The Durrells In Corfu - General Discussion

[SonofaBiscuit]

LOL LOL LOL.  Gerry's face when Sven said he couldn't have a goat...so disappointed.

I don't think Sven would have survived Louisa's family.  When they were all questioning him at the table, he said "I think the joke is over now, don't you?" and got up to leave.  Joke would have been on you, Sven, because they weren't messing around...they are just. that. nutty.

Oh my gosh, did you hear Spiros loudly shout "NO!!!" when Louisa told him they were going to Sven's house?  I rewound that one a couple of times for laughs.

Aw, that was a lovely scene between Larry and Louisa when he was telling her that he was going to move out.  Yeah, they're all crazy, but they really care about each other.  Is Larry gay as well?  When speaking to his mother about Sven and wives, he used the word "we," like he was including himself as a gay man in the conversation.  

I was so happy that Gerry decided that you don't need to keep animals to love them, but ugh, I was then so disappointed that he didn't go through with releasing them.  And I feel like Theo should have been encouraging him to study animals in their natural habitat...NOT in cages.  

Also, go back and check out Theo's face when Spiros proclaims that "Together, we find you a new Greek husband."  Ha, he looks kind of horrified.  Maybe a bit too soon, Spiro.  A bit too soon.  I totally thought that the camera was going to pan to Spiros' face when Larry was telling his mother that there has to be someone for her to love on the island.  That would have been a sure sign that Spiros/Louisa will be happening next season, but I'll just continue to hope that those involved with the show see the same chemistry that I do and advance that relationship.   

[Brattinella]

2 hours ago, SonofaBiscuit said:

When speaking to his mother about Sven and wives, he used the word "we," like he was including himself as a gay man in the conversation.  

I noticed this, as well.  I will have to do further research into the real life Durrell Family now.

[JudyObscure]

I was so looking forward to seeing the pelican lope down to the sea as our final shot of the season,  but I do understand how much Gerald loves to study them.  I was going to call him a future biologist, but he really already is one.  I loved his matter of fact definition of a homosexual.  That little actor has the most expressive face, ever.

[AuntiePam]

1 hour ago, Brattinella said:

I noticed this, as well.  I will have to do further research into the real life Durrell Family now.

That's a double-edged sword.  On one hand, it's great to learn what they were really like but on the other hand, we might end up wondering why the film versions don't stick to the truth.  (Wiki has articles on Louisa, Lawrence, Gerald, and the doctor.) 

Someone up thread mentioned that Sven's sexual orientation is revealed in one of Gerald's books.  Looking back a couple episodes, Sven and Louisa's first kiss was a clue.  Sven wasn't immediately enthusiastic, he even seemed surprised.  And then there's the artwork in his home.

The series was charming, and whether or not it happened in real life, I'd love to see Louisa and Spiros get together.  If he really has a family, why didn't they accompany him to the party?

[SusanSunflower]

I'm a bit curious about the Sven and Louisa real story too. The whole "born that way" ethos is very modern. Many gay and bisexual men married women and led split lives ... only some were tortured, although their wives often suffered from emotional abandonment and sometime absolute desertion (when they found their one-true-love elsewhere, on the down-low and divorce was out of the question).  Louisa could not have "not known" this.  Larry may (or may not) have been in-with-the-in-crowd wrt Freud, Jung and Reich, but Louisa most of the time seems much too conventional and dull to be on that libertine cutting edge.  I'm almost inclined to think that Louisa may wlel have been much more interesting than the character-as-written.  The suggestion that Louisa would reject Sven because she needed her sex and she suspected he'd be bad in bed ... sigh.   Personally, my guess is that she discovered "everyone knew" and was laughing at her behind her back ... like Larry and her children ... 

Edited November 21, 2016 by SusanSunflower

[AuntiePam]

3 minutes ago, SusanSunflower said:

Personally, my guess is that she discovered "everyone knew" and was laughing at her behind her back ... like Larry and her children ... 

Or they were never more than friends in the first place. 

I haven't read Gerald's books and probably won't , now that I've spoiled myself by reading the Wiki.  I'm too literal -- it discomfits me when memoirs leave out important events and characters.  Fiction or non-fiction -- it's gotta be one or the other, or I feel like the writer is trying to put something over on me.  

[SusanSunflower]

Oh, I linked a Daily Mail article (with lots of info on the what became of the family after) early in this show's thread.  Nothing amusing unfortunately. 

[JudyObscure]

39 minutes ago, AuntiePam said:

I'm too literal -- it discomfits me when memoirs leave out important events and characters.  Fiction or non-fiction -- it's gotta be one or the other, or I feel like the writer is trying to put something over on me.  

