Post by rhort on Dec 14, 2012 4:28:47 GMT -5
Just as with the previous episode, we start almost exactly where we finished last time, at the Royal Oak, with Gary and Phoebe deep in conversation, concerning the issues of Gary’s frequent absences, and the fact that these are now cast in a slightly different light, given that they are married. Gary fleshes out his back story yet again using references from James Bond to great effect, causing Phoebe a certain amount of concern, particularly at the ‘Miss Moneypenny’ reference. Reg is on hand to provide more comic relief, most notably with his story of having slept in a drawer until he was five years old, which brings him into the conversation, leading us up to the point where Phoebe suggests he might be the person to decorate the nursery for them. As the debate develops, Gary begins to reinforce his ‘money is no object’ philosophy, even offering Reg more than a month’s salary to paint the room, and telling Phoebe that they can go to Harrods to buy the items they need for the baby, before realising that he has run completely out of cash, which sets up the main plot nicely.
To Cricklewood, and some competition for the lovely Emma Amos, in the shape of the equally lovely Allie Byrne, playing a key role in this episode, Yvonne’s journalist friend, Kate. As the two women discuss a variety of aspects of Yvonne’s new direction, Gary is clearly taking it not at all seriously, leading to conflict with Yvonne, which verges on physical for a moment. The arrival of Ron brings about a certain amount of consternation from Kate, as it seems that Ron has a bit of a thing for her; certainly no faulting his taste, but his blindness to her response could definitely do with some work. Yvonne and Kate quickly make their excuses and exit, leaving Ron somewhat depressed. Gary, true to his usual form, is quick to refocus solely on his own issues, and after a brief attempt to disguise the nature of his current need for Ron, he makes an attempt to show how glad he is to see him. Ron, however, has got wise to Gary’s ways, and is not fooled, leaving Gary scrabbling for some hope, choosing to try and bring Ron on board by telling him that Kate is interested, but it seems that Ron requires something more concrete.
Returning to the 40s, we see a clearly worried Gary walking through the wartime streets, towards the Royal Oak. Upon entering the pub, Gary is accosted by Reg, brandish some wallpaper like a star prize, but Gary isn’t impressed. A brief chat about the nature of local businessman Charlie Harris only serves to reinforce the fact that Gary is desperately short of cash, leading to yet more excuses. Knowing that he needs to do something about it, Gary decides to concentrate on that first, and so goes back to the 90s to try to resolve the issue.
Sitting with Kate in his front room, Gary starts, in a small way, to big up Ron a little, trying to impress upon Kate that she’s overlooked his finer qualities and underestimated his suitability as a potential partner. Kate seems unconvinced, and the arrival of Ron doesn’t make her any happier, especially in view of the fact that he’s clearly been drinking. As Kate hides in the kitchen on the pretext that she’s making herself a cup of coffee, Gary helps Ron with a last minute check on the dos and don’ts of the next few hours, centring around the ‘Three Golden Rules’. Despite Kate’s protestations about being left with Ron, Gary leaves the two of them together.
Within the first few seconds of their time together, it is clear that Ron’s attempts at small talk are falling flat, and that Kate’s interest in the history of printing never actually reaches a level where it could technically have been said to wane, and Ron quite quickly comes to terms with the fact that clutching at straws over the issues of things they have in common isn’t going to work here. Without really spending any time thinking of the ramifications, and clearly out of desperation for something to say that might hold her attention for a moment or two, Ron decides to tell Kate that Gary is a time traveller.
Returning to the house a while later, Gary finds Yvonne and Kate sitting in the front room, and they immediately confront him with the details of what Ron has said. Gary’s initial reaction is quite understandable, however, as they reveal that they think it’s all a joke, he calms down briefly, then heads straight for Ron’s flat, letting him know in no uncertain terms just how annoyed he is with him over the issue. Ron is further depressed to learn that Kate basically thinks he’s mad now, and in his drunken state, Ron goes on to rationalise that Gary is to blame for most of his current issues. Despite Gary’s efforts, Ron still refuses to give him any counterfeit 40s cash.
A brief scene in the Royal Oak shows us that Reg is well into the job of decorating the nursery, and is covered in paint to prove it. Phoebe and Reg discuss the central issue of still having to wait for Gary to pay for everything. As Reg returns to work, the matter of his missing brush is revealed.
