All Creatures Great And Small (2021) - General Discussion

[magdalene]

On 1/21/2022 at 4:47 PM, DonnaMae said:

I do think Siegfried and Mrs. Hall would make a good couple, especially since they know each other so well and are comfortable together.  I really don't care that this Mrs. Hall is much younger than the character from the books.  The producers have decided to do their own version of the stories, and that's fine with me.

We had talked about this subject last season earlier in this thread. The writers gave Mrs.Hall the first name "Audrey". That is the first name of the woman the real Siegfried married.  I choose to see that as a sign what the end game is - no matter how many women Siegfried dates in between.

[dleighg]

7 minutes ago, John Potts said:

I took that to mean they would be sent to slaughter, where they'd at least be worth something

thanks. That makes sense.

[peacheslatour]

29 minutes ago, John Potts said:

I took that to mean they would be sent to slaughter, where they'd at least be worth something (assuming the meat could still be sold, which is probable in the 30s). Sick cattle probably would keep running up costs but not putting on much meat.

Or else it's time to call the knacker man.

[Driad]

I asked earlier whether there were agricultural extension agents. Apparently not, at least in the universe of this show. The local agent would be there giving advice: how to get rid of the worms, how long before the field would be safe for cattle, what crops or livestock might be OK there, etc.  Possibly geese would eat the worms instead of inhaling them?

[Quilt Fairy]

While I have gotten used to a more modern interpretation of the books, I don't see Siegfried and Mrs Hall getting together.  There is zero sexual tension between them.  Also, there was (and I think still is) an unspoken class system in the UK, and Mrs Hall, while a perfectly nice person, is not the same class as Siegfried. 

I didn't notice the silver tea set, but it may have been a family heirloom that the widow wouldn't have even thought of selling.  It certainly wouldn't be a vet's place to suggest it, either. 

Has it been established that Tristan is actually a qualified vet now?  The last I saw was Mrs Hall showing Siegfried the embossed valise she bought as a present and Siegfried admitting that Tristan hadn't passed all his exams.  

[DonnaMae]

If Siegfried married Dorothy or some other woman, then Mrs. Hall wouldn't be as important in their lives, and wouldn't she have to move?

[Quilt Fairy]

She'd still be the housekeeper. 

[Blergh]

2 hours ago, Ilovepie said:

This! I said the same to my husband - I find it hard to believe that James would be out running for exercise since his entire job is exercise - seems like a modern thing born out of a more sedentary society with less manual labor to keep you fit. If anyone was running back then, it was not for leisure activity!

If this is inaccurate, please educate me, but to me, this just didn't fit the time or place.....

Back then, the only folks who'd have been running for exercise would have been dedicated professional and amateur athletes (as I said in my original post mostly if not entirely around college campuses) . Maybe there were a few followers of fad exercisers (e.g.  Bernarr Macfadden, Charles Atlas) in the cities on this side of the Pond who might have done this but in the countryside this would have been unheard of. 

[peacheslatour]

I have to agree with other posters here. Tricki Woo is a star! That little Peke may start a trend of people getting Pekes that probably shouldn't have them.

[crankcase]

For those that don’t know her, allow me to introduce the new Mrs. Pumphrey, Patricia Hodge.

Here she is in the 1983 movie of the Nobel Prize-winning Harold Pinter’s three-person play Betrayal, along with Jeremy Irons and Ben Kingsley.

A Seinfeld episode with same name also used the scheme of playing the events in reverse chronological order, and had a character named Pinter.

[Badger]

9 minutes ago, crankcase said:

For those that don’t know her, allow me to introduce the new Mrs. Pumphrey, Patricia Hodge.

Here she is in the 1983 movie of the Nobel Prize-winning Harold Pinter’s three-person play Betrayal, along with Jeremy Irons and Ben Kingsley.

A Seinfeld episode with same name also used the scheme of playing the events in reverse chronological order, and had a character named Pinter.

She also played Bertie's formidable mother, Mrs. Pelham on "Downton Abbey."  I believe her best known role is Miranda's mother on Miranda Hart's eponymous British sitcom.

[Blergh]

7 minutes ago, crankcase said:

The chance that you know more about Glasgow in 1937 than the British creators of this series approaches zero asymptotically.

If the creators knows more about the place and STILL had James be so anachronistically and bogusly attired (and with NONE of his peers or neighbors reacting), then that means that they are indifferent to accuracy. 

