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The climax of the Ballinger siege, the end of Myra, and some would say the beginning of one of the all-time-low periods of the series. Myra's final scene was excellent - very tense and well acted, shocking, yet sad. In my opinion, after uninspired transfers to other prisoners, or vague disappearances by the rubbish bins, this was the best departure of all the top dogs - not only because of the high drama, but because it was an ultimate test of her loyalty to the women. And after appearing so tired and uninteresting for so long, it gave the viewers something 'positive' to remember Myra with. It was also shocking because it was a principle character that was killed, rather than a hardly-noticeable background character who suddenly inherits a burst of lines. (May: "Mrs M, we loved Tammy..”) Not only did I think the killing was handled well, but I found it quite moving, and for once the music added to the atmosphere rather than just drowning it all out with the sensitivity of a disco.
Julie was caught climbing down from the sharp-bend-free, obstacle-less air conditioning duct in the shower block, which seemed so easily accessible. Bearing in mind how the women were often left alone without an officer in the shower block, I was a bit surprised nobody had thought of escaping that way before. (Except Suzie Driscoll, of course).
Loved the line from Ram to Grace and his Keystone Cops: "And there are four others [bodies]. They're in the loading bay. I think they might be your men. But you won't miss them. They weren't very good." Glad to see I wasn't the only one who thought so.
The remaining nasty gunmen comprised two big beefy butch ones, and a little squirty one about four feet tall. Naturally, the little squirty one was the one left alone with the women, who managed to overpower him and get his gun. This must have been one of the most half-hearted attempts at defending yourself, and he seemed to do little more than hand over the gun and lie down on the floor. This was just before Nora became a kind of Sigourney Weaver in paisley pyjamas and finished him off with the machine gun (pop pop pop pop). Very strange how Nora suddenly transformed from dull, uninteresting character who only got excited if she talked about babies, to arse-kicking female warrior. Loved her threat to Lou: "Don't tempt me, Kelly. You're a witness, remember. And you just reminded me - I'm a murderer."
Meanwhile, the terrorists and their aunty Ruth had hopped in a minibus, taking Joan and her stick-on pingpong ball as a hostage, while Grace and chums listened in via a hidden microphone. Loved the way Grace was surprised that hostage Joan had her hands tied - something he said he wished they'd thought of. So as the minibus drove round the block yet another time (the police appeared to think they wouldn't notice the same scenery going past the window every few minutes), Joan said rather cryptically, towards the microphone, "I wonder if she'd be so brave if I had a gun too."
"Wonder if that means what I think it does," said Grace, talking all over anything else Joan was saying. Lucky there wasn't anything else she wanted him to hear, else she'd have been well stuffed.
Speaking of radios.. couldn't help but notice a portable radio had appeared next to Myra's bed, appearing after her death. Don't remember this before (maybe there is such a thing as reincarnation, after all?).
Loved the scene where most of the inmates squeezed into a cupboard, to hide from the gunmen. Especially when the door stuck, and we could hear Lou Kelly yelling to be let out. Couldn't help thinking of that song.. "Oh dear, what can the matter be...?"
Joyce was typical Joycie again after all the drama, offering to help get some food for everyone. "Nice hot tomato soup!" she decided. Just the sort of thing they'd appreciate after witnessing shocking murders.
Jenny ended up in Ann's office, whimpering over her dress with the bunny-ears frilly collar. She was snivelling so much, Dennis handed her a yellow duster. Then out it all came.. sob, Nora, sob, gun, whimper, unarmed man, sniff, arms in the air to protect himself, sob, shot him, whimper.. What a strange thing for her to come out with, just like that, putting Nora right in it.
Dennis was also suffering from the aftermath of the siege. "Aye, it was bad enough for us outside.." he said, in front of Joyce, who was still recovering from being held captive, terrorised, humiliated, witness to killings, and still in shock from the trauma. Poor old Dennis. Not only did his session of slap and tickle with Meg get cut short, but he had to spend hours standing around outside in his nicely pressed uniform, shiny shoes, and snuggly duffle coat. Joyce just doesn't know when she's got it good.
Dennis also said he'd heard that Nora had "pumped 20 rounds into that guy!" Aha, so that was what the pop-pop-pop noise was for.
I liked the way Ann was portrayed. First I was surprised at her cool, official and seemingly unemotional manner immediately after the gunmen had left the prison. But later, talking to Nora over Myra's body, we saw the cracks in her facade, as she admitted, with some emotion, that although she had 'fought' with Myra, she actually liked her. A nice scene, although the loud music was a bit much, especially as it sounded like it had whales singing in it.
I find Daphne comes across as child-like, not very bright, vulnerable, and someone who finds it hard to relate to people, so relates to plants instead. I find the actress brings this all across very well. When Daphne is upset, she shows it the same way a child would - not hiding her emotions at all. I think the contrast between Debra Lawrance's performance as Pippa on H&Away, and Daphne in Prisoner, shows she can offer a range of character acting.
Anyway, back to the episode, and Nora had finally given me something very interesting to think about. Not the baby-talk. Not the gun-wielding new image. But the strange way that she sometimes talked about herself in the third person. She'd done this before, when talking about "the old Nora Flynn", and in her scene with Lou, she seemed to bring this up to the present time. An interesting touch, not sure what I make of it yet, but it's given me something to think about.
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