Doctor Foster (Series 2, Episode 4 Review)

In Doctor Foster, even when expecting the unexpected you can still be confounded to a point where dizziness takes over. That applies more than ever in a penultimate episode crammed with paranoia. In a change of tact to its standard structure we see the same morning from two different perspectives and at last Jodie Comer is given the chance to shine as Kate. She rightfully gets a chance to be the headline act.

Kate opens a hand delivered letter containing the tie Simon left after the  and it injects more doubts on top of the ones that were clearly already there. It’s a game changer to be allowed a look into the window of a relationship we’ve only ever seen glimpses of through Gemma’s eyes. Kate is led on a which hunt through the plants of Carly, Sian and Anna, the latter leaving loads of notes around the Doctor’s property with the address of her hotel on them. It’s a convoluted plot to ambush Kate that backfires on the surface but the seeds have still been sown.

In a scene that brilliantly echoes Gemma’s first confrontation with Simon about the affair back in series one, Kate challenges him with fire in her heart: “Work out the consequence of lying and the consequences of telling the truth”. Simon’s silence is longer and more painful than before and the tension palpable as another lie is expected to froth from his lips. Instead he tells the truth and his pathetic squirming sets toes curling “Seconds into it I started thinking of you, your body’s better, the things you can do with it.. you smell better, you’re kinder. I get much more pleasure from you in every way. Starting sex with her was driven by lust, yes but finishing it was politeness”. It brings a weird moment of hilarity but still can’t cut the tension. Once a pathological liar always a pathological liar.

Kate returns to the hotel and is lectured on her husband’s obsession with the ex-wife. From dress sense, wedding vows and.. er.. food” Gemma wins her over by saying “His taste is me”. It may be tenuous to some but it’s perfectly understandable that she is won over by this. It serves to amplify Kates’s earlier “I’m here!” as her husband looked through her and talked only of his former lover. Never could it have been predicted that the women in Simon’s life would end up as an uneasy alliance. While all these new revelations are true let’s not forget that Gemma is also obsessed. People in glass houses and all that.

What of poor Tom? The story that grounds everything in reality. Captive in a hotel room and sobbing in a touching moment as mum washes his hair. He is still a kid and the most damaged out of everyone. What Simon said about his mother is still a mystery and is one of two key points the whole series is hanging on. The second is Simon’s grand declaration that he’ll only leave in a coffin. Someone might leave in a wooden box but it could be anyone.

Simon’s life, like the man himself is an entire lie. He has no money in the house, the business isn’t his, even his satchel isn’t his own. The clothes he stood in would have been stripped off were it not for public decency.  Chris Parks is literally every viewer as he rages “It was made very clear to you from the beginning that all this, this whole life is my daughters and you get to live in it while she’s happy. The moment she’s not it snaps back” then happily exclaiming “and here it is FUCKING SNAPPING! HAPPY DAY!” It’s punch the air satisfying. Mr nasty has lost his house, business, wife and child and only two of those were his anyway. As Gemma rolls up to survey the wreckage there’s an incredibly powerful contrast. Simon kicks and punches her car but she sits there stony faced. Almost numb. Her victory tasting somewhat bitter. For a moment there it almost looked like she was softening. That is until she speeds the car at him. Normal service resumed. Kind of.

As drama goes it can’t get more riveting than this. Doctor Foster is a kitchen sink drama with cinematic ambition. It’s a pulse quickening, mouth opening extravaganza of madness. So mouth opening you too could inelegantly shove pasta in your gob IF you could take your eyes off the screen that is. Like last week this felt like a series finale so it’s a guarantee the stakes will be raised even further than all that’s gone before. Murder? Suicide? A happy ending? Nah, Just joking about the last one. 10/10

Doctor’s notes

• it was obvious Kate wanted out the moment see stared with contempt at Simon wolfing down pasta.
• A vibrator in someone’s drawer isn’t a sign of a bad sex life. Just saying
• Even Simon looked embarrassed as he said “love you” down the phone. And he was alone.
• Whatever the removal company is called we need to know because those guys are damn good at their jobs.
• Did Simon put the GPS on Gemma’s phone?
• Why would Gemma run over the man she has just claimed “victory” over? All that she’s worked for would be over in an instant.

Jessica Jones: A Tribute To Its Marvel

NEW YORK, NY – MARCH 10: Krysten Ritter filming “Jessica Jones” on March 10, 2015 in New York City. (Photo by Steve Sands/GC Images)

 

Contains spoilers for Jessica Jones, series 1

 

I’ll be honest with you from the off. I have no interest in comic books or superhero films. On a level from 0 to Sheldon I am doing the washing up while my flatmate watches The Big Bang Theory. I am a geek, just not about this kind of stuff. What Superhero blockbusters I have seen tend to be trite and predictable powerpoint presentations in CGI.

On Saturday I signed up to Netflix and thought I’d give Jessica Jones a go as I’d heard some good things. By Tuesday I’d completed all 13 episodes. Now I realise some people watch these shows all in the same day but for me, a series in four days is as binge watchy as I can get. Despite not knowing a thing about Hell’s Kitchen (other than the fact that Gordon Ramsay probably visits) or the history of anyone involved, the show captivated me. I was dragged willingly into its claustrophobic world. Here are the magnificent seven reasons why I think Jessica Jones is the best TV show I’ve seen in years.

 

1: The theme tune

Seriously. It’s awesome. Especially when it kicks in.