[crankcase]

2 minutes ago, Blergh said:

If the creators knows more about the place and STILL had James be so anachronistically and bogusly attired (and with NONE of his peers or neighbors reacting), then that means that they are indifferent to accuracy. 

The creators have indeed shown on more than one occasion that they are indifferent to accuracy, logic and common sense. They may even have a general contempt for their audience and a complete lack of intellectual integrity. (I say this in complete sincerity and could provide examples upon request.) However, Scotsman Eric Liddell (see Fire, Chariots of) did in fact win gold at the ‘24 Olympics, so maybe onlookers thought they were viewing a hero in the making. Just sayin’.

 

 

[Blergh]

3 minutes ago, crankcase said:

The creators have indeed shown on more than one occasion that they are indifferent to accuracy, logic and common sense. They may even have a general contempt for their audience and a complete lack of intellectual integrity. (I say this in complete sincerity and could provide examples upon request.) However, Scotsman Eric Liddell (see Fire, Chariots of) did in fact win gold at the ‘24 Olympics, so maybe onlookers thought they were viewing a hero in the making. Just sayin’.

 

 

IF  James had ever stated that he wanted to follow in Mr. Liddell's   (or some other athlete's) footstep with the goal of  competing  in the '40 Olympics  and/or even one or James's peers and/or neighbors had reacted to seeing him in said attire in any way besides totally shrugging it off, I would have been willing to suspend my historic disbelief for the sake of enjoying this production. However, since everyone in Glasgow/Darrowby seemed to react to the equivalent of James running around starkers in broad daylight as though they ALL lived in a naturalist retreat, I won't ride the room elephant's howdah!  

[crankcase]

I am

amazed, astonished, astounded, awestruck, bowled over, dumbfounded, dumbstruck, shocked, stunned,  stupefied, thunderstruck (copied from on-line thesaurus)

that no one has brought up the incident of Siegfried taking off his trousers and handing them to Audrey (his future wife?) in the presence of Tristan. WTF was that supposed to mean?

Edited January 25, 2022 by crankcase

[dargosmydaddy]

48 minutes ago, crankcase said:

that no one has brought up the incident of Siegfried taking off his trousers and handing them to Audrey (his future wife?) in the presence of Tristan. WTF was that supposed to mean?

That Mrs. Hall insisted, after finally discovering the source of last week's foul odor, that the men immediately disrobe when covered in smelly animal fluids? : )

On the one hand, I would consider that another anachronism, as I really doubt any male professional would actually do that! And I don't see Siegfried (as the character developed on this particular series) would feel comfortable doing that. On the other hand, I can see Mrs. Hall being unbothered by the partial nudity, and that she's trained Siegfried well enough at this point that he's just like OK, whatever. Either way I don't see what Tristan's presence in the situation matters.

My big WTF of last night was why the proposed solution to the chicken problem was to give them to the neighbor, who had shown no interest in acquiring chickens!

And while I am normally in no way a book purist, and have enjoyed most of the series' forays into original storytelling, I was kind of sad that they cut the date shenanigans short. I seem to remember in the book that Mr. Alderson's shoes and the staff's "Are you staying?" were just the beginning of the ridiculousness/ humiliation that James ran into on that date!

I also have a dim recollection of the widow's story coming to some kind of happy resolution in the book, so I'm hoping the show revisits it. I know Herriot sometimes went far ahead in time in the books to tie his little vignettes to a close, which obviously the show can't do, but it was disappointing that this sad story seemed to serve more to opening James's eyes to Helen's pov than anything else.

[possibilities]

I was also startled to see Siegfried take his pants off in full view of all, but I interpreted it as a sign they all see Mrs Hall as a mother figure more than anything else. 

 

 

Edited January 25, 2022 by possibilities

[Blergh]

I'd have thought Siegfried would have attempted to put on a dressing gown (fancy long men's robe) while undressing his trousers in front of them but perhaps he reasoned that since they'd both seen LOTS of animal anatomy via the practice, the sight of him in his drawers wouldn't have fazed either Mrs. Hall or Tristan.

Still, I can't imagine OS Siegfried having done so,etc. 

[crankcase]

5 hours ago, possibilities said:

I was also startled to see Siegfried take his pants off in full view of all, but I interpreted it as a sign they all see Mrs Hall as a mother figure more than anything else. 

 

 

Audrey was a Wren in WW1 and, therefore, around 20 at the time. Siegfried said he was involved with horses in WW1. In 1937, Tristan would have been just out of vet college in his early 20s. The difference in age between the two brothers has some reasonable limit. When one does the math (or “maths” if from the UK) Siegfried and Audrey are within a very few years of the same age. There is no way in hell Audrey would be a mother figure to Siegfried. 

