S05.E03: Passenger

[dcalley]

On 7/15/2018 at 2:10 AM, jjj said:

Yes, I think we are meant to think he spent the night with the French-accented woman who might or might not be Claudine -- he did not arrive back at his flat until the next morning.

He looked like he was sneaking back into the house, trying not to wake Strange, who, in his PJs, asked him if he'd had a good night.

[Writing Wrongs]

On 7/15/2018 at 4:06 PM, Tardislass said:

I hate to say it but the whole Joan/Morse thing is turning me off to this show.

I've been binge-watching all seasons and I agree. I've never cared for the Joan character from the beginning and all that going off mess she did was ridiculous. When I see the the actress' name in the credits, I groan. I just don't get Morse's infatuation with her. I almost want to fast forward through their scenes.

[SusanSunflower]

Joan and Endeavor reminded me a bit of the dilemma in Far From the Madding Crowd between Bathsheba and Gabriel Oakes (whom she does finally marry at the end of the story).  She is "everything" he hopes for in a wife -- intelligent, lively, hard working, ambitious like himself.  She sees someone unexciting and unpromising with the affrontery to suggest marriage as-if-she-would marry the first man who asked her.  

[deleted paragraph -- too error-filled to keep with apologies -- but I don't think he had much experience with a welcoming home to "come home" }

The relaxed companionable Thursday family must have felt like some Norman Rockwell drawing of a "perfect family" where everyone cared about each other with affection.  

I thought they were done with Joan and Morse, with him recognizing that she's far from ready to settle down, particularly in a marriage "like her mothers" ... unfortunately we haven't been given much reason to find her interesting or think she's be a "good match" for Morse now or in the future. 

from Far From the Madding Crowd (quoting Gabriel):  

""At home by the fire, whenever I look up, there you will be. And whenever you look up, there I shall be."" 

I suspect that's sort of predictability and domestic "bliss" is exactly what Joan wants to avoid ....

Edited August 4, 2018 by SusanSunflower

[Dessert]

15 minutes ago, SusanSunflower said:

We know that Morse's family growing up was unhappy,  His mother ran off and his stepmother loathed him (as I recall).  He said, irrc, that he read poetry to annoy her ... I think she died before he left home .. but his father was unaffectionate.  He has a sister with whom he is not particularly close (because in fact he's not someone comfortable or practiced with "closeness")

 Morse’s parents were divorced and he lived with his mother until she died when he was twelve. Then he went to live with his father and cruel stepmother. I think the sister is a half-sister. She seemed sweet in Home. The evil stepmother was still alive when his father died.

[Nomi]

On 2/25/2018 at 11:10 PM, LadyChaos said:

It kind of feels retaliatory though, like every time he has an an encounter with joan that doesn't go the way he wants, he picks up a chick.

 

 

What is going on with Joan anyway..... is she trying to push him away?

My sense is that Joan does have real feelings for Morse, knows he loves her, but she is angry and frustrated that he won't (can't) just go for it, and refuses to sort of do that part for him.  She suspects that he cannot be truly emotionally intimate and doesn't want to have feelings for him anymore.  But...she does.  So, she does things like tries to fix him up with someone that she knows on some level will never be serious about him (or anybody), but she hopes will serve to help her distance herself from him.  I haven't finished this season yet, but I'm guessing it doesn't work.  There is a real connection between them, but Morse will never be able to have a full relationship and Joan, tho I think ultimately capable of one, is still very lost at the moment herself.  But not so lost that she can't see that Morse, despite his profound need, is mired in fear and self-protection.  Comes by it all honestly like most of us, but that doesn't make it any easier to take.  

[Tardislass]

8 hours ago, Nomi said:

My sense is that Joan does have real feelings for Morse, knows he loves her, but she is angry and frustrated that he won't (can't) just go for it, and refuses to sort of do that part for him.  She suspects that he cannot be truly emotionally intimate and doesn't want to have feelings for him anymore.  But...she does.  So, she does things like tries to fix him up with someone that she knows on some level will never be serious about him (or anybody), but she hopes will serve to help her distance herself from him.  I haven't finished this season yet, but I'm guessing it doesn't work.  There is a real connection between them, but Morse will never be able to have a full relationship and Joan, tho I think ultimately capable of one, is still very lost at the moment herself.  But not so lost that she can't see that Morse, despite his profound need, is mired in fear and self-protection.  Comes by it all honestly like most of us, but that doesn't make it any easier to take.  

It will be interesting to see if after Morse puts himself on the line by asking her out for coffee, Joan will accept. If not, I fear she is only flirting with him in the way that some women and men do but aren't serious. Given the fact that Morse has a full-blown stache next season, I fear that any relationship will have come and gone by then.