SusanSunflower

my vague memory -- yes it was a long time ago -- was that she was quite happy -- when on an investigation -- to bed subordinate officers .... This finale was massively overstuffed ...."it worked" and allowed Martini to give Jane some depth even if Mirren shadow was nowhere to be found and there was little to no evidence of Jane's emotional or ethical development. Underlying Mirren's Tennison (rather like Morse or Wallander) is both a smouldering and bitter outrage and grief at the waste of it all -- the inexorable process of murder investigation ... early yet, but not really a glimmer of that in Jane. Did the Greek Restaurant owner "get away" with his shopping bag of loot? ... I rather hope so.

having these 'making of' vignette/documentary segements at the end of each episode is abruptly taking me out-of-the-story in ways I HATE ... I "get" that it's 30 minutes a week of "free content" but it's all too too too much meta ... I've noticed that PBS is more and more showing episodes that do not fill the time slot meaning there's "more time for PBS commercials and promotions" ... Solid story and episode that managed for me to be an arresting 45 minutes ... better that most I've seen recently.

ugh ... yes, funny how false eyelashes and heavy mascara make for crazy eyes .... very strange .... Downton Abby had the similar problems with inappropriate make-up or make-up poorly matched (episode to episode and season to season) -- intra-episode it was usually okay ... you'd think ... it would be one of those sentinel continuity check items.

I haven't seen the last few years of Gently (not on any streaming service I use). The pretty brilliant young copper on Endeavor is "fun" but it feels as if she was introduced as an inevitable romantic partner for Morse -- as well as intellectual rival. I know nothing about British police customs -- is becoming a police officer a relatively quick path to the middle class and financial security for those who can't afford or don't qualify for university and other professions? I don't know that we've ever known why Jane Tennison decided to become a police officer. I've always loved the reason Serpico gave (at least in the film), that he grew up in a bad neighborhood where bad things happened often and when they did, there was always a cop there who knew what to do and would try to make things right while everyone else just stood around helplessly. Serpico wanted to be "that guy" who knew what to do to restore order. Morse couldn't find a better puzzle-solving occupation, being easily tired to academics (and probably academic infighting) as well as probably on some level relishing his superior puzzle-solving gifts. It's "funny" having Tennison's background being rather posh, since that means she likely had more options than her peers, male or female. We don't need to be spoonfed, but significant wrt lying about the assault on the drug dealer. Some folks (unfortunately) love the power of the uniform not only to brutalize but also to intrude and stalk and get vengeance ... that's not new or rare ... making the world safe for "people like us" -- y'know the deserving and punishing the bad-guys and undeserving.

Thinking about this show and Martini reminded me of other, imho, more credible young female police officer characters ... secondary characters who I found believable ... most notably Nicola Walker in Touching Evil and Hermoine Norris in Wire in the Blood. Endeavor recently introduced a female counterpart who -- like Martini -- is too pretty and too quick (brilliant) to be particularly believable, particularly in 1972 ... back when most women were expected (sooner rather than later) to get married and have children, so choosing a "career path" was often tinged with "low expectations" in the romance/marriage department (with whispers about being "not interested in men" common). FWIW, imho, both Nicola Walker and Hermoine Norris were immediately strikingly not-bland in their roles which imdb tells me debuted in 1997-1999 and 2002-2005, 20 and 15 years ago respectively) and have been working steadily since.

I was baffled by that also ... such a strange thing that I wondered if it **had** to be a (future) plot device ... The story moves along with pauses for sex and "romance" -- the degree to which they appear to be "in love" (and willing to risk at least her career) strikes me as surprising ... I'd say out-of-character but we don't actually know her well enough to say. Was moving into that apartment then her first experience of living away-from-home ... gosh I remember getting my first "own" place (a large back room in a neighbor's home with limited fridge space and a hot plate) ... back in the olden days when I couldn't afford my own TV for several years (being a starving putting-myself-through-college student ...