As presented, Audrey has a trim figure and wears the clothes to show it off. Her face has great bone structure, her skin taut and unlined. One doesn’t have to have seen pictures of Anna Madeley to imagine what she could be made to look like. She dines with the men because of one or more of the following possibilities:

1. Siegfried may appear a pompous prat, but at heart is a liberal egalitarian who votes Labour and would never consider consigning the “help” to a table in the scullery.

2. Audrey knows some serious shit about Siegfried and he can’t risk mistreating or firing her.

3. Siegfried is already in love with Audrey but can’t act on it because:

a) he’s afraid there would be a scandal

b) he’s terrified of her sexually and intellectually, and rightly so.

c) there are more seasons to come, and the writers need to keep potential romantic plot lines in reserve to fill the time. There are only so many animal diseases out there, and complex marital infidelities are not a choice with this audience. They aren’t the degenerates who suck on the teat of Downton Abbey

Edited January 25, 2022 by crankcase
because

[Driad]

16 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

That little Peke may start a trend of people getting Pekes that probably shouldn't have them.

What kind of people shouldn't have them? 

I have difficulty picturing a dog under all that fur. What does a Peke look like soaking wet?

[peacheslatour]

Quote

What kind of people shouldn't have them? 

They need huge amounts of grooming, special diets and gentle handling. They tend to have heart problems. They don't like rough play and they are very independent and can be stubborn. It's a commitment like any other pet and I hate to think of people causally adopting one because they're cute without knowing what they're getting into.

[DonnaMae]

13 hours ago, possibilities said:

I was also startled to see Siegfried take his pants off in full view of all, but I interpreted it as a sign they all see Mrs Hall as a mother figure more than anything else. 

At least he was wearing boxer shorts, not briefs.  Now that would have been embarrassing.

  

[libgirl2]

18 hours ago, crankcase said:

For those that don’t know her, allow me to introduce the new Mrs. Pumphrey, Patricia Hodge.

Here she is in the 1983 movie of the Nobel Prize-winning Harold Pinter’s three-person play Betrayal, along with Jeremy Irons and Ben Kingsley.

A Seinfeld episode with same name also used the scheme of playing the events in reverse chronological order, and had a character named Pinter.

I saw her name in the credits and when she came on, I recognized her right away. 

[Doublemint]

As mentioned above, Siegfried, taking off his pants in front of Mrs. Hall would never have happened.   The thing that got me was Mrs. Hall saying, "just a sec" when James was going out.   That's not how a Yorkshire person spoke in 1938.   Also, there was a lot more funny stuff on the date in the book and old tv show.   Sorry they left it out.   I do miss the Mrs. Pumphrey from the old series and Hodkins - her servant.   He was excellent.   How he hated Trickey Woo.

[Blergh]

18 hours ago, Doublemint said:

As mentioned above, Siegfried, taking off his pants in front of Mrs. Hall would never have happened.   The thing that got me was Mrs. Hall saying, "just a sec" when James was going out.   That's not how a Yorkshire person spoke in 1938.   Also, there was a lot more funny stuff on the date in the book and old tv show.   Sorry they left it out.   I do miss the Mrs. Pumphrey from the old series and Hodkins - her servant.   He was excellent.   How he hated Trickey Woo.

Yes, Siegfried would have attempted to hide behind something while disrobing himself and then put on a dressing gown- or at the very least, Mrs. Hall would have chastised him for not showing her a minimum of courtesy or respect via having disrobed in front of her. 

True, it seems that 'just a sec' doesn't seem to have been in use before the 1980's. A far more apt term for the times (and definitely the vet setting) would have been 'three shakes of a lamb's tail'!

I agree that the fawning Marcel doesn't remotely hold a candle to the Tricki-Woo loathing nearly silent Hodgkins who barely was able to hide his contempt for his employer's pride and joy just enough to keep the job he so desperately needed in the Depression. One time  he  went so far to as to feed something harmful to the tiny dog that James called him on and threatened him with squealing to Mrs. P. AND reporting him to the RSPCA- and another time he successfully had  Tricki cuckolded by having the Pekingese's intended offspring's purebred mother mated with a much larger mutt.  Of course, it should be said that there never any indication that Tricki was anything but amiable and well-behaved to him (or anyone else) despite his employer's constantly indulging and having many pretenses about this tiny dog.  I think Hodgkins simply loathed having to do the extra duties of keeping Tricki clean and well-groomed in addition to the tasks he ostensibly signed up for when accepting the job! 

