Post by rhort on May 25, 2012 3:20:18 GMT -5
I think there are some really great laughs in this episode. In terms of humour, it's easily the funniest episode so far. A couple of the best jokes are delivered by Gary in the first two minutes, and this is then brought to a bit of a downer by the disparity that he and Yvonne are clearly experiencing over the matter of having a baby. There are several indications in this scene that Gary is disinterested, and the way that Yvonne appears totally the opposite, seems to me to smack of desperation on her part, almost as if she's hoping that this will be something that might save their marriage.
The lake and café scene shows some more classic Ron, from letching at the girls in the boat, to the way he puts his foot in it with the anecdote he recounts when trying to encourage Gary to go to the sleep clinic. Overall, I particularly like this scene, not specifically because it has Ron in it, but more because it shows that Gary and Ron's relationship has grown in the background, whilst the main action has been focussing on the Yvonne-Gary-Phoebe triangle, and the two guys have become really close, which can be seen by the topics of discussion they are clearly both comfortable talking about. I think it shows that Gary needs a friend like Ron, and that he's not some sort of superhero going it alone, and taking it all on himself, but then I suppose as Ron is the 'inside man' as it were, he was always going to end up as one of the few people Gary could come to with virtually any issue.
Gary and Yvonne are then back to their nominal chalk and cheese form in front of the house hunters. I think this shows much of the basis of their relationship, and again, helps to raise the question of why they are together, almost as if trying to mitigate Gary's reasons for carrying on with Phoebe in the way that he does. I love the way that Gary hits it off with the gay bloke, and then Yvonne's reaction to that (segueing into a later scene where she's on the phone talking about Gary), and her Big Mac joke is the climax of the scene, which I really enjoyed.
Phoebe is really negative for the majority of this episode, which is something I've never liked in itself, but I think it's used here to show Gary needing to make an effort for once, whereas usually he's greeted with a hero-like status, and his gifts are gratefully accepted in awe by those around him, however, today he's finding an uphill struggle for Phoebe's affections, in view of the appearance of Ludovic/Robert, and he's visibly put out by it. I've always enjoyed the manner in which Gary manages to get out of the 'Best Before' issue, in fact, that's one of the scenes that instantly comes to mind whenever I think of Goodnight Sweetheart.
Gary's irritation with Phoebe leads him through a drink-fuelled evening with Reg, then leading on to his drunken return to his own timeframe, and here we see his interaction with Reg's contemporary counterpart, which is something I always like to see. Interesting to note that Gary is shown here using a mobile phone, which is something I'll come back to in a review of a later episode. The 071 phone number on the side of Gary's van dates this episode, as London numbers have been changed twice since then (to an 0171 code in 1995 and subsequently 020 in 2000), but for me that only adds to the character, if making me feel a little old in the process
I'd give this episode an 87% rating. There are very few episodes that are actually better than this one.
The lake and café scene shows some more classic Ron, from letching at the girls in the boat, to the way he puts his foot in it with the anecdote he recounts when trying to encourage Gary to go to the sleep clinic. Overall, I particularly like this scene, not specifically because it has Ron in it, but more because it shows that Gary and Ron's relationship has grown in the background, whilst the main action has been focussing on the Yvonne-Gary-Phoebe triangle, and the two guys have become really close, which can be seen by the topics of discussion they are clearly both comfortable talking about. I think it shows that Gary needs a friend like Ron, and that he's not some sort of superhero going it alone, and taking it all on himself, but then I suppose as Ron is the 'inside man' as it were, he was always going to end up as one of the few people Gary could come to with virtually any issue.
Gary and Yvonne are then back to their nominal chalk and cheese form in front of the house hunters. I think this shows much of the basis of their relationship, and again, helps to raise the question of why they are together, almost as if trying to mitigate Gary's reasons for carrying on with Phoebe in the way that he does. I love the way that Gary hits it off with the gay bloke, and then Yvonne's reaction to that (segueing into a later scene where she's on the phone talking about Gary), and her Big Mac joke is the climax of the scene, which I really enjoyed.
Phoebe is really negative for the majority of this episode, which is something I've never liked in itself, but I think it's used here to show Gary needing to make an effort for once, whereas usually he's greeted with a hero-like status, and his gifts are gratefully accepted in awe by those around him, however, today he's finding an uphill struggle for Phoebe's affections, in view of the appearance of Ludovic/Robert, and he's visibly put out by it. I've always enjoyed the manner in which Gary manages to get out of the 'Best Before' issue, in fact, that's one of the scenes that instantly comes to mind whenever I think of Goodnight Sweetheart.
Gary's irritation with Phoebe leads him through a drink-fuelled evening with Reg, then leading on to his drunken return to his own timeframe, and here we see his interaction with Reg's contemporary counterpart, which is something I always like to see. Interesting to note that Gary is shown here using a mobile phone, which is something I'll come back to in a review of a later episode. The 071 phone number on the side of Gary's van dates this episode, as London numbers have been changed twice since then (to an 0171 code in 1995 and subsequently 020 in 2000), but for me that only adds to the character, if making me feel a little old in the process
I'd give this episode an 87% rating. There are very few episodes that are actually better than this one.