We return to Cricklewood, and a key scene, as Yvonne and Kate have taken to discussing the issue of Gary’s reaction when they told him about Ron’s story. Kate’s journalistic instincts have clearly kicked in, and she thinks she’s noticed something about Gary, and this is further backed up by some other circumstantial evidence from Yvonne, and as the two start to think more deeply about it, Kate hatches a plan to go to the shop and wait for Gary to see if there could be any truth in it. Yvonne seems sceptical at first, but decides to go with it anyway.
As the two women secrete themselves in the shop, Gary turns up and walks through into the back yard. Regular viewers will note at this point that he hasn’t changed into his 40s attire; if he had, the game would have been up at this point as Gary would probably have discovered Yvonne and Kate when he went to change. As the two of them make their way outside, they find that Gary has vanished, and the Gates are firmly locked. Now convinced, Kate makes an attempt to walk through the portal herself, when Gary appears from a box behind them, and proceeds to wind them up. Clearly impressed by the complexity of the apparent joke, Kate is taken in completely when Gary tells her that the whole thing was Ron’s idea, which then puts her in the mood to call him and arrange a date. As Yvonne tries to protest, Gary blackmails her into silence by threatening to tell everyone that Ron has put one over on her.
With everything square with Ron, Gary returns to the 40s, and Harrods, with Phoebe and Reg, in search of the things they need for the baby. Splashing the cash with Reg, who goes off to find a suitable birthday present for Margie, Gary then leads Phoebe to the baby section. Phoebe’s discomfort here is evident, but Gary does his best to calm her down, however, she is soon put off by the condescending salesman, who clearly doesn’t think he’s going to make much commission off her, and dares to suggest she might be happier elsewhere. Gary confronts the man, taking a leaf from Richard Gere’s book and setting him straight, then bribing him with ration coupons, leaving him to fawn over Phoebe whilst she chooses the items she wants.
The final scene in Cricklewood, and Gary takes to further antagonising Yvonne over the matter of ‘Ron’s Joke’, particularly with the excellent ‘Churchill’s Birthday’ line. This sequence of quips, however, leads Gary into trouble, as Yvonne asks why he doesn’t get a mobile phone so that she can contact him, sending Gary into something of a panic as he tries to get out of it. This brings us back to an issue mentioned before, in S2E02 (the one where Gary is arrested for drink driving), when he calls Yvonne from his mobile, and yet now, he doesn’t have one? Something I’ve always wondered about.
I’d give this episode a 90% rating. Some good laughs, and a great story, as Gary really has to put in some effort.
To Cricklewood, and some competition for the lovely Emma Amos, in the shape of the equally lovely Allie Byrne, playing a key role in this episode, Yvonne’s journalist friend, Kate. As the two women discuss a variety of aspects of Yvonne’s new direction, Gary is clearly taking it not at all seriously, leading to conflict with Yvonne, which verges on physical for a moment. The arrival of Ron brings about a certain amount of consternation from Kate, as it seems that Ron has a bit of a thing for her; certainly no faulting his taste, but his blindness to her response could definitely do with some work. Yvonne and Kate quickly make their excuses and exit, leaving Ron somewhat depressed. Gary, true to his usual form, is quick to refocus solely on his own issues, and after a brief attempt to disguise the nature of his current need for Ron, he makes an attempt to show how glad he is to see him. Ron, however, has got wise to Gary’s ways, and is not fooled, leaving Gary scrabbling for some hope, choosing to try and bring Ron on board by telling him that Kate is interested, but it seems that Ron requires something more concrete.
Returning to the 40s, we see a clearly worried Gary walking through the wartime streets, towards the Royal Oak. Upon entering the pub, Gary is accosted by Reg, brandish some wallpaper like a star prize, but Gary isn’t impressed. A brief chat about the nature of local businessman Charlie Harris only serves to reinforce the fact that Gary is desperately short of cash, leading to yet more excuses. Knowing that he needs to do something about it, Gary decides to concentrate on that first, and so goes back to the 90s to try to resolve the issue.