 

2: The “strong” female characters and coverage of abusive relationships

The term “strong female characters” is loathed by yours truly. It’s as misleading as it unhelpful. The intention, when used in commonplace is that women can kick arse and have strong opinions. Which is great, of course it is. However the portrayal of this tends to end up with single minded, cold women. Sometimes in a latex uniform or push up bra. For me, the issue is that their characterisation should be more layered, more multi faceted. That makes for a great character whether they are a woman or not. Too many times the female is someone’s boyfriend/husband or a plot device. Step forward Jessica Jones…

Yes, Jessica is opinionated and she kicks arse. Let’s make no bones about that. She does it in a pair of jeans and leather jacket. No fluttering of her eyelashes, no swishing her hair and no flesh revealed. Her dry sarcasm and cynical one liners are a joy. Here’s the main thing – She’s also totally flawed and very complex. There’s a barrier up between her and the world, even the people closest to her but she is pure of heart. Her determination to do the right thing by others is what drives her through the series (not Season, I’m British, sorry!). You can see those defences weaken, as well as her bed, to Luke Cage because she wants to be able to love. She’s grown to dislike who she has become and is striving for change. She is haunted by the abuse of the past but she is not defined by it. That’s a key thing here. While she is a victim, she does not play the victim. The same can be said of Trish Walker.

Which brings us on to the depictions of abuse shown. For Jessica it is both mental and sexual. Her tormentor Kilgrave has the gift of mind control. A skill that he uses to command people for information he requires or to kill themselves at his will. Or both. For Jessica, his motives were different. He trapped her in his forcefield and forced her into a relationship with no consent of her own. It must be noted that it is wonderful that they didn’t resort to a flashback of rape. It’s absence almost making it more powerful. It’s the subtlety in such things that is part of the show’s strength.

Kilgrave has many excuses for his past behaviour. That she was a willing participent, was taken to great restaurants, given a great life and so on. This acts as a perfect mirror to real life situations. His powers are not important when it comes to his own mind and the worrying thing is that he doesn’t feel he’s done wrong, he doesn’t believe he’s an abuser. He almost believes his own lies and that even makes modern day Jessica doubt the past and makes her analyse her own behaviour. Was she really to blame afterall? Had she got it wrong? Now how’s that for some spectacular social commentary? Just because Kilgrave is in love with Jessica, and he clearly is, doesn’t make his behaviour valid. With or without his gift, his form of love is power and control.

The abuse Trish recieved in her youth was from her own mother. We do not learn about this too early on. From the outside she is simply a successful and independant person but we discover about her past later. The hindsight layers more depths to her achievements. Again, she is not a victim. Her handling of things is different. She is more in contol of her emotions than her friend, but her mind is probably just as caged as the high security flat she lives in. Outwardly, Jessica is emotionally guarded and physically strong but has a flat that anybody can get into. Trish’s exterior is confident and friendly but her flat is set up like a prison. Work out what you want to from that..

The show’s take on such abuse is subtle but very vivid. For such a mainstream series to talk of rape and its consequences is a stroke of genuis. For it to call out all the myths? That is very important. It is brave storytelling.

 

3: The superpowers are not too super

Jessica can kick the shit out of people and lift heavy things. She can also jump a bit higher and longer than standard humans though insists its not flying. That’s it. No major talent to get out of really difficult situations or to wrap up any knot the writers have tied themselves in. As such it plays out much more as a psychological thriller than a superhero story.

As for Kilgrave, the biggest delight about his evil is that it’s not used for any of that take over the world nonsense. He gets information from people and if in a bad mood, tells them to do dome horrific things in an either hilarious or gruesome way. For him, Jessica is his world that he wants to conquer. It’s highly unlikely he’d be arsed with trying to rule the planet. While there may be certain understandable get out clauses to his power (it only last twelve hours for example) his use of it is purely selfish and mostly in the moment.

 

4: Kilgrave:

He is an utter bastard and Tennant plays him with relish. When he’s smiling and dishing out the insults we aren’t even reluctant to laugh despite the fact he’s clearly a despicable cretin.  Then when he’s cold and calculated, we want to throw him off a building. He’s a masterful enemy that will go down in TV legend. But, just so we’re clear,  still an absolute cunt. Well played David, well played.

 

5 : The interwoven storylines

There are many intricate details and events running through the series that tie in with eachother perfectly, even when they feel like unnecessary tangents.  Spoilers follow but there is a hell of a lot going on:

• Malcom’s drug habit
• Robyn and Ruben’s somewhat odd sibling set up
• Holgarth’s relationship issues
• Luke’s “gift” and past
• Hope’s legal case.
• The Kilgrave help group
• Will’s.. issues.

All told with deph without taking away from the main story and ultimately, satisfyingly being very important to the main arc. BRAVO

 

6: The action scenes:

Any plasterers in Hell’s Kitchen will have employment for life. Many bodies are thrown into and pulled through walls. Lots of furniture is destroyed or contorted in anger. The action is intense and consuming. Neither is the show afraid of gore. Bodies are burned, cuts are slashed, guns are fired. It is not afraid of blood or.. er.. dismembered bodies.

 

7: The cinematography:

It has a very dark, unsettling feel. Plenty of narrow corridors and dingy streets. The main highlight for me was our first proper introduction to the malice in Kilgrave’s powers as he enters the house of a family of stangers. We follow him around with one long tracking shot as he barks his orders. “Get in the cupboard” he orders the kids and they do as he says. We never actually see him properly through the whole thing and it is left on a lingering close up of the knife he’s polishing. It serves as a metaphor for Jessica’s mind – his effect, even when out of sight is strong.

 

So, go ahead, watch it. I command you. If you ignore me then you’ve already looked at the picture below and will do so under Kilgrave’s orders anyway. You know it makes sense.