of the characters breaking them further apart. Stronger writing would find them working hard to overcome the challenges and bring them back together eventually. It would be too easy for the writers to break them up and in my opinion, lazy on the writers part. I think the maturity level of the characters that several have mentioned, play right into the end of S6. No more game-playing. Things have gotten too serious. Just the aging of the characters in S6 deepens the darkness. It will take work to make it better and make it fun to watch again.

Gawd. I sure hope they figure it out. The whole breaking up, and longing for each other then getting back together business is wearing thin. If they think that's going to keep the fans coming back for more by the continued multiple series' push-pull of M & L relationship, they're wrong. Fix the problem and move on. Get these two back together and give us some good storylines that solidify the whole show. Bring back some good storylines and the drama/comedy feeling the show used to exude.

And a lot more snogging, please...

Snogging and at least some affection in S7. M showed more affection toward his son this series than he did to L. Maybe that will be part of his wanting to be a better husband bit and it is something he needs L's help with.

I don't know if anyone else noticed, but the diamond ring that his wife was wearing in this movie looks like the same engagement ring M gave L in DM.

I think that Martin is a horrible instigator....he loves to exaggerate and put ideas in our starving DM imaginations. I think those Spaniards will get their second baby and from his reports of DMs breakdown I thought he would end up institutionalized or something. He's a big goof and loves to string everyone along. I bet he does that in real life too. Just my thought.