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Blimey, hard to believe we're this close to the end! Strange new "harp" type music all over the recap - the kind of music you'd find in a tourism promotion video as you watch rivers rushing over waterfalls.
Quite an interesting and intriguing episode really. "I don't enjoy watching people die," said Joan when Rita hinted that she might be getting a kick out of Rita's situation. This suggested a nice third dimension to Joan's character much more subtley (and more effectively) than various gappy-toothed kids or doggies. Joan volunteering with no quibble to be Rita's "nursemaid" was also very interesting.
There was another glimpse of those sinister black leather gloves, which she is famous for wearing, despite them not being seen for a few hundred episodes or so. I suppose it was meant to be a nice reminder of her 'trademark' as the series was closing. She grabbed Lisa and threw her to the floor (a bit dodgy in Lisa's condition) before indulging in unspecified acts of violence that left no marks. This was all part of her attack on each of the women, individually, and before long she moved on to Merle. She cruelly told Merle that all the women were calling her "Looney", and her education was a waste of time. This ended with a scene of Merle walking down the corridor towards the camera, sobbing, while Joan stayed at the security gate in the background, laughing demonically. ("I'll get you, and your little dog too," I was expecting her to call).
In response to this, the women tried to humiliate her by ignoring her at muster, then taunting her. Joan walked off towards the camera, which gave Maggie K the chance to do what she does so well, some excellent acting from just her facial expressions.
After Rodney had been cruelly teasing Merle when she was casually wandering around the stair well that presumably leads to solitary, he was interrupted by the annoyingly effervescent Tom Teacherbloke. He told Merle she should be like Captain Marvellous and use thought rays to attack the baddies, rather than physical violence. While in the back corridor, I noticed a doorway behind them with two light boxes above the door, just like they have in television studios ('on air', etc). Wonder what that was doing in a prison. Loved the scene later, when Merle was glaring at Kath in the classroom. "I'm using me rays on her and they're not working!"
Tom was going to teach the women to type, but there were no typewriters, so he took the inmates with him on a highly improbable hunting expedition through the prison. This included him tackling the fearsome prospect of Potato Slattery's new perm in reception. For a small prison which only ever seems to have one old typewriter in reception, I was impressed how they managed to find NINE machines from all over the building. Presumably one is kept in the kitchen, one in the store room, one in maternity..
"You're a joke, Pringle!" bellowed Joan, as Joyce gave her customary wide-mouth GASP! and glared through her jam-jar bottom glasses. Thankfully she didn't tap dance across the room this time. A joke? How could she say such a thing..?!
Shortly after, Alice and Harry had been caught "canoodling" by the shop (which still seemed to be half the size of its tardis-like interior) and Joyce tried to persuade Joan that she had given them permission to grope each other at the back of the sheds. Joyce told this to Ann. "Couldn't we make an exception just this once..?" she pleaded in a breathy, ernest voice, sounding like Snow White. Interestingly, when Alice and Harry were brought into the governor's office, the background music sounded Disney-like too.
Joyce was concerned about whether Harry's intentions were "strictly honorable" with "poor little Alice." A curious way to describe a six-foot country girl known as Lurch, who describes herself as "a big ox."
Rodney was desperately trying to find the incriminating (but non-existing) bottles of booze, and was rummaging through Lisa's cell cupboards. This caused the sink unit to move around, clearly not fixed to the wall. But what I really liked was the scene where he was searching through the women's laundry, to be caught by Tom Teacher, with a lacey bra in his hand, muttering something about looking for contraband!
The women seemed confident that Spike would be released, especially with all the "new evidence" that would clear her, which I don't seem to remember anything about.
Finally, famous last words from Joan as the episode closed..
"100,000 will do me nicely. Let's do the job."
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