Agreed, Mofromco. Can't imagine what anyone could have been thinking!!!

I agree. And it has gotten harder since the first few. But on we go.....

I'll just keep voting S6E7, until it's gone. No choice problems for me!

My ex husband and I went to couples counseling in probably 1994. We saw a woman, in her 60's with very prim dress and ridiculously sensible shoes. My ex-husband, at the time, went into the process asking me, why should I seek out this fat lady who is going to tell me what a shit husband I am and why should I listen to it? She proceeded to interview us....giving us a script......what does he want from me...to leave him alone for an hour when he gets home so he can decompress...what do I need from him...to help me with these children that I deal with 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It was laughable and an insult to our intellect. I certainly hope they can find a "couples counselor" who is not just following a protocol and a script, otherwise the Ellinghams will be very disappointed. I didn't even realize that my ex had expected me to go back to work...even though being a stay at home Mom was the best thing I ever did. Go figure.....

Shop Girl - I never would have thought I would offend you, my apologies if I did.
My thinking was that what if the writer or the actors in that episode are reading this forum? I suspect with all their successes, their fragile egos may be hurt by a rejection of an episode that was done in the DM series. I publicly want to say it was never my attention to upset you by my remarks. Your Portwennonline site is so fantastic - I go back to it again and again.

I know we've rehashed S6 over and over again. I just re-watched the end of S6E8 and it seems to me that things are dawning on Louisa what happened and maybe she feels a bit guilty about walking away. I just get a sense of that in the look on her face and how she thanks him for coming after her. Perhaps S7 will start with a lot of tears and apologies before them embarking on a big "fix". I think several people will play a strong role in supporting the changes that come. Just my thoughts...

I'm repetitive, I know, but I want a blockbusting therapist....a character of enormous power and charisma. I bet that is one secret that they will try to keep, because I bet they want your jaw to drop the first time Martin, or Martin and Louisa open that office door. So exciting.

At the airport I think she may have been questioning her decision to leave. Her interaction with Margaret was important. It was like Martin's future saying goodbye to Martin's past. She even admits that she doesn't know what she is doing, which I interpret as meaning she is ambivalent about leaving.

My jaw will drop if it is Neil Morrissey!

Or, more pessimistically, that she doesn't know yet whether she'll decide to return to Martin and if so, under what conditions. I think she's very sad about leaving, but that at this point, she doesn't really doubt that she needs to get away. I think she truly loves Martin, and really wants things to work, but each time she gives in and tries again, it's the "triumph of hope over experience." Does she have it within her to try once more, or would it be better for both of them to just call it quits (although continuing somehow to co-parent). I think she feels she needs some time and space to try to decide this for herself.

I have felt that she ought to allow Martin to weigh on this, but when he pleads his need for her, and she does give in, it doesn't work out so well. So this time, she's going to think it through by herself.

But, like much else in this series, there's a lot of room for alternative explanations!

Now that would be a shock...hadn't thought of that one....

Thanks marchrand. I think I just took the remark a bit too personally and I was wrong to do so

This site is like my child - maybe I need to see whatever therapist the doc chooses! (Good excuse for a trip to Cornwall, I say!)

I just hope they have a couples counselor that isn't as ineffective as the one that Marchrand described (or as I was, for that matter).

Someone on FB said that Martin Clunes had said that couples counseling would be "disastrous" -- I don't remember hearing that, and I hope he didn't say it.

One thing I think the therapist is pretty sure to suggest is "date night." I'm sure there's a lot of fun scenarios that can come out of that...

I had a funny thought yesterday about a small plot line I would write for S7.

I was thinking about the episodes that have been thrown out on Portwenn Survivor so far and one thread I can see running through them is the protagonists in those stories mostly seem to be people who are nasty or gross or just people we don't like much. But then, one of my favorite guest characters, the cat shelter lady, Mrs Dingley popped into my head. Thinking about it, it was probably the other storyline in that episode, the father & son loan sharks, that people didn't like.

But getting back to Mrs Dingley. I thought it would be fun to see her and her cat shelter again in S7. But how could that happen? Lightbulb moment! Martin decides to take the therapist's advice to do something that takes him out of his comfort zone, so he gets this idea and takes JH to the cat shelter and lets him pick a kitten to adopt. They surprise Louisa with the kitten, she is horrified, but through the rest of the series we see several small, funny moments with the kitten. We might even get a "reading the medical journal to JH" moment with Martin and the kitten.

But then I thought it might be too much of a stretch, since Louisa stated once that she also hated cats. Ding, ding, ding! Another lightbulb moment! Typical Martin has thought about that, and unilaterally decided that, since this is couples counseling and they have both been advised to step out of their comfort zones, Louisa should also step out of her comfort zone over the cat.

As I said, typical Martin. He can't change TOO much, can he?

He's one of the few actor friends of Martin Clunes that haven't been on the show. It would be interesting to say the least.

If the date would be anything like the failed honeymoon, it would be entertaining to watch, which would add back a little levity to the show. While it was a disaster for them, there was much more for the viewer to read into it and enjoy. The failed honeymoon is NOT what destroyed their relationship.