I made the mistake of reading the Wiki on Mr. Selfridge and got my knickers twisted every time they tweaked the truth, so I've tried to resist since then.

As for Louisa and her casual attitude to Sven's orientation;  while it doesn't seem realistic to me for the times,  I try to remember that she was unconventional enough to pick up her family and go off to an island where she knew no one and didn't speak the language.  Still, although we know Larry is an intellectual :) I expected Leslie, at least, to express some, I don't know,  disgust or something.  Of course, Leslie has resting disgust face so maybe he was.

[kat165]

Thank you, Mostly.

[SusanSunflower]

The irony was that Sven believed he could swing both ways and/or leave the attraction to men behind (or at least was eager to try) .... while Louisa was telling him what-was-what about his sexuality...  because she had already decided that his attraction to men was a deal-breaker (not because she was all free-thinking fashion and "accepted homosexuality") ... She didn't care about what he wanted. She was actually was so horrified it was NOT really up for discussion with him. 

Like the accordian, which might be as welcome a musical instrument as any in a land without electricity ... yes, a grand piano might be more "pleasing" but it was music.  I wonder if it was Louisa's English snobbery towards middle Europeans ... when I was a child they were considered hopelessly old-country and square  ... I Remember Mama almost kitch ... now, I'm curious. 

Edited November 22, 2016 by SusanSunflower

[Constantinople]

Why is Margo still mooning over Max?

Isn't she 16 going on 17?

Hasn't she ever seen The Sound of Music?

[magdalene]

I was really surprised at how much Larry especially grew on me throughout the six episodes.  I disliked him very much in the first episode. 

Does Spiros have a wife?  He and Louisa have chemistry and he would certainly fit in with the family.

[HoodlumSheep]

2 hours ago, Constantinople said:

Why is Margo still mooning over Max?

Isn't she 16 going on 17?

Hasn't she ever seen The Sound of Music?

I don't understand this either! And then there's the poor nerdy friend who likes her and whom she ignores. Like, you don't have to like him, but you could be less rude about it. ???

glad they snuck in a very short shot of her and max arguing/getting snippy with each other though. It gives me hope that she'll get over him eventually like she did with Angel. Loved seeing her roll her eyes after Angel was trying to be cool by twirling a broom?/rake?/hoe/iforgotwhatItwas.

Edited November 22, 2016 by HoodlumSheep

[SusanSunflower]

It's interesting because they all physically changed (not just their characters, the actors) quite a lot over this very short season ... even Gerry stopped being quite so winsome, Larry learned to stand reasonably straight, Leslie stopped wincing, and Margo evolved from a scrunch-faced adolescent into a pretty young woman ... Louisa's looks varied in these last two episodes, sometimes 10 years younger than her "old self", other times strangely thinned, exhausted and older.  (Larry's girlfriend, Anna, looked so gorgeously cosmopolitanly dewy, it sort of threw everyone into relief).  

Did no one mention Louisa (always the self-less mother) warning Anna that she "thought" Larry had not lost his interest in other women ... jesus .. whatta mom. 

Edited November 22, 2016 by SusanSunflower

[Pickles]

Larry's gf is named Nancy, not Anna. :)

[JudyObscure]

9 hours ago, SusanSunflower said:

Did no one mention Louisa (always the self-less mother) warning Anna that she "thought" Larry had not lost his interest in other women ... jesus .. whatta mom. 

That was so wrong.  Gerald is old enough to be out on his own and yet she leans on him as though he is duty bound to take his father's place. Ruining an expensive musical instrument, when Sven doesn't seem particularly well off was criminally mean. 

 

13 hours ago, SusanSunflower said:

 I wonder if it was Louisa's English snobbery towards middle Europeans ... when I was a child they were considered hopelessly old-country and square  ... I Remember Mama almost kitch ... now, I'm curious. 

Yes, I feel that snobbery in lots of their situations and I think that's why it was supposed to be  amusing when she tore up the accordion -- such a low-class instrument, you know.

My unpopular opinion is that I've never liked Keeley Hawes.  I don't find her pretty and her phlegmy breathing and speech are awful to me.  Yes I know that's what the British upper class calls "plumy," and posh, but it makes me queasy after a while.

[pasdetrois]

I thought Sven's little speech to Louisa about moving to Corfu to "escape" his homosexuality, and his loneliness, was very moving.

I've just remembered some funny dialogue from a previous episode. When Larry and Nancy are having noisy sex, and Larry is howling (presumably in orgasm), Gerald in the next room asks Leslie what's going on. An embarrassed Leslie explains that Larry "stubbed his toe." Then when Nancy is howling, Gerald slyly says "Nancy also stubbed her toe."