Sitting with Kate in his front room, Gary starts, in a small way, to big up Ron a little, trying to impress upon Kate that she’s overlooked his finer qualities and underestimated his suitability as a potential partner. Kate seems unconvinced, and the arrival of Ron doesn’t make her any happier, especially in view of the fact that he’s clearly been drinking. As Kate hides in the kitchen on the pretext that she’s making herself a cup of coffee, Gary helps Ron with a last minute check on the dos and don’ts of the next few hours, centring around the ‘Three Golden Rules’. Despite Kate’s protestations about being left with Ron, Gary leaves the two of them together.
Within the first few seconds of their time together, it is clear that Ron’s attempts at small talk are falling flat, and that Kate’s interest in the history of printing never actually reaches a level where it could technically have been said to wane, and Ron quite quickly comes to terms with the fact that clutching at straws over the issues of things they have in common isn’t going to work here. Without really spending any time thinking of the ramifications, and clearly out of desperation for something to say that might hold her attention for a moment or two, Ron decides to tell Kate that Gary is a time traveller.
Returning to the house a while later, Gary finds Yvonne and Kate sitting in the front room, and they immediately confront him with the details of what Ron has said. Gary’s initial reaction is quite understandable, however, as they reveal that they think it’s all a joke, he calms down briefly, then heads straight for Ron’s flat, letting him know in no uncertain terms just how annoyed he is with him over the issue. Ron is further depressed to learn that Kate basically thinks he’s mad now, and in his drunken state, Ron goes on to rationalise that Gary is to blame for most of his current issues. Despite Gary’s efforts, Ron still refuses to give him any counterfeit 40s cash.
A brief scene in the Royal Oak shows us that Reg is well into the job of decorating the nursery, and is covered in paint to prove it. Phoebe and Reg discuss the central issue of still having to wait for Gary to pay for everything. As Reg returns to work, the matter of his missing brush is revealed.
We return to Cricklewood, and a key scene, as Yvonne and Kate have taken to discussing the issue of Gary’s reaction when they told him about Ron’s story. Kate’s journalistic instincts have clearly kicked in, and she thinks she’s noticed something about Gary, and this is further backed up by some other circumstantial evidence from Yvonne, and as the two start to think more deeply about it, Kate hatches a plan to go to the shop and wait for Gary to see if there could be any truth in it. Yvonne seems sceptical at first, but decides to go with it anyway.
As the two women secrete themselves in the shop, Gary turns up and walks through into the back yard. Regular viewers will note at this point that he hasn’t changed into his 40s attire; if he had, the game would have been up at this point as Gary would probably have discovered Yvonne and Kate when he went to change. As the two of them make their way outside, they find that Gary has vanished, and the Gates are firmly locked. Now convinced, Kate makes an attempt to walk through the portal herself, when Gary appears from a box behind them, and proceeds to wind them up. Clearly impressed by the complexity of the apparent joke, Kate is taken in completely when Gary tells her that the whole thing was Ron’s idea, which then puts her in the mood to call him and arrange a date. As Yvonne tries to protest, Gary blackmails her into silence by threatening to tell everyone that Ron has put one over on her.
With everything square with Ron, Gary returns to the 40s, and Harrods, with Phoebe and Reg, in search of the things they need for the baby. Splashing the cash with Reg, who goes off to find a suitable birthday present for Margie, Gary then leads Phoebe to the baby section. Phoebe’s discomfort here is evident, but Gary does his best to calm her down, however, she is soon put off by the condescending salesman, who clearly doesn’t think he’s going to make much commission off her, and dares to suggest she might be happier elsewhere. Gary confronts the man, taking a leaf from Richard Gere’s book and setting him straight, then bribing him with ration coupons, leaving him to fawn over Phoebe whilst she chooses the items she wants.
The final scene in Cricklewood, and Gary takes to further antagonising Yvonne over the matter of ‘Ron’s Joke’, particularly with the excellent ‘Churchill’s Birthday’ line. This sequence of quips, however, leads Gary into trouble, as Yvonne asks why he doesn’t get a mobile phone so that she can contact him, sending Gary into something of a panic as he tries to get out of it. This brings us back to an issue mentioned before, in S2E02 (the one where Gary is arrested for drink driving), when he calls Yvonne from his mobile, and yet now, he doesn’t have one? Something I’ve always wondered about.
I’d give this episode a 90% rating. Some good laughs, and a great story, as Gary really has to put in some effort.