[peacheslatour]

4 minutes ago, Blergh said:

Yes, Siegfried would have attempted to hide behind something while disrobing himself and then put on a dressing gown- or at the very least, Mrs. Hall would have chastised him for not showing her a minimum of courtesy or respect via having disrobed in front of her. 

True, it seems that 'just a sec' doesn't seem to have been in use before the 1980's. A far more apt term for the times (and definitely the vet setting) would have been 'three shakes of a lamb's tail'!

I agree that the fawning Marcel doesn't remotely hold a candle to the Tricki-Woo loathing nearly silent Hodgkins who barely was able to hide his contempt for his employer's pride and joy just enough to keep the job he so desperately needed in the Depression. One time  he  went so far to as to feed something harmful to the tiny dog that James called him on and threatened him with squealing to Mrs. P. AND reporting him to the RSPCA- and another time he successfully had  Tricki cuckolded by having the Pekingese's intended offspring's purebred mother mated with a much larger mutt.  Of course, it should be said that there never any indication that Tricki was anything but amiable and well-behaved to him (or anyone else) despite his employer's constantly indulging and having many pretenses about this tiny dog.  I think Hodgkins simply loathed having to do the extra duties of keeping Tricki clean and well-groomed in addition to the tasks he ostensibly signed up for when accepting the job! 

I get it. Can you imagine Mr. Carson having to coddle and groom a little dog that way. I can just see his face!

Er ... hrmm, yes M'lady.

[Leeds]

On 1/22/2022 at 10:58 PM, Blergh said:

 

    BTW, Miss Hignett herself had had a somewhat different biography than one would have expected from a typical Yorkshire housekeeper of the mid-20th century. She was an only child who'd been born in 1916 in  (of all places) Madras, India to a British couple . Tragically her mother died giving birth to her and she'd be orphaned at seven with her father's death. I have no idea how or when she arrived in England much less who wound up raising her.

The British Empire/Raj meant British men (servicemen, lawyers, civil servants, etc) living and working in India while their wives and children mainly lived (and the children were educated) in the UK.  Paul Scott, EM Forster, Salman Rushdie (Midnight's Children) have good novels about Indian/British history/colonialism.  There are also good TV shows and movies about the period.  Lots of bad stuff perpetuated by colonialism, but fascinating history and stories.

[Blergh]

I have no idea re what kind of accent or vocabulary the late Miss Hignett might have used or what kind of comportment she might have had  off-camera. However, on camera she DID conduct herself   exactly as one might have imagined a 1930's late middle-aged housekeeper  who'd never once left the Ridings much less had hailed from India via British parents. 

[Doublemint]

19 hours ago, Blergh said:

Yes, Siegfried would have attempted to hide behind something while disrobing himself and then put on a dressing gown- or at the very least, Mrs. Hall would have chastised him for not showing her a minimum of courtesy or respect via having disrobed in front of her. 

True, it seems that 'just a sec' doesn't seem to have been in use before the 1980's. A far more apt term for the times (and definitely the vet setting) would have been 'three shakes of a lamb's tail'!

I agree that the fawning Marcel doesn't remotely hold a candle to the Tricki-Woo loathing nearly silent Hodgkins who barely was able to hide his contempt for his employer's pride and joy just enough to keep the job he so desperately needed in the Depression. One time  he  went so far to as to feed something harmful to the tiny dog that James called him on and threatened him with squealing to Mrs. P. AND reporting him to the RSPCA- and another time he successfully had  Tricki cuckolded by having the Pekingese's intended offspring's purebred mother mated with a much larger mutt.  Of course, it should be said that there never any indication that Tricki was anything but amiable and well-behaved to him (or anyone else) despite his employer's constantly indulging and having many pretenses about this tiny dog.  I think Hodgkins simply loathed having to do the extra duties of keeping Tricki clean and well-groomed in addition to the tasks he ostensibly signed up for when accepting the job! 

THIS!   Love it all...

[OtterMommy]

Please keep Primetimer's Be Civil policy in mind.  If someone is getting under you skin, you can always use the ignore function.

[Dehumidifier]

Worst dinner party ever 🙄.

[Constant Viewer]

1 minute ago, Dehumidifier said:

Worst dinner party ever 🙄.

I know! I felt so sorry for Tristan.

[Dehumidifier]

Blonde chick was so rude to Helen. I thought she was better bred,

[Dehumidifier]

It started out bad with Mrs. Hall's blabbermouth and Tristan not saying another guest was coming.