I will be watching to see how they depict the rampant sexism of the time (if they do). It's well portrayed in Endeavor. I was a little surprised that Jane and the other female officer were so collegial since in a male-centric profession there was often efforts by the men to create rivalries and jealousies and (some) women, sometimes, are just as competitive as men particularly if they were (1) there first (2) afraid to be outshone by a bright new arrival (see also endeavor). At least where I was in the USA (Los Angeles) the daily sexism and deliberate intimidation of women by men would probably be hard to believe to someone under 40 ... and I've been in situations where younger women appeared to be unaware that they were being discounted in a sexist way by men. Rebeccal Solnit has a new book out on this sort of dismissive sexism -- a book I suspect is sorely needed. It's easy to recognize "harassment" ... not so easy to pinpoint being erased as a "contender" on the basis of gender stereotyping./bias.

5 more episodes to go .... yes, the pacing of the first episode was excellent and it did manage to create and maintain interest and even suspense ... definitely not pretty paperdolls on parade

Season two is working okay for me, although the many rapid cuts between locations felt excessive "work" reorienting to which cast and location ... glad its back for an extended run.

It was "entertaining enough" but had zero to do with Mirren's Tennison and, imho, was fairly generic and unexceptional (except for it's very pretty star and the period-evoking soundtrack) ... really "nothing special" although the money they spent on "production values" was apparent.

Ultimately too Bond ... but despite a half-dozen (at least) you're kidding moments, even second rate LeCarre doing Bond is better than most that's on TV in terms of characters' dimensional development. Corky being "despicable" did not make the loss of his character (who knew he was right) any easier ... there was such an abundance of "moral ambiguity" I almost quit at that point but I'm glad I re-upped and finished it out. (I never made it beyond the first seasons of Breaking Bad for similar feelings of actively not wanting to become enmeshed with those dreadful people). It will be interesting to see what they do with a second season ... either moving beyond or embracing the Bond comparisons. There was a lot of actually utterly unnecessary "change of exotic location" and gratuitous sex scenes that stood in for plot ... and I agree with a few who said this could probably have been better wrapped up in fewer episodes -- like the weaponry and warfare these days, it all felt a bit like trying to animate what was in reality occurring by "remote control." Hiddleston does nothing for me personally even if I can see the attraction to others ... Craig has become a successful Bond by emphasizing his vulnerability not by becoming ever more Vulcan (see also Bourne)

Tom Hollander played the poet brother (with the secret wife and a tragically bad heart) in Wives and Daughters .... j'adore

episode 1 summary from wiki I thought the hacking of the plane's autopilot was both original and quite effective ... a welcome return (after a bit of totally in character self-consciousness re-introduction)

just noticed that Season 2 starts tonight ... The Season Two forum is "all episodes" and despite having only handful of comments has many spoilers ...oh well

no, it was that the arsenic had been taken/administered over a long period of time ... Bates bought and delivered the arsenic to Vera as her request. But there was no evidence that he then had anything to do with her or it. (It was not found in her flour or sugar bins, for instance). The halo and the fingernail discoloration were both evidence of prolonged exposure (which Bates was not there to do) ... it's a bit far fetched, but the working theory that freed Bates and settled the inquiry was that Crazy Vera poisoned herself to wickedly frame Bates as a final evil act. The "halo" is because with long term exsposure to arsenic, the breath become phosphorescent and "glows" ...

I have a very vague memory that the halo effect was mentioned episodes later ... in an unlikely moment, perhaps Mary explaining to Cora, or Isobel explaining to Violet or Mrs. Pattmore explaining to Daisy how they knew -- despite Bates providing the Arsenic -- that he was not the poisoner and therefore innocent. It was quite "in passing" but also quite "after the fact" as if Fellowes realized he had left that delicious factoid out of the original script. Not terribly helpful ...

I think it was Audrey Bartlett, Vera's friend (who may have found the body) who provided the "halo" reference after Anna contacted her after studying Vera's journal and letters ... from Downton Wiki: IMDB says that Bartlett (Clare Higgins) appeared in 2 episodes, 2012 from another downton blog IMDB has changed it's layout and I cannot tell which two episodes the actress appeared in ... I vaguely recall a halo but also something about the pie crust and her fingertips or fingernails ... found it -- episode 3 and episode 6 (Bartlett was mentioned in episode 5. from downton wikilink to vera bates page (bottom)

