Season 5 Discussion Thread

[Orcinus orca]

31 minutes ago, ofmd said:

Now I feel the need to rewatch the scene; which episode are you at pls?

Episode 2.

[possibilities]

My God, what hellish place do you live in where friends can't hug each other when greeting, without people thinking it notable?

Where I live, if you are not a hugger, you have to explain yourself, which in a way is jut as bad, but it's certainly not so uptight here that I would mistake friend chemistry for lesbian sentiment. And I'm a lesbian, but even the straight people around me are huggers.

[anna0852]

53 minutes ago, possibilities said:

My God, what hellish place do you live in where friends can't hug each other when greeting, without people thinking it notable?

Where I live, if you are not a hugger, you have to explain yourself, which in a way is jut as bad, but it's certainly not so uptight here that I would mistake friend chemistry for lesbian sentiment. And I'm a lesbian, but even the straight people around me are huggers.

Agreed! I’m as straight as they come, but me and my best girlfriends (whom I’ve known since college) still routinely change in front of each other, share beds when traveling and physically lean up against one another without even thinking about it. And we are all straight and married.

[HoodlumSheep]

5x03

TRISTAN!!!! 😭😭😭

The Farnon boys had me tearing up ngl.

glad helen and mrs herriot finally found some common ground.

shadow pregnancy :(. poor dog.

can't wait for tristan to meet carmody!

 

[possibilities]

Ep 3

Where will Tristan sleep when he comes back full time? Or is he planning not to do so? Or is Carmody only there temporarily?

I din't like the mustache. In fact, I found Tristan totally unrecognizable, both in appearance and affect. I can tell they didn't re-cast him, but the transofrmation is quite extreme.

What was with the farmer that he wasn't using the medicine at all? And he expected the goat to just get well anyway? Was he just lonely and looking for company? He didn't seem like he enjoyed it, if so. I feel like the case last week, of the guy who wanted the vets to solve the problem of the calf kicking over the pail was very similar-- totally irrational behavior, no explanantion.

James's parents seem very sad. I felt the same way in the episode where he told them he wasn't coming home to them, and they were struggling financially without him there. It feels a little more than just the usual thing of family that misses each other, and a little callous how James and Helen joke about it but don't seem at all concerned.

Did people get notified by telegram of casualties? That seems very callous. 

Do we think Tristan was refusing to talk about the war in a serious way because he's hiding something? Or was it just the thing of not wanting to revisit the pain? I know many veterans don't like to talk about it. But with Tristan, you can never be sure if he's just evading because he has a secret and/or refuses to be serious no matter the topic.

The Seigfried-Audrey vibe continues to get stronger. Maybe they will marry them so they can share a room and that will open up a space for Carmody to room when Tristan takes his old bedroom back. 

I continue to be awed by how green the fields are. 

 

[Blergh]

[No spoilers please] but was it just me or were they trying to build up Tris as though he'd almost become SuperTristan via his war experiences in Egypt? I mean, apart from being cashless at the Drovers, he somehow managed to make zero missteps and even seemed to pull open Mr. Biggin's gate with ease while poor Siegfried got stuck in it! Nice sentiment expressed by Siegfried (which likely reflected Mrs. Herriott's own feelings) about being relieved that his work of having raised Tristan was done. ..but OTOH feeling sad that his onetime dependent no longer needed him! Well, at least the story ended with Siegfried and Tristan having a spat- somehow I knew that Siegfried wouldn't be able to 'never have a cross word' with his younger bro forever even with Tristan coming back unscathed from war. .and perhaps extra fortified.

Still, I have to agree [again, no spoilers please] that it seems probable that Tristan could be overcompensating re bravado to avoid having to deal with very real PTSD AKA 'shell shock'.

[Jodithgrace]

Telegrams were definitely the way casualties were announced. One of the more memorable scenes in A League of Their Own was when a delivery boy fumbled the delivery of a telegram while all of the women stood there in total dread. Tom Hanks’ character threw the kid out and handled the delivery himself.

Yes, Tristan looks completely different. And not just the mustache. When he first showed up at the train station I thought they had recast him, even though I hadn’t read that they had. 
 

The new sulfa drugs were performing miracles for animals and people, but some of the old Dale farmers were suspicious of anything new, though why that goat farmer pretended to use the stuff I don’t know. Siegfried should have had the farmer demonstrate how he used the powder instead of just taking his word for it.  

 

 

[magdalene]

I am so happy to have Tristan back. I missed the character so much.  I had no problem recognizing him. It's just that Tristan left as a callow and funny young man and has come home still funny but very much a grown man, an adult.

I know no spoilers but I think it's possible that Tristan is shell shocked. He would be the type to hide it. There was a vibe I got for a moment when he hugged Audrey, a moment of vulnerability or such. It is equally possible I am imagining this.

[dancingdreamer]

I loved having  Tristan back. I'm not keen  on the mustache,  but he looked well. I loved all the hugs from the heart, I teared up.

Siegfried  going to see Mr Biggins with all those gates, made me lol. 

