New posts

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 345963" data-attributes="member: 23">Series Two The Fruits Of Love / The Wages Of Sin While its scenes still feel enjoyably leisurely, there’s no getting round the fact that The Fruits Of Love is incredibly fast moving. The pace with which the twists arrive is matched only by the brisk editing which feels abrupt and almost choppy. At one point, for example, we cut from That Armenian Guy offering Elizabeth a shop to her telling her parents where they decide on a name. Then we cut from Elizabeth accepting one of her father’s old girlfriend's names literally to that very name on the door of the shop where the next scene takes place. And so it goes. The experience is akin to watching an edited compilation à la that old EastEnders: The Queen Vic VHS. There are several episodes’ worth of story here.The first series of strands follow Elizabeth’s relationship with Julius Karekin. Elizabeth is now his mistress and she’s kind of, sort of shacked up with him. At least while her parents are away, or while she can sneak back into Eaton Place unseen by mid morning. To clear the way for Elizabeth, Julius retires his previous mistress under threat of him calling her husband (when begging fails, she resorts to calling him a “dirty little Jew boy”, and you know she plans to leave the relationship about as quietly as Princess Diana. Julius then buys Elizabeth a hat shop, telling him to decorate, name and stock it as she pleases. While it probably should be a precursor to House Of Elliot (or even House Of Howard), the gesture feels a little like the one Bobby Ewing would make many years later in buying Jenna the boutique (and it’s also not entirely unlike Fallon Carrington investing in La Mirage to beat the wealthy heiress blues). I must confess some surprise at how easily Richard and Marjorie digested and even embraced the news of their daughter becoming a working girl. They seemed thrilled, commented it was very fashionable to own a shop and that was that. Until it wasn’t. In her new role as Madame Yvonne, one of her first clients is Margot Descort - Julius’s former mistress whom she last saw as they passed in the hall at his home where Margot was rotated out of service as Elizabeth arrived to fulfil hers. Recognising her, Margot goes straight to Marjorie where she does her civic duty by reporting the facts about Elizabeth and Julius. Marjorie has rather a lot on her plate this episode, and each problem threatens to disgrace her personally and the family name in the process. Firstly, when she confronts an unrepentant Elizabeth about Julius, Elizabeth brings up Captain Hammond (Rose had accidentally blurted out about him to Elizabeth earlier in the episode. Again, this revelation could almost have been a whole fifty minutes’ worth by itself). Next comes financial shame when Marjorie’s brother’s gambling debts are among the things that need to be settled from their father’s estate. As well as possibly rationalising the staff and cutting corners with the budget (an offscreen Mrs Bridges is said to be considering leaving now she’s restricted to just two pints of cream per day), this means - in contemporary parlance - downsizing. Leaving 165 Eaton Place and moving to a smaller property in a less affluent area. Marjorie’s increasing horror as “downmarket” locales such as Chelsea and Paddington are mooted gave some my favourite moments of the episode. Tying all the strands together, Julius saves the day by buying out the lease and giving it to Elizabeth who in turn makes it over to her mother. This gesture (along with Sir Geoffrey’s comment that Julius could be a useful person to Richard in Parliament) naturally raises his esteem in their eyes and all’s well that ends well. All the same, I still feel a little wary of Julius and - in the best way possible - I’m not sure what to make of him. continued</blockquote>

Verification: Who played JR Ewing?