Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spells &amp; Karma" data-source="post: 433497" data-attributes="member: 23">Episodes 738 - 761 22 November 1989 - 12 February 1990 With a new decade being a time of reflection I found myself attempting to look at things objectively as I watched the first Brookside episodes of the Nineties, trying to imagine how I would feel if I were watching these episodes for the first time in isolation, without having reached this point organically. It’s hard to say how successful I was in my experiment, but the overall feeling was that the series doesn’t have any kind of wow factor at this point. There’s little to set it apart from any other early Nineties drama, and the me that couldn’t detach completely is also aware that the things present which do set the series apart - particularly business stories and Trade Union material - are left wanting when compared with the way these themes have been approached earlier in the series.There are signs of things to come. The Christmas period saw a protracted “comedic” storyline with Sinbad and Jimmy obtaining a tree and struggling to get a lorry started at a rubbish tip. One’s loins are girded for this kind of fare once a year - in the same way teeth are firmly gritted to get through the gaudy excesses of the season.But as 1990 commences, Sinbad is featuring heavily in a story where he is exposing Caroline’s slick lover as a seller of disturbing hardcore video nasties with titles like The Mutilator. The worst thing is that even as I watch, I know that Sinbad will be proved right and his earnestness will pay off. And if there are two things that Sinbad should not be, they are “right” and “earnest”.I find myself wondering how I would feel about the Rogerses if I didn’t look at the layout of the home and find myself missing the Grants. Possibly they would be more enjoyable, though constantly-nagging Chrissy and her “I told you”s are never going to be anything other than a pain in the arse.With 1990 being a turning point in terms of major cast departures, the writing is already on the wall. Cheryl was gone by the end of 1989, with Jonathan now sidelined in his harbourside apartment. We mostly see him at work in a current arc that is more serviceable then compelling. With Ralph gone, Harry is mostly seen talking to people in the street (his loneliness used to good effect when he was seen trying to wangle an invitation to Christmas dinner with any one of his neighbours). When last seen, he and Paul Collins were pairing off: two old soldiers attempting to rally the reluctant troops against the proposed parade of shops (in itself a signal to any viewer with knowledge of the series that the wheels are about to well and truly come off).With Doreen Sloane’s real-life cancer battle the Collinses have been seen little other than Gordon’s dull “bad wine” storyline. Annabelle herself returned for just one episode - ostensibly between extended visits to look after Mona in Kendal and to visit Lucy in France - but sadly only really interacted with whingy Louise (who happily, has all but disappeared from the screen herself).Speaking of whinging, baby Danny’s meningitis has given us a glut of Sue. This time round it feels like the performance and the writing are lacking in these scenes. She’s displayed her angst not just keeping herself occupied, but by doing it with enough fuss that everyone knows she’s busy keeping herself occupied. It’s a typically Sue thing to do: garnering all the sympathy of family and neighbours for herself while Terry muddles quietly through and does all the heavy lifting. And yet it just feels so clunky and obvious. I’m really not sure how I’m supposed to feel about Sue. There’s a lot of furrowed brow and hand wringing and shrieking to convey she’s at her wits’ end, but I find myself feeling I’m wasting my time by watching. “Cold” Jonathan has far more of my empathy and once again, his little knowing looks to Sue regarding Daniel’s paternity have given this arc its only semi-watchable moments.There is some gold to be mined, though.Frank Cottrell-Boyce gave a cracking second half to Episode 744. It ended with Sammy’s drunken verbal assault on Alison for her involvement with research, and Alison holding her own and even getting the better of Sammy (I’ve never forgotten her pointing out that most animal experiments involve big black rats rather than fluffy rabbits). Sammy’s alcoholism storyline overall is rather pedestrian, but this exchange added interest in that area, as did the little detail of Michael opening his bottle of whiskey and not even noticing it had gone from full to almost empty over the course of the evening Sammy had been there.The episode’s peak, though, came with the high stakes card game between Jonathan, Terry and Barry in which the embittered Jonathan started asking for stakes that held potential devastation for his opponents: Barry’s hard-earned £1000, saved to give to Damon’s young son; and Terry’s happy marriage. It was here that Barry twigged that Jonathan knew something about Terry and Sue, and threw that into the mix when Terry was out of earshot, but since Jonathan had the winning hand, Barry has had to remain in the dark about specifics. Jonathan and Barry have one of the most surprisingly interesting dynamics in the series. It goes back over a hundred and fifty episodes at this point, to Jonathan threatening Barry over the trees that appeared in his garden, and it continues to be enjoyably ill-fitting.Barry’s return is proving rewarding all round. He’s also given the most interest at Number Ten where there have been several run-ins with Billy, including a couple of physical confrontations that have been pleasingly raw and bloody and evoked the Grants of old. Ostensibly the first fight came over money when Sheila loaned Billy money that same money that belonged to Barry, intended to buy a car for Debbie and Simon. Then Tracy moved in on Barry and the two have quickly become a couple, discussing moving in together, and it’s no secret that it was initially driven in large part by a desire to get at Billy and Sheila (which worked, clearly). But it’s also about the Oedipal jealousy previously seen between Barry and Bobby. Amid the carnage at the house, Tracy has shown further growth, with her desire to leave home while minimising the hurt caused to her father, and the result was a scene that showed a quiet dignity as Tracy asked Billy if he would fix a socket at the flat and he said he’d do anything to help.Sheila giving her Grandchild’s Christmas money to Billy is the tip of the iceberg with her at the moment. With Billy under pressure from Barry to pay back the money she’d given him, Sheila starts looking critically round the house and telling Billy they need to completely redecorate. When Billy protested by pointing out the bleeding obvious, she shrugged it off and suggested he should tell Rod to put enough into the pot for them to do it. Then she lied to Billy about Kathy’s son Sean being AWOL - instead saying he was on leave - so that she could harbour him at Number Ten. The way she’s written at home it’s difficult to feel I know her at the moment. The place where she feels most recognisable is at her place of work, which is odd. Thankfully, things coming to a head with Sean gave some really good Sheila/Kathy material right at the end of the run, and Billy’s discovery of her lie about Sean showed some promise (even though he seemed to forgive her a little too quickly).It's telling that with twenty five episodes covered, I find myself with almost nothing new to say. There's good stuff, but the scales are tipping in the wrong direction. Increasingly, this feels like a series going through the soapy motions.... and I find myself watching in the same spirit.</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?

Poison your name this Hallowe'en

There's plenty of time to choose your spooky October username

Click here for more details

Reply to thread