Single Father, ep 2
Oct. 17th, 2010 11:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caz963Thinky thoughts, in no particular order.
Is it just me who thinks that Dave's being a bit of a selfish prat? He's dropping balls everywhere and has just been lucky (so far) that he's got people round him who are around to help pick them up. He gets so engrossed in Rita's diaries that he forgets to go to work, then forgets to pick the kids up from school - and later, he expects to be able to dump them on someone else with barely a moment's notice when he wants to. Maybe that's where Tanya gets it from... And although she's a bit of an air-head, I did think that he went off at her a bit unfairly about the photos. If he's supposed to be training her, then he needs to be there to actually train her, rather than give her something to do and then bawl her out when she doesn't do it properly. Mind you, I think that telling off was Dave on the defensive; he knew he should have been around so he's feeling guilty and takes that out on her as well.
The developing romance with Sarah still feels a bit uncomfortable - especially when he was making arrangements to get rid of the kids for the night so he could get his end away. And when he said he "hoped" someone had Evie, I wanted to smack him and yell at him to bloody well find out!
(Although of course, David Tennant being all coy and uncertain around a woman is very cute :-) And him grabbing her with intent(*g*) is damn hot!)
I get that he's still dealing with Rita's death and now he's got what he learned from Stuart to process as well - or perhaps I should say that he's NOT dealing with it. My impression is that Dave's going to have to wake up soon and get his priorities straight. What Michelle said when she arrived with a poorly Evie - welcome to life as a single parent (or words to that effect) - was spot on. When there are two of you, parenting kids is a tough thing to do at times - but when you're on your own, it's even harder and there's even less "me" time. Anyone with kids knows that having sex when they're in the house can be a tricky business ;-) And when they're ill, forget it! Dave should have known that when your kids are ill, any plans you may have will go straight out the window.
I'm not saying that he's not allowed to have a life and have a relationship - but he needs to get himself organised and put the kids first for a while instead of just lurching from one crisis to the next. I mean, one of his sons is so desperate for his father's attention that he smashes himself in the ankle with a hammer just so he can be at the centre of things for a while. That doesn't bode well.
That said - as a portrait of a guy who's far from perfect, who's a bit of a mess and who is struggling to cope and adjust to the fact that he's now the sole carer of four kids, it's working brilliantly.
The scene were Dave met Stuart (Rupert Graves - yay!) was the best of the episode. Yes, even better than watching David Tennant taking his shirt off, although that may have melted my brain.
But it was again David's face that did everything in that scene. He said hardly anything - and didn't need to, because it was all there, plain to see. Shock and betrayal and disbelief and about a hundred other emotions playing across that lovely face and providing yet another sucker-punch.
I thought it was beautifully played - absolutely note perfect, both of them.
So... Stuart knows all about Rebecca/Lucy - but had no idea about Dave or the other kids. Rita told Lucy she was the product of a one-night-stand and that she didn't know who Lucy's father was (I think?) - and never told Dave the truth.
The plot thickens.
Anna continues to be rather poisonous, although it's clear that she thinks she's acting for the best. (Mind you, I'd be pretty annoyed if a relative bought my kids a mobile phone each without asking me first, as well.) And it seems as though her suspicious about Dave's ex- aren't without foundation, even if she chose a bad time and place to express them last week. But she also seems to be the one person who had a reasonably un-"romanticised" view of Rita. She's undeniably bitter, which makes perfect sense if, as it seems, Rita got away with a lot without being caught/challenged, but I also got the sense that she's bottled a lot of things up because she loved her sister and didn't want to ruin things for her or the people around her. But that becomes very hard very quickly, hence all the snide comments.
I'm not clear though as to whether both she AND Rita were adopted, or if it was just Rita. Anyone get that?
Much as I'm enjoying seeing David Tennant get to play a romantic role - am I going to be drummed out of the fangirl-brownies for saying at this stage, that I don't think the romantic angle of SF is as interesting or as engaging as the plot about Dave coping with the kids and his extended family and then with Stuart and what he might be about to find out about the latter's relationship with Rita?
Sure, whether it's appropriate to have a relationship with someone so soon after his partner's death is obviously one of the many dilemma's Dave's having to cope with, but it's the least interesting one IMO, and I really never thought I'd say that. I htink it's becase I can't find anything in Sarah as a character to latch on to. She's obviously reached a crossroads in her relationship (as revealed by the discussion about kids with Rita last week), and is avoiding dealing with that, but other than that, she's not a particularly well drawn character. I can understand that she's starting to realise that perhaps Matt isn't the man for her, but if she didn't have the inclination to jump her best friend's fella before, I'm still at a bit of a loss to work out where that's coming from. (Becuase, Duh - he's gorgeous! doesn't really cut it, does it?) I don't dislike her - I'm just indifferent, which isn't good when you're supposed to be invested in two characters as a couple.
But I'm looking forward to next week - sounds like the shit's really going to hit the fan!
Is it just me who thinks that Dave's being a bit of a selfish prat? He's dropping balls everywhere and has just been lucky (so far) that he's got people round him who are around to help pick them up. He gets so engrossed in Rita's diaries that he forgets to go to work, then forgets to pick the kids up from school - and later, he expects to be able to dump them on someone else with barely a moment's notice when he wants to. Maybe that's where Tanya gets it from... And although she's a bit of an air-head, I did think that he went off at her a bit unfairly about the photos. If he's supposed to be training her, then he needs to be there to actually train her, rather than give her something to do and then bawl her out when she doesn't do it properly. Mind you, I think that telling off was Dave on the defensive; he knew he should have been around so he's feeling guilty and takes that out on her as well.
The developing romance with Sarah still feels a bit uncomfortