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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 249752" data-attributes="member: 23">Reaching the end of Season Three means I've watched exactly 80% of the series. And it is still very watchable. The addition of Josh - Colin and Emily's cheeky foster son with permanently sad soulful eyes a là Annie Fairgate - has helped the series keep the reassuring same-but-different vibe as it gently evolves without straying too far from comfortable familiarity. In some ways his presence is a way of keeping things even more the same. Ben Geurens has now become a young man, and Josh fills the gap his necessarily changing role has left. Emily remains the character who irritates me. And I'm still not sure if this is by design. Very much like S&D's Lynn, she radiates sweetness and gentility. And like a lot of people who radiate sweetness, scratch the surface and she really isn't. She has that annoying big sister thing going on, where she fusses and flaps and tut-tuts and shakes her head and sighs at other people's conduct, whether it's Kathleen not wanting a big wedding, one of the boys not being forward with a girl they like or whatever. She sets herself up as a fixer and a do-er and does her good deeds very visibly like a good little martyr. But whenever anything nasty happens she's invariably the one who comes over all wan and ends up lying down with a touch of the vapours while others talk in whispers so as not to disturb her. She oozes with the critical judgement of an entitled person who has everything she wants, and has no empathy that others don't live such a contented life. Case in point, her friend coming to stay having run away from her abusive marriage to a powerful man. "But what about the sanctity of your marriage vows?", Emily whines. Later, Emily discovers gaping, bloody lash marks on her friend's back and there's a moment where you think she gets it. Until she speaks: "How could you of all people marry someone like that?", she bewails. It seems victim blaming originated in Paterson's Ridge. The stories remain mostly episodic. Catastrophe happens and it seems as though there's no way out until things turn around in the final act. This is always at the back of my mind when watching and adds a degree of safety. It's hard to be too concerned when the ending of each episode is usually a happy one. There are times, though, when this works in the series favour. When the consequences are serious it has more impact because it goes against expectations. Such was the case with the Kathleen McGregor and James Gleeson's accident which saw their horse drawn carriage crash and the pair spending a freezing night in the woods. James was on the way to meet a pen friend and through the intimacy of their shared peril, Mr Gleeson revealed to Kathleen that he'd told his pen friend that he was The Man From Snowy River in order to impress her with his various exploits (giving Banjo Paterson another name-check). Adding another layer to the episode, Mr Gleeson chose to hide the extend of his wounds from Kathleen so as not to worry her. Only he - and we - knew that he was bleeding badly under his jacket. I thought there was a quiet nobility to that choice. Mr Gleeson has been very much a gentleman in the series, and this seemed a very gentlemanly thing to do. James Gleeson for me has been Snowy River's Doris Collins. They have a very similar energy and serve similar functions in their respective series: a reassuring presence who lightens the tone a little while reliably supporting the series' key female at their place of work. Matt and Kathleen are a perfect pairing in many ways. One could say a little too perfect. In virtually every episode either one or the other manages to save the day through their ingenuity, persistence or sometimes sheer luck. With this in mind, it was something of a surprise that Kathleen wasn't able to save Mr Gleeson, and Matt arrived too late. He ended up dying from blood loss or internal injuries. And at his funeral it turned out that his pen pal knew he wasn't The Man but loved the real him.</blockquote>

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