[SusanSunflower]

The big laugh for me was Louisa being all friendly and sympathetic with Laura about wanting to go back to England and then revealing she meant for Laura to go back to England -- minus Larry -- and Laura's very quick but suppressed outrage and hatred toward Louisa, quickly followed by even deeper hatred and mistrust when Louisa suggested Larry might not be done with his exploratory phase.  And Laura is still stuck living in that house with Larry AND Laura until she can arrange her escape.  And Louisa utterly unrepentant about trashing this relationship (IRL, wasn't that a marriage, even if a too-young starter marriage?). 

The accordian was both hokey and exotic -- lame and square -- when I was a kid, but I didn't grow up with polka fests and other celebrations with accordian music as background.  Similarly "ethnic" I also considered Mariachi bands hokey and exotic, lame and square (tourist fare) until I discovered they aren't (remotely) considered to be lame in Mexico. I didn't learn to actually enjoy Mariachi music until high school, through my music loving dad, who listened to the Mexican radio stations in the car ... alternating with jazz. 

Did I miss the end of Louisa's employment with the doctor's wife? I've walked away before the end of several episodes so I'm not sure how the turkey poaching was resolved or how/if the money panic was solved. The doctor's wife's critical POV wrt Louisa has always amused me, although I confess part of my problem with the show is that I really would like to "like" Louisa more and/or find some heroic virtue in her.  No.such.luck. 

Oh, for the person who wondered about Larry's sexuality and the "we"... I think he was talking about "we, men" and no, he was married many times to women. I don't think his seuxality was "closeted" or gay, but ... ya never know. 

Edited November 22, 2016 by SusanSunflower

[skyways]

I think the money panic was temporarily solved by Larry's check? The turkeys I think were never poached if I remember correctly. I think the guy had hid them to blame the dog? Does someone remember this?

[kat165]

Yes, the guy hid them. Then after the court case they were awarded some turkeys but I forget now just how that worked.

[SusanSunflower]

oh, I just remembered Leslie coming into the kitchen with two turkey-like or pheasant-like birds ... which surprised me by their size since he had been hunting and they had been eating rather small rabbits  (which often don't have a lot of meat on them).  I hadn't thought he was "poaching" someone else's livestock, but that in many places, like England or here in Colorado, the right to hunt and kill wild animals is regulated so the greedy don't kill them all, for sport or for food.  In the next episode Leslie got arrested for poaching ... (and I left that story after his mom bailed him out after a night in prison -- which he had rather enjoyed). Since they didn't have any money, and there was mention about paying for a lawyer (maybe) or fines (maybe), I wondered how it had been resolved  other than by paying compensation to the birds' owner, since Leslie had killed at least two of his turkeys. 

All sorts of such embarrassments and inconveniences (like Larry's appendectomy) are so much easier when you have m.o.n.e.y. -- but since they had no money I wondered how Leslie was walking around free.  What became of his "bad influence" semi-criminal friends he was living with? 

Edited November 23, 2016 by SusanSunflower

[proserpina65]

On ‎11‎/‎21‎/‎2016 at 7:40 PM, Constantinople said:

Why is Margo still mooning over Max?

Isn't she 16 going on 17?

Hasn't she ever seen The Sound of Music?

Precisely because she's a teenager.  Also why she's rude about Max's friend.  Teenagers are not logical creatures.

[Constantinople]

PBS or the local PBS station replayed all of Season 1 yesterday.  Since that was Christmas, I missed almost all of it.

[dcalley]

Returning to PBS Sunday, October 15, at 8pm.

[HoodlumSheep]

On 4/21/2017 at 4:18 PM, dcalley said:

Returning to PBS Sunday, October 15, at 8pm.

Yay! 

[skyways]

I see nobody is watching................................waiting for Oct. 15 most likely.  Oh well...............

[peaceknit]

We're here! It's a slow board, but that's ok. Not everyone likes (British) period pieces. Looking forward to next season!

[HoodlumSheep]

I think most of us watch it on pbs, so we are kinda waiting for october in a way.

[Brattinella]

We will be watching, too!

[jjj]

I enjoyed this, but I have read all the Gerald Durrell anecdotal books about his family's life in Corfu.  This series has characters with the same names, but after the first episode, there was very little that the series had in common with the stories in the books.  You can read the books and not feel anything was "left out" of the series, because they are completely different.  And the books are wonderfully funny -- when I first read them, I laughed out loud throughout.  The Durrell Corfu memoirs ("memoirs", not really everyday life, but scenes from an entertaining version of that life) -- but they have very little in common with what you read about the Durrells in Wikipedia!  I do recommend the books, you will not be disappointed. 