Tristan meets Carmody, that will be fun. 

I think  little  Jimmy  is a beautiful  baby, very bonny! 

[PhoneCop]

Yeah, the mustache can go whenever. I think the problem is that Callum has such a boyish face that he either needs to go full beard (at least scruff, anyway) or nothing in order for it to work. Apparently he really did grow it out but they had to dye it for on-camera purposes, so that probably contributes to it looking a bit off.

But regardless, yay, Tris is finally back! Can't wait to see him and Carmody playing off each other. 

[NoReally]

I don't think Tristan has PTSD, but I think he's seen things he doesn't want to talk about. Yet.

[Orcinus orca]

38 minutes ago, NoReally said:

I don't think Tristan has PTSD, but I think he's seen things he doesn't want to talk about. Yet.

Or, maybe, ever.

I used to be involved in Honor Flight Michigan - we raised funds to take vets to see the WWII Memorial in Washington DC for free.  The memorial was not built until 62 years after the end of the war and many were quite elderly.  And so many of them had never shared anything about their experiences.  Several families told us afterward that the first discussion they had ever had with their relative was after that trip.

In fact, the most memorable of my flights was with a set of twins who were both wounded.  They served in separate units and it wasn't until they few together on that trip that the talked about it and discovered they were both wounded on exactly the same day and only two miles from each other!

We gave seen that Siegfried also holds the trauma of WWI close to the vest.

[HoodlumSheep]

11 hours ago, possibilities said:

Do we think Tristan was refusing to talk about the war in a serious way because he's hiding something? Or was it just the thing of not wanting to revisit the pain? I know many veterans don't like to talk about it. But with Tristan, you can never be sure if he's just evading because he has a secret and/or refuses to be serious no matter the topic.

he was dodging those questions like a pro. he's certainly avoiding talking about something.

i think tristan looks like tristan even with the mustache. he doesn't look all that different to me. if anything he looks like he's bulked up under that uniform.

[libgirl2]

2 hours ago, NoReally said:

I don't think Tristan has PTSD, but I think he's seen things he doesn't want to talk about. Yet.

That's what I think as well. Somehow the carefree youth has come back a man who realizes there is more to the world. 

[iMonrey]

That church they held the Christening in was absolutely beautiful. It was like something out of the middle ages. If I had a church like that, I'd go every Sunday. And I'm not even religious. 

Lucy's owner must have been frantic when her dog disappeared, but I'm surprised she didn't make a beeline for the vet's. She knew the dog was obsessed with the toy and wouldn't go anywhere without it.

2 hours ago, HoodlumSheep said:

i think tristan looks like tristan even with the mustache. he doesn't look all that different to me. if anything he looks like he's bulked up under that uniform.

That was my impression too but it's hard to tell, he was wearing so many layers.

[sugarbaker design]

52 minutes ago, libgirl2 said:

That's what I think as well. Somehow the carefree youth has come back a man who realizes there is more to the world. 

Right, the boy left his comfortable home, went to war, came home a man.

I did notice that Siegfried has one feeling for Tris now that he never had before Tris went off to war:  Respect.

[tennisgurl]

Awww I'm so glad that Tris is back! I don't think he's changed all that much, he's bulked up and has that worm living on top of his lips now, but he's still the same guy we know and love, just more worldly. I do think that he's downplaying the rougher stuff that happened, just focusing on the hijinks and not on what was actually happening in the war, and that its all going to come to the surface eventually. 

Poor doggie just wanted to be a mom. At least it led to Helen and James's mom bonding, it was nice to see the Harriet's again and that there wasn't much in-law drama. 

Siegfried and Tristan's reunion was really moving, although Siegfried's whole "I wont say a thing against the boy if he comes back in one piece" thing lasted about fifteen minutes or so. 

I guess the old farmer's idea was that he could get Siegfried to pay him his money back and then he would use the powder to treat his goat? He clearly underestimated Siegfried's own goat like stubbornness!

[Sarah 103]

15 hours ago, possibilities said:

Do we think Tristan was refusing to talk about the war in a serious way because he's hiding something? Or was it just the thing of not wanting to revisit the pain?

I think he doesn't want to deal with the pain. It also seems in keeping with the culture/era. The whole stiff upper lip, put it behind you, and move on with your life. 

Tristan's stories of hijinks, adventure, and romance are his way of not having to deal with or mentally revisit what he saw and did during combat.  

14 hours ago, Blergh said:

Still, I have to agree [again, no spoilers please] that it seems probable that Tristan could be overcompensating re bravado to avoid having to deal with very real PTSD AKA 'shell shock'.

PTSD and shell shock are actually two different things. Shell shock (WWI term) or battle fatigue (WWII term) present/happen close to the immediate aftermath of the trauma/combat. PTSD develops months and months after trauma/combat, in the case of a veteran, usually well after someone had returned home. 

There was a brief moment when I thought Tristan may be home because he had a less than honorable discharge. Either because a scheme blew up in his face or he refused to follow an order because he believed it was wrong.