[HoodlumSheep]

2x04:

Poor Tristan!

Here Mrs. hall threatened Siegfried to have Tristan qualified enough by his Bday so they could give them the bag, so I assumed he had qualified thru apprenticeship (while obv not knowing) or something...nope. oof. 

Not a fan of the Blondie. Very rude.

Props to Siegfried's lady friend for trying her best to keep things going despite the tense and awkward circumstances.

 

[Dehumidifier]

Mrs. Hall is getting annoying with her constant cheerleading of James and Helen. MYOB lady. They'll figure it out themselves.

[Driad]

"Blue Ruin" was an epithet for gin used by anti-spirits crusaders during the “Gin Craze” that followed England's Glorious Revolution (late 1600s).

[ComeWhatMay]

1 hour ago, Dehumidifier said:

Blonde chick was so rude to Helen. I thought she was better bred,

I bet a Mitford was her inspiration. Beautiful face, ugly inside. 

[mjc570]

1 hour ago, Dehumidifier said:

Worst dinner party ever 🙄.

But at least the food was good

[possibilities]

Siegfried losing his temper like that was supremely bad behavior. I was horrified. 

[Blergh]

1 hour ago, Dehumidifier said:

Blonde chick was so rude to Helen. I thought she was better bred,

I can think of pigs that were better bred! Rather than actually attempt to help Tristan celebrate his birthday, it seemed Margot's entire MO for attending the party was to dis Helen  for not having wed Hugh in front of the Farnons- and I sure don't trust her to not to wag her tongue a mile a minute about Siegfried's fox pass re Tristan's actual qualifications even with 

I wonder if Tristan will believe it that James himself had been in the dark about Siegfried's deception.

At least James and Helen  somewhat cleared the air and James was honest with her about being unsure which choice to make while he DID want her to be in his life (and it seems she actually considered that she WOULD be willing to move away to Glasgow to be with him if he were to decide to be there). Still, one can't  but help consider how his fortunes have changed so that instead of barely keeping the Depression wolves at bay via hanging onto the Farnon job by his tooth skin (when few vet students were being hired anywhere) now he has TWO solid positions to choose from. 

It seems Tristan's gotten into a thick fog over Siegfried's revelation instead of just being a sad clown. I wonder how many episodes will that last?

2 hours ago, Dehumidifier said:

Worst dinner party ever 🙄.

Not quite as bad as the Donner Party, though. However, still not one that the participants will look back upon with undiluted pleasure (in spite of Mrs. Hall's wonderful Beef Wellington). 

[LittleIggy]

On 1/24/2022 at 7:30 PM, Badger said:

She also played Bertie's formidable mother, Mrs. Pelham on "Downton Abbey."  I believe her best known role is Miranda's mother on Miranda Hart's eponymous British sitcom.

Patricia Hodge is best known to me from her role as Phyllida Erskine-Brown on Rumpole of the Bailey.

[magdalene]

I knew of course that Siegfried lying to Tristan about the exam results was going to blow up in a bad way eventually but that birth day dinner party was so awkward and cringy.  I understand that the faux Mitford blonde was offended on behalf of her friend Hugh when she saw Helen being cozy with James but how about some tact?

Poor Tristan.  I was glad to see Helen and James talking to each other like adults over the job situation.

That baby cow was adorable.

[Llywela]

5 hours ago, Dehumidifier said:

Blonde chick was so rude to Helen. I thought she was better bred,

Inherited wealth (which is all 'good breeding' really is) does not automatically confer good manners, far from it. Don't believe the PR of the upper classes! They can be as catty and bitchy as anyone else, if not more so. Someone like Margot being a bitch to Helen over jilting Hugh is only to be expected, really. She had the opportunity to marry 'up', farmer's daughter engaged to the lord of the manor, and she spurned it, so 'who the hell does she think she is?' would be the automatic reaction to anyone within Hugh's social circle. Everyone at that dinner party was a step or three down the social ladder from Margot, no one she'd need to worry about impressing with good manners.

[AZChristian]

Not sure of the time frame when this episode was set, but Helen using the term "doggy bag" jumped out at me as an anachronism.

[Blergh]

Yes, I can imagine that  Margot might have easily blamed everything that could have gone wrong in the union (from fertility issues, to adultery and physical abuse) solely on Helen- and it's possible she'd only been willing to have been civil to Helen to keep her family's bond with Hugh's intact.  

