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The penultimate episode. And there was a strong feeling of ‘finality’ about it, with characters leaving, friendships being reconciled, truths being revealed, etc. There was definitely an 'atmosphere' I felt.
Spike was face to face with her mother again. This resulted in the emotional "I blame myself" speech, which seemed strangely un-moving despite the abundance of harps, violins and glycerine tears. By contrast, this was followed by the first of several powerful and extraordinary scenes. First with Tom asking Kath why she had given up on herself. "I killed my own daughter, I'm not bloody worth it!" she blurted, in a scene that was moving and dramatic because it relied simply on a good script and powerful acting, without any clumsy or inappropriate background music.
Soon after this, we had an excellent scene between Alice and Rita, where emotions were high, and Rita shouted at Alice to "Go on - rack off!" More of the same quality of stuff when Lisa found the cancer books and spoke to Alice ("They can fix it.. can't they..?" "She's dying Lisa, and no-one can do bugger all.") And even more with Kath and Merle starting to patch up their friendship while sitting at opposite ends of the cell floor. This was very effective, even despite a few peculiar camera angles and some wobbly filming. ("I missed you Kath.. I still love you too.") All excellent, and a fantastic leaving present, as far as I'm concerned.
Back to the action, and in the dining room/class room Tom was going to sort out some typewriters, then promptly headed out through the kitchen door for some reason. (Perhaps they were stored in the fridge?)
Vicki made a comment which sounded like "exporting sunnies to the poms" (now I'm very intrigued.. what are 'sunnies'?) The other thing I was puzzled by was Mr Hudson from "The Premier's Department", who managed to hold a conversation with Ann while looking down at her desk the whole time.
Ida was back, and although she usually grates on me, she was actually ok this time. Loved her snappy line to Joan in front of Mr Hudson - something about no point in visiting the zoo if you can't see the resident gorilla! What wierd glasses though - they seemed to be double-glazed. Well worth a second look if you still have the tape. I also loved the bit where she cuddled Rita, and inadvertently wiped her snotty hankie all over Rita's face.
Things were getting on top of Lisa, resulting in an unusual effect which actually worked quite well - the sound of arguing and television getting progressively louder until Lisa cried out "Stop!" Sadly, after this good build-up, it didn't seem to draw any emotional reaction from me. While Kath on the other hand, was seen giving a stonker of a speech in the dining room, to Mr Hudson. "The name is MISSUS Maxwell!" she snapped, before launching into her monologue. The actual dialogue did seem a little contrived and forced, but the performance was excellent.
The episode finished with views of Rita snipping holes in the prison security fence, which was surprisingly shadowed in total darkness, causing me to wonder yet again why more prisoners haven't snipped or climbed their way out recently.
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