Gregory knew he was an agent and he was offered assistance in making a clean break, he chose to provoke the police and die as a soldier rather than be ... irrc, exfiltrated and relocated outside his community and separated from his cause ... Martha thought she was helping Clark keep the FBI "clean" ... but she had old-fashioned #1 priority loyalty to her husband ... I did expect more of an explosion when Phillip flat out told her they were KGB (erasing any alternative fantasy she might have been clinging onto ... some (any) other "enemy" -- like Cuba or y'know something other than KGB ... China? She worked overtime NOT sweating the detail) Elizabeth might have been jealous of Phillip's baby mamma ... a pre-KGB genuine youthful love match, something Elizabeth never had. Even with Gregory, she was one-up as his handler ... and as someone mentioned, while emergencies might have arisen from time to time, they were "mission" related, not Gregory feeling neglected, being emotionally needy, etc. Shitty and out of touch (really unthinkable, imho) for anyone to make any Martha v. Gregory comparisons. In many ways, for many people, Gregory's death would have been a heroic soldierly "last stand" ... Martha never enlisted in this army, did not volunteer for this battle ... Elizabeth's youthful "true love" experience memory is framed by the "heroic" circumstances of his final act, final sacrifice (spare me)

I wasn't sure if either Martha or Phillip would survive the episode (although I had been spoiled that they both did), still ... Gabriel would have off'd Martha in a heartbeat, if not for Phillip ... and I suspect Elizabeth would have happily off'd both of them (except for having to deal with Paige's demanding questions and with Henry missing Epcot again). If I ever talked to my mother as Paige talks to Elizabeth ... well, I wouldn't. Last time I spoke to her rudely, I was 5 or 6 -- never again ... Kids today! I'm glad that William and Phillip had those male-bonding soulful moments together ... Elizabeth is really pissed that Phillip "broke the rules" and got emotionally involved (and with a tenderness that's absent in their relationship) ... Clark used condoms in the past ... so unprotected sex is a new thing and both a break with the past and perhaps a symbol of commitment and hope for the future. Poor Martha. Poor Phillip. Elizabeth will cry to Gabriel in private and he will play his surrogate daddy role and praise her good-soldiering. It is a funny double bind for both Phillip and Stan -- they both know what they "think" and believe -- and cannot safely detail all the particulars about why Stan has been suspecting Martha for "a while" and all the surveillance he and Aberholt have put in off-the-books. Phillip cannot safely mention all of the not-quite-right things that make his suspect Martha is in imminent danger (we know in fact she is) but Phillip's credibility with both Elizabeth and Gabriel has been so damaged by his "doubts" and over-involvement. Yeah, Gabriel would have disposed of Martha in a heart beat, Elizabeth even quicker ... Phillip done good.

Rhys is truly a magician / shape shifter with the body language

One "use" of an older guy, like Jim, is to keep the younger suitors at bay. Jim has already demonstrated that he has qualms, limits, issues, so Kimmie (probably) can (realistically) trust him a lot more than some stoned and horny peer ... I had a number of platonic relationships with older men when I was her age (well 3) and like Kimmie & Jim, I saw them rarely and our "special relationship" probably would have withered and died if it had "gone anywhere" and it never did .... and yes, it involved dope smoking and wine drinking (in moderation) ... Actually in high school, the word was that I was shacked up in Topanga with some gnarly motorcycle dude ... which explained why so few guys hit on me, until I started going out with my first boyfriend. (They had obviously glimpsed me with my long-haired and bearded stepfather or my scary looking radical brother ... (who, in fact, were about the same age, mommy robbed a cradle)

I think Paige already knows too much for the Centre to ever "let go" of trying to manage her (even if P&E were safely retired in the USSR). Ymmv, but Paige resides at ground zero, the starting point of all of P&E operations and meetings with their contacts/operatives. The danger of Paige letting Henry in on their parent's other life is also considerable. This is speaking only from Season 3 Episode 13 and she may stabilize and reconcile her involvement in ways I'm not aware of. I'm willing to suspend belief that Pastor Tim will ignore the peril of doing nothing with what he knows, even though he has no compelling reason to believe that P&E are working for "peace and the good of all mankind" rather than, say, perpetuation and expansion of the arms race or counterintelligence to thwart American spying/intelligence efforts or to secure national security, etc. Aldrich Aimes began his KGB career in 1985 so he hasn't been "turned" (for $$$) yet.

