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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spells &amp; Karma" data-source="post: 367454" data-attributes="member: 23">Very true. And she follows it up by saying "You're here - with the rest of us". Those two lines somehow sum up the dynamics of the entire series. They're mostly people from very different backgrounds who wouldn't have chosen to live near one another, but they're stuck with each other and have to learn to tolerate one another (I love the irony that Sheila says this at the height of her own intolerance).In a following episode, this theme is continued when Edna Cross (I think) says to Marie that neighbours are like family: you can't choose them.I thoroughly enjoy the "them and us" premise embedded in the series. It's been there all the way through (like Petra's line to Barry about Heather not being "like us"). There's snobbery and inverted snobbery. Sheila's the perfect person to be at the centre of it because she's got some degree of both going on in how she views the Collinses and the Jacksons.I can only imagine the impact this made the first time round.I love that this has continued into the next couple of weeks' worth of episodes, with that uncomfortable feeling when they have to pass one another in the Close or when they're interacting with a group of neighbours. Sheila walking away from Alan's engagement celebration because it was at No 10. Marie needing to get her phone repaired finally relenting and asking Sheila if she can use her phone. Sheila responding "Not a chance", then relenting and calling after Marie who walks faster and pretends not to hear. It's so awkward and sad.There's a nice moment where Marie has invited herself to help Annabelle clean Heather's house, and Marie mentions how low it was of Sheila to call the police. Annabelle - knowing it was Paul - looks rather sheepish, but says nothing.I found myself laughing out loud at some of the lines, but then feeling a bit bad for doing so. It's quite a feat for a series to get into this degree of chaos while still keeping empathy for the characters. I enjoyed the dysfunctional melodrama, but I was also very much aware that what was being said was genuinely hurtful, and it was clear that the characters knew it too, but were too carried away with the emotion of the moment to stop making the low blows.Oh - that's lovely. I'm glad he's back from the dead and still chatting soaps. I'll never forget his hilarious "By 'eck it's parky out there Ma" Emmerdale Farm thread.Great to see he's enjoyed Lucy, Val, Ducksie and Gizzmo so much, and I laughed out loud at the remark about Val's acting (for what it's worth, I think either she's improved or I've adjusted).</blockquote>

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