[pasdetrois]

I think this show is coming back with a new season this month. Saw an ad but didn't catch the date.

[chitowngirl]

22 minutes ago, pasdetrois said:

I think this show is coming back with a new season this month. Saw an ad but didn't catch the date.

October 15 (scroll back a few posts ?)

[HoodlumSheep]

One week! One week until this fabulous show is back!

I'm not gonna be able to participate in the episode discussion until about a week later because my family's going camping. 

Still, i'm so happy to have this show back. It's one of the only series left on masterpiece that i don't get angry or frustrated at when watching.

[elle]

Sven: Are you making up these names?

I've missed this show!

[NoThyme]

I'm not sure I liked this episode.

[Mumbles]

This show just cheers me up when I watch it. The Durrells are indefitigable. It's the perfect antidote for the Sunday Sads.

Thank goodness Larry got rid of that ridiculous moustache! 

[chitowngirl]

I've missed this show! Did they change the opening music? It sounds different.

How did Larry afford a new typewriter?

[elle]

51 minutes ago, Mumbles said:

Thank goodness Larry got rid of that ridiculous moustache! 

And Leslie!  Thankfully, they both shaved before the episode was half way over.

50 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

How did Larry afford a new typewriter?

I wondered about that too.  Other things that bugged me include the question why wouldn't they use the emergency fund to pay the rent?  As the family was eating the leftover wares, I wondered how the food could have been kept fresh or safe enough to eat at the end of the day.  I guess it was not safe period but the only one in the family without an iron stomach was Leslie.

Was Roger the dog in the first series?  I was curious what happened to the little white dog Gerry had.

I really do not want to watch Larry get involved with Vasilia but you just know that is where they are going to go with that story.

Edited October 16, 2017 by elle

[magdalene]

I just started laughing half way through the episode, this show really celebrates the absurd and I am glad it's back.

It's a pity that Spiro is married with children.

[JudyObscure]

9 hours ago, elle said:

Was Roger the dog in the first series?

Yes, he was but we only had short glimpses of him, I'm so glad he got a featured episode. 

The new Englishman scares me with that beaming smile, I just can't see him fitting in with the Durrells.

Are we absolutely sure Spiro is married with children?  I thought  the Durrells jumped to a conclusion based on a photo on his dashboard. Maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.

[SonofaBiscuit]

I also laughed at Sven questioning if spotted dick and toad in the hole were real names for the dishes the Durrells had handed to him, or something they had just made up.  Ha.

Another part that cracked me up was when those "bastard bees" were attacking Leslie, but everyone just ignored him and went about their business while some catchy Greek music played on screen.

The landlady is an effective enough villain, and I did enjoy her telling that whistling guy "Don't make me come over and punch your face."

Of course, one of the best parts of the show (for me) is Spiros!  I loved seeing him tie the handkerchief on Louisa's head and coach her in how to sell her goods to the Greek patrons.

2 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

Are we absolutely sure Spiro is married with children?  I thought  the Durrells jumped to a conclusion based on a photo on his dashboard. Maybe that's just wishful thinking on my part.

Yes, the Durrells assumed this because of the photo in his car.  I would like an answer once and for all if he's actually married or not!  He wears a gold band on his right hand, but according to Google, many in European countries wear their wedding ring on their right hand (I checked out the doctor and his wife, and it appears as though their wedding bands were on their right hands).  

At the end of the episode, Louisa hands Spiros a basket full of goodies for "him and his family."  Spiros thanks her and says "Can I say..." but then gets interrupted by Hugh driving up.  What was he going to say???  I hope it was something like "Can I say, my wife is no longer with us.  She passed away many years ago, so I am a widow just as you are."  I WISH!!

[Mumbles]

Quote

The landlady is an effective enough villain, and I did enjoy her telling that whistling guy "Don't make me come over and punch your face."

Lol and when she started insulting Larry about his "short fingers" etc I thought it was just a set-up for some hate sex. 

And I also laughed at her superfluously mean comment about only the English being so stupid as to sell an egg covered in meat on a hot day. 

[elle]

14 hours ago, JudyObscure said:

Yes, he was but we only had short glimpses of him, I'm so glad he got a featured episode. 

Now I do sort of remember seeing Roger the dog in the background in the first series.  They brought him from England with them, right?

11 hours ago, SonofaBiscuit said:

I also laughed at Sven questioning if spotted dick and toad in the hole were real names for the dishes the Durrells had handed to him, or something they had just made up.  Ha.

I liked that they kept the joke going with the young monk asking for clarification as he ate the strangely named foods "the toad is actually sausage and the yellow part is the hole?"  