I also think it's possible she was expecting everyone else else (but especially Siegfried's friend) to have joined her dumping on  Helen but they all made it clear that they weren't going to participate in it - and that it wouldn't help her own case  if she kept that up. Poor Tristan likely mistook her cordial civility towards Helen when the latter had been engaged to Hugh as a sign of sincere friendship on her part (to say nothing of her attending the party due to possibly liking him for himself but she sure didn't show any support or sympathy towards him after Siegfried's Bombshell) Helen herself  sure didn't seem to have considered Margot's presence at the birthday dinner a pleasant surprise. 

If Helen had had any doubts about the sincerity of Margot's friendship towards her, this dinner party definitely confirmed them. On the plus side, it ALSO confirmed that the Farnons, Siegfried's lady friend, Mrs. Hall and, of course, James himself were all in HER corner. Mrs. Hall even went so far as to inviting Helen to address her as 'Audrey' instead of by her surname and title. 

Even better than all that for Helen was her and James becoming more closely bonded and considering their future together -instead of each trying to work out his and her own respective independent futures.

Now, of course, due to Margot almost certainly blabbing Siegfried's Bombshell (and Tristan's own tongue likely getting too loose at the Drover's), not only will it be all the more challenging  for Darrowby clientele to trust Tristan to tend to their animals but also Siegfried's own rep for having covered up the failed exam is in danger . ..and so could James's rep could get tarnished by this. Yes, we viewers KNOW James was genuinely ignorant of Siegfried's deception (and Helen believes James) but how many others will give James the benefit of the doubt? Even if Siegfried himself declares James's innocence and previous ignorance, HOW will anyone believe him since now he has outed himself as having committed a fraud re passing off Tristan as a fully licensed vet!  Alas, I'm not even sure Mrs. Hall won't get flak and suspicion just due to her having been the housekeeper! 

28 minutes ago, AZChristian said:

Not sure of the time frame when this episode was set, but Helen using the term "doggy bag" jumped out at me as an anachronism.

The term appears to have only come into existence since WWII in the States (and I'm not sure how long thereafter it got picked up in the UK). Still, IMO it oddly seems apt in this series focusing on vets!

[sugarbaker design]

I was curious, and maybe the posters who were familiar with the first incarnation of ACG&S can help me.  Was the storyline of Siegfried being untruthful about Tristan's veterinary status in the books or the original series.?  This silly storyline seems so out of place.

Although she was so good at playing a nasty cow in the sitcom Mum, I am loving Pauline Atkinson and Mrs. Brompton.  Mrs. B was the lone positive light at the dinner party.

[fishcakes]

13 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

I was curious, and maybe the posters who were familiar with the first incarnation of ACG&S can help me.  Was the storyline of Siegfried being untruthful about Tristan's veterinary status in the books or the original series.?  This silly storyline seems so out of place.

No, it wasn't. In the original series and books, Tristan was portrayed as intellectually gifted, but very very lazy about studying. He failed his exams repeatedly, and after each time, Siegfried would throw him out of the house (then forget about it within 12 hours). Tristan received notice in the mail that he had passed his exams and was qualified right before Siegfried and James left to join the RAF.

Also in the original, Diana Brompton was a much younger woman, a snobbish socialite who was reliably rude to James and somewhat dismissive of Helen. The current writers' habit of taking the names of already established characters and slapping them on different characters is only one of the things annoying me about the series.

[tennisgurl]

That party was so awkward it probably made everyone nostalgic for those happy times being covered in horse shit. Poor Tristan, I knew that this secret was going to get out but it just had to happen in such a crappy way. Siegfried meant well, but lying to Tristan hurt him even more then if he had just told him the truth, Tristan so badly wants his brother to respect him and now it looks like Siegfried has just been humoring him, even if we know its more complicated then that. 

Kudos to Siegfried's lady friend for getting everyone out of the room after Siegfried dropped the test result bomb in a quick and classy way, everyone absolutely booked it out of there.

Glad that James told Helen about the job offer in Glasgow and that they had a mature talk about it. I can understand him not wanting to upset his mom, but its clear that James is happy here and that his mom is way out of line. 

Edited January 31, 2022 by tennisgurl

[DonnaMae]

12 hours ago, possibilities said:

Siegfried losing his temper like that was supremely bad behavior. I was horrified. 

He should have had a discussion later with Tristan when they were alone.

11 hours ago, Blergh said:

(and it seems she actually considered that she WOULD be willing to move away to Glasgow to be with him if he were to decide to be there

She did?  I didn't see that.