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Pixie's song seems to be appearing more frequently than the infamous pink thing in the laundry these days, and the way things are going, all the inmates will be humming it before the week's up. "Would you like to be a pro?" asked Judy to Sheila, which made me wonder if Judy was trying to say something about her career prospects as a singer. I loved how Judy felt all Sheila's songs were so awful. I mean, now that she'd written Pixie's Song, I’m sure she'd be in a position to know. As for myself, I actually couldn't tell when Sheila was singing her own stuff or Jude's, it all seemed to sound much the same.
I was surprised with the violence in the scene where Frank dealt with Lou, after hearing how she'd tried to set him up with Sam's murder. Interesting how the violence seems all the more shocking and powerful when it's from a man to a woman.
Actually this scene was in complete contrast to the later "fight" scene between Dennis and Frank in the workshop, which could be a contender for most unintentionally hilarious fight in the whole series. It seemed to feature a lot of Dennis with his hands in the air, doing some kind of Agadoo-doo-doo dance, while Frank waved a toilet roll innard at him, jabbing it in his general direction but stopping a foot or so short each time. It ended with Dennis giving Frank a bit of a kick in the leg, and Frank writhing in agony on the floor. The complete absence of background music seemed to just highlight the daftness of it all. Classic Prisoner.
What's even more interesting about that scene, is how it was made so clear that the male inmates (Matt and Frank) had been left alone with no supervision - in a workshop full of dangerous tools and equipment - by Frank's "at last" comment when Dennis (re-)appeared.
Frank made three attempts to get Dennis, although I can't exactly remember why he had it in for him in particular. Loved the third attempt, which began with Dennis in the door spyhole with the silhouette of Kath Deakin behind him, which for a moment made me think Lily Savage had popped in for a visit. But the hilariously over-enthusiastic squeeeeeeal as she ran off down the corridor confirmed it was more likely this little piggy going wee wee wee all the way home.
And thanks to Frank for such a clear demonstration of why a real prison would never give breakable plates to inmates in solitary confinement. Not only because the potential suicides would love it, but also because it'd be like handing over a dangerous weapon..
Poor old Door-Matt, referred to as possibly another of Marlene's fads.. like the "exercise" thing she did (nice to see another reference to her aerobics class, even though you'd expect everyone to have forgotten about it after the one and only time it happened. Marlene certainly did).
I like the way Marlene had been so irritating about the whole wedding thing to the other characters, and also so obviously naive ("the Real Thing, just like in the movies!"). I thought this was very believable for her character, and although she was irritating enough as it is (to watch), it was a nice touch.
Nice line from Marlene:
"It's not fair. Every time I get to like someone, the mongrels let 'em out!"
Meanwhile, nice boy Matt was being very naughty in the lines department, shouting:
"Watch it Frank, or you'll go blind in there."
More "artistic" camera angles I noticed, with the shot of two dots at the far end of a "long" corridor, which turned out to be Geoff and Dennis, walking towards the camera. (The galloping speed with which they seemed to be approaching, suggested to me it was a very wide-angle lens, rather than a new extra-long set).
I seem to remember Sam Greenway's mural had the theme of "freedom", which explained things like a cell door appearing on it, a Trojan horse, a key, etc. But when Myra went to fetch the master key from it, I couldn't help but wonder what the solitary rubber glove hanging from it was meant to symbolise. Maybe those early episodes of Bad Girls have been playing on my mind too much.
A touching scene with Ettie, I thought, talking to Meg. When asked what happened to her sister, who used to visit her, she said "I don't know.. perhaps she died". I thought that was a nice little touch of pathos. I surprised myself by even liking the bit where we discovered she'd known Meg as a child, with her mother (Bertha) in Barnhurst. Yeah, it was a bit syrupy, but I thought it was handled quite well by the actress playing Ettie.
Joan seemed to be back to her old self - hard, cruel, loud, etc - which was like a pleasant breath of fresh air. Unfortunately this was quickly dampened by some heavy pathos, with her father suddenly taken ill. Lucky for us Maggie K was able to deal with what could have otherwise been a pile of old schmaltz, and make the best of it.
The Major so ill, his moustache almost fell off twice. Well, that’s how it appeared to me. I hope it doesn't sound disrespectful, but he fell asleep a couple of times during those scenes, and each time I thought he'd died, so was surprised to see him resurrected shortly afterwards. Finally when he went, which was confirmed by the sister, she put his hand on his tummy, and it moved by itself! I had to stop myself from crying out "It's a miracle!".
One question about this episode though. In the closing credits, someone called "Totty Brown" was listed. Who on earth was that? Marlene's mum was listed elsewhere, the non-speaker who turned her nose up at Marlene's charred dinner was referred to as "Ruth" (I think), and I think the non-speaker who walked past Myra's cell (while Geoff was cunningly disguised as a second wardrobe) was one of the Tammy lesbians/sisters.
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