Speaking of the monk, I am surprised that was allowed to go off with the young English girl or at the very least not given a warning by the older monks.  I also found it a stretch that Margo was so clueless about monks.

[JudyObscure]

14 hours ago, SonofaBiscuit said:

At the end of the episode, Louisa hands Spiros a basket full of goodies for "him and his family."  Spiros thanks her and says "Can I say..." but then gets interrupted by Hugh driving up.  What was he going to say???  I hope it was something like "Can I say, my wife is no longer with us.  She passed away many years ago, so I am a widow just as you are."  I WISH!!

Right!  Or, "Can I say my sister and her children will love these delicacies."

[Anothermi]

On 2017-10-16 at 7:40 PM, elle said:

Now I do sort of remember seeing Roger the dog in the background in the first series.  They brought him from England with them, right?

And the dog was in the graphics intro.  Just a grey dog shape.  I remember him mostly on the road when they were dragging their luggage along the road. (again, in the cartoon intro).

[JudyObscure]

My brother has a dog with a coat just like Roger's, gray and black with a fuzzy outline, and we always laugh about how easy it is to lose sight of him, he can be right next to us and someone will say, "Where's Rudy?" because he's blended with the shrubs behind him.  We must all play, "Where's Roger," from now on and spot his camouflaged self.

OT:  Rudy is deaf so when we babysit him he doesn't come when I call in the dogs, so I tell my dachshund, "Go get Rudy," and she comes back walking on her hind legs, leading Rudy by his beard.  Cute.

[Brattinella]

1 hour ago, JudyObscure said:

OT:  Rudy is deaf so when we babysit him he doesn't come when I call in the dogs, so I tell my dachshund, "Go get Rudy," and she comes back walking on her hind legs, leading Rudy by his beard.  Cute.

LOL!  Thanks for making my morning, what a delightful story!

[jjj]

The premise of "we have no money" is wearing thin on me -- even in this television version, Mrs. Durrell says she has a widow's pension.  I get that "we don't have enough money for five people", but first you pay the rent, then figure out the rest. 

In real life, they were faded members of the middle class -- but a British widow's pension went far in Corfu.  I wish they would write up some of the episodes in Gerald Durrell's books -- those were much more entertaining than Mrs. Durrell cooking to sell in the market.  Spiro was much older and gnarly in the book descriptions.  I need to get the books again -- I laughed so much when I first read them. 

[HoodlumSheep]

Finally watched the episode:

• A new intro! I love the show's intro, it makes it unique compared to the other masterpiece shows
• This show just makes me so happy. It never fails to make me laugh
• Those mustaches! Oh my gosh!
• Poor roger! At least leslie felt bad and even made him a doggy wheelchair by the end
• I laughed so hard when the bees started attacking leslie and the rest of the family and theo just went on with their day ignoring him
• So margo's gonna be a nun. Huh. We'll see how long that lasts
• I'm just so happy to see louisa and sven stay on good terms. I do like their chemistry, platonically speaking of course. He let them borrow (have?) some of their goats!
• Larry and that landlady...i know what they're hinting at but i'd rather it not happen :/
• Gerry's animal thing strikes me as odd sometimes. Like, he grieves over a dead otter but has no problem disecting animals and stuff. Kinda contradictory.

Lastly, Spiros!!! He's still a darling gem. And like everyone else here, i also wish to know the mystery behind his relationship and family status. I've always had the inkling that he's a widow. And i think he's totally showing signs of liking Louisa. I felt like he and hugh briefly sized each other up in that one scene. I saw spiros eyeing up hugh's spiffy car compared to his...

The episode could have used just a tad more Lugaretzia, but otherwise it just feels so good to have this show back. It's quickly become my new favorite in the current lineup of masterpiece shows (because the others have all begun to fail me in some capacity). It's like a ray of sunshine compared to the melodramas of poldark, grantchester, victoria, etc.

Edited October 23, 2017 by HoodlumSheep

[izabella]

2 hours ago, HoodlumSheep said:

Gerry's animal thing strikes me as odd sometimes. Like, he grieves over a dead otter but has no problem disecting animals and stuff. Kinda contradictory.

Gerry's animal thing bugs me to no end.  For example, trapping otters and locking them away in pens so they never see water again, much less swim in it.  Same for trapped birds and other creatures.  I didn't see what he ended up doing with that nest of baby birds.  I hope he left it alone, and didn't scare the mama bird away so she wouln't come back to the nest.  And I sure hope he didn't take the nest for his animal prison.

Otherwise, I love this show, lol.  And I liked the doggie wheels Leslie made, though not his obsession with guns.