...Except I read somewhere that Caroline Catz is extremely allergic to cats. I doubt they'd risk putting her near one. I'm the same way. I can't even step one foot inside the house of someone who owns a cat. I break out in hives and my eyes swell shut. I'm not even NEAR or touching the cat and it affects me. Which is really sad because kitties are so soft and cuddly!

This week's episode thrown out of the surgery:

S1E2 Gentlemen Prefer

Complete survey results: http://portwennonline.com/SurveyResults.html

New survey: http://portwennonline.com/SurveyCurrent.html

Episode title survey: http://portwennonline.com/SurveyEpisodeTitles.html

Be sure to check out the new Trivia page that is being created for each episode as we eliminate them!

Last week's episode trivia page: http://portwennonline.com/TriviaS4E5.html

Two funny/interesting things I found when doing the trivia page this week:

In this episode (The Departed), Martin is standing in the Wenn's kitchen wiping Theo's throw up off his shoe. As he turns his head to stand up, his face is just inches from Claire's bum as she is bending over to take something out of the oven. You just KNOW that Martin set that up! (You can see the pic in the Easter Egg page in the Trivia section).

I noticed the sock monkey on Pauline's desk in this episode. I knew that I had seen it sometime in S4, even before JH was born, so I did a little investigating. It first appears in S4E4 (Driving Mr McLynn) and then is on Pauline's desk in one or more shots in every episode for the remainder of S4. It shows up in lots of different places in S5 & S6. But I looked to see what the significance would be of that toy showing up in that episode and I think I figured it out. In the previous episode (Perish Together as Fools), Martin hears his baby's heartbeat for the first time and sees his first ultrasound picture. I think up until then, the baby wasn't real to him - and maybe this toy appearing in the surgery the very next episode is an acknowledgement that there IS a baby on its way into his life?

Said Lizzie:

If the date would be anything like the failed honeymoon, it would be entertaining to watch, which would add back a little levity to the show. While it was a disaster for them, there was much more for the viewer to read into it and enjoy. The failed honeymoon is NOT what destroyed their relationship.


Yes, let's hear it for levity! And as little angst as humanly possible.

[DS is doing something weird with the quote mechanism, at least for me.]

A good case in point where Martin trys to change for Louisa is S6E2 where they both attend the school concert and they meet Dennis, Chair of the School Governors and his lady friend Karen. He makes the first move to invite them to dinner, Louisa is shocked. He cooks a lovely dinner, but when Dennis & Karen show up they both have been drinking before they came which really ticks off Martin. They bring two bottles of wine to drink some more. Martin trys to limit Karen's fill-up of her glass tumbler, Louisa gets out the biggest wine goblet she has and fills it to the brim. One thing leads to another, and their conversation is overheard on the baby monitor when they go upstairs. Martin went first, Louisa didn't have to follow him upstairs. Upstairs she proceeds to bad-mouth Dennis which, of course, he overheard. Martin invited them because he felt it was important for Louisa. Misunderstandings throughout this series, Louisa after all this time just can't seem to understand Martin's thinking and vice versa. He abhors a person drinking too much. My husband and I have been to dinner with people who don't drink, so we don't drink. As Martin more or less ran the dinner and doled out the drinks, why did Louisa interfer? (Almost like the episode where Caroline who had a drinking problem meets Louisa for drinks.) Plain common sense would go a long way, but that's not the DM Series. Couples counseling? I think they will have to go through a series of them in S7 for any progress.

In situations like this (of which it seemed there were many in S6), LE comes across to me as though she is trying to compete with DM rather than relate to him. Is this about still trying to prove how independent she is? Is being independent more important to her than being with DM? A question that might bear exploring with a counselor, surely. Anyone else out there have any thoughts on this?

I feel in a lot of situations she is standing up for herself and not necessarily her trying to exert her independence even though it sort of comes off that way. I've often thought they both seem to have high expectations of each other and when times get frustrating, it's exacerbated. I think S6 was everything coming to a head and now it's time to resolve all of that. When things are good they're good and you can see that. It's about getting deep down in to figure it out and straighten it out.

Interesting thought about the independence issue, Zarwen. I'm not sure it is about that as much as her being used to being in control (of her life--just as the Doc is used to his in the same way), and in having to compromise, there is a bit of a loss there for both personally.)

And professionally, DM suffers another loss of control due to the blood issue returning full on, to the point of not even being able to control his vomiting enough to not spew on Penhale. (I thought it was just to be a funny moment, but I just realize it may have been done that way to show how much more serious the phobia is getting.)

Additionally, LGE still suffers her own insecurities, which pop up here and there, either overtly in an action or words, or is underlying either. She also alternates between being clueless towards DM, un-sympathetic or un-empathetic, and still trying to be a people-pleaser at times, though I agree she also stands up for herself, seeming more assertive, and self-assured sometimes.

Does anyone know how to contact a help desk or tech support for DS? I'm having a really strange issue with respect to replying, whether quoting or not, and I've tried all I know to do (logging out and logging back in) without results.