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Lots of comedy, both unintentional, and intentional - with some good lines (of which Lou seemed to be getting the best ones of late). I loved her comment when Anita was told she had a visitor. "It's God, come to see if she needs anything." And her reference to Lexie (with her new-found faith) as "Saint Bloody Paterson".
Of the unintentional comedy, the weird low budget sci-fi music accompanying Joan's blackouts ("woop-woop-wooooooop") had to be the best, and has started to make me laugh aloud whenever I hear it.
Never one to have the wool pulled over her eyes, I loved the way Joyce realised Mervin's wedding cake was a bought one, rather than home-made - cleverly deduced when her eagle eyes spotted the big price card standing up next to the cake in the prison fridge, as if on display in a shop window. Considering Mervin wanted buying the cake to be kept secret so much, it seemed a bit odd displaying the price so prominently, when he could have just chucked the card away.
My suspicions of Mervin were aroused again when he unveiled his heart-shaped red cake to Joyce, and from the camera's angle, it looked suspiciously more like a little red bum. Joycie declared to Mervin, "The girl who marries you is going to think all her Christmasses have come at once!" Well, she might well have something to put on top of her tree. We later saw Ann helping herself to a couple of big slices of the yellow cake, with bright red icing all around it, and for a moment I forgot and thought she was eating a big wedge of Edam cheese.
Anita's trend-setter bloke seemed to have traded in his PVC red jacket, for a new look with a blue sweater with rolled-up sleeves, over a green shirt with sleeves fully down. And he still thought devotion to the Church was the real reason for her turning down his offer of a dirty weekend in Geneva.
I thought it was a nice touch when Marlene mentioned how her "friends" on the outside hadn't visited or written to her at all, and how all her friends were inside, touching on how hard it can be for women to adjust to life outside again, and how easy it is to actually want to stay inside. The point wasn't over-stated - almost mentioned 'in passing' - and was more effective because of it I thought.
As if Dennis weren't intensely annoying enough, I watched in amazement at his scene at the McDonalds' house. Having turned up at the home of the parents of a young murder victim, fresh from their daughter's funeral, the conversation went something to the effect of:
- "Hello, I was arrested for your daughter's murder. Can I come in for a chat?"
- "Yes, ok."
Actually, this scene was a treasure trove of delights, from the fabulous 70s orange curtains, and the giddy swooping camera movements and strange camera angles, to one of the most hilariously unforgettable acting ‘performances’ I'd seen in ages..
After Joan had another outburst of bad sound effects, causing her to leave some of the cell doors unlocked, Lexie decided to trot off to the rec room to watch a horror film. Obviously Joan had also forgotten to lock the rec room gate, as well as all the security gates between there and the cells, so that Lexie was able to get there without any delay. I loved the scene where Joan loomed in the rec room doorway behind Lexie, while scary monster music was coming from the television! Fabulous.
Another good scene I thought, between Lou and Lexie, talking about Catholicism. That threesome (Lou, Lexie and Anita) seem to be getting all the good stuff to act these days, and I must say it's all been handled very well by the actresses.
Judy's moany old solicitor was back again, full of more gloom and disinterest in her case. This time he said her getting out might damage the "sympathy vote". If her case were such a dead duck, I wish he'd give it to another lawyer, preferably one who actually seems interested in winning it.
But all change, when Sheila (Smelly Shelly Brady) arrived wearing her best Christmas decorations and what looked like Anita's bloke's red jacket. She told Judy what had been happening, while Meg looked on silently. "Here's a thousand dollars," she announced rather loudly at one point, holding out a wad of money for anyone to see, which I believe is highly illegal in prisons, and which Meg somehow failed to notice. And it looked as though the two (former?) inmates could be on their way to becoming a new highly-successful pop writing/singing duo. Probably Australia's answer to Peters & Lee.
In the meantime, Marlene had applied a "copper tint" to her hair, which not only made her hair bright cochineal red, but also seemed to give her four times more hair than she started with. Not only that, but her pasty white face and thick red curly mop gave me horrible flashbacks of Ronald McDonald and various burger advertising campaigns. Interesting, the lengths she went to, to hide her beetroot bouffant at first. Not only walking around with a towel wrapped around her head like a cut price Carmen Miranda, but when Lexie was returned to her cell in the night, I noticed Marlene was sleeping in it too - presumably just in case a fire broke out and she wouldn't have time to wrap it up. Even more strange was how the others didn't seem to notice anything unusual, while Marlene was sitting at the dinner table with a big thing wrapped round her head. Maybe she should have spoken to Lexie in the first place. I'm sure Lexie's hair had suddenly gained a subtle burgundy tint.
The episode ended with another of Frank's attempts to get rid of Myra and Geoff, where it seems he was going to hide, before hitting them with a chair leg. Naturally, the library - the scene of so many violent attacks on inmates and staff, including the very recent one with Joan - was left unlocked and completely unsupervised. You'd think they'd learn..
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