Yes, Elizabeth saw her mother as brave and self-sacrificing ... and Paige saw Elizabeth's mother's actions as barbaric and saw Elizabeth speaking almost reverentially about Grandmother's (as she saw if, barbaric) sacrifice ... she was afraid that Elizabeth might sacrifice her ... which -- arguably is what is likely happening. Yes, it's an enormous generation gap ... my older brother was a war baby and I was born in 1952 and largely raised by my brother to be a "soldier" and to admire those qualities -- noble, self-sacrificing, uncomplaining, etc. etc. Paige is has largely suffered no want or hardship and really doesn't see the nobility in that, even as she wants to do good and might voluntarily join a symbolic fasting protest or sit-in. One of the biggest generation gaps around Vietnam was that WWII veteran fathers (and mothers) outraged at their children (mostly sons) questioning being involuntarily drafted to fight in Vietnam, an immoral postcolonial/neocololonial war ... Which was a bit of a whitewash by the "Greatest Generation" (WWII vets) who were not all terribly eager serve and many of whom had miserable service experiences (See Ken Burns' documentary series on WWII, there were a lot of supply chain and communications difficulties) (So many kids my age reported that their fathers would never talk about the war I almost wonder if departing soldiers were encouraged to "put the war behind them" and never mention it ... some vets spent a lot of time -- years -- at their local VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) clubs and bars. My father was a conscientious objector... which always elicited an awkward silence in class when everyone was supposed to proudly name their father's WWII service in advance of Memorial Day, back in the later 1950's. Whenever mention is made of reinstating the draft -- in order to make Congress step up and represent the taxpayers who are paying for these wars -- I find many many young people consider it (mandatory service) unthinkable ... The military appears to be there for poorer folks and the children of military (connected) families ... not for them or their kids.... Part of the rationale of our high-tech drone/satellite warfare is that it doesn't need infantry. It's been three (or four) generations since the end of the draft -- 18 year old soldiers in 1970 are now, like me, 64 with great grandchildren in high school.

The problem is that it (Elizabeth's silence) is another lie ... like someone pretending to like her daughter's boyfriend when palpably she doesn't. Paige asking Elizabeth how her mother (Paige's grandmother) could have sent her away was looking for assurance that Elizabeth would not send/order Paige into the wilderness as her mother had done to her, when of course she wil/is doing just that .... Elizabeth seems to assume that Paige "loves" her grandmother when ... why? ... because it is inconceivable to Elizabeth that Paige does not appreciate her mother and grandmother's "noble sacrifice" to duty and patriotism. Much as Elizabeth sees Martha as a useful idiot, she sees Paige as someone who will inevitably "see the light" and be guided by principles, the betterment of human kind (when Paige's altruism is more immature and self-interested). Paige is an adolescent looking for something solid and "true" -- authentic -- which is why she was drawn to Pastor Tim in the first place. Instead she's found herself living a lie wrt her brother and "everyone else" for the foreseeable future. Looks like impending disaster to me with no happy resolution. What's next? Sending Paige to some Soviet re-education camp??

Actually, I was more thinking about keeping up the pretense that they were a normal family with both mom and dad working at the family owned (wildly successful) travel agency, and yet, still having to drop everything all the time to deal with "work" and ticket deliveries and change of plans ... It sort of remined me of the -- I'm dating myself -- Saturday Night Live Coneheads (who were space aliens) who iirc had not broken the news to their children who were reaching an age where they kept asking questions ... about why their parents were different from other parents they knew ... Yes, suburbia is alienating, but what about their other neighbors, and Paige and Henry's other peers/classmates, little league, girl scouts, soccer practice, school sports, band/orchestra ... and it's all okay ... because yes, it's a tv show. The kids trying to get home from the mall might have called the travel agency, or a neighbor, or some other person (the parent of a friend, for instance) ... or just started walking home. I don't remember hitchhiking being done much after the early 1970's ... too many scary stories ... some places had traditional hitchhiking -- there are hitchhikers where I live in the mountains now because there's no bus service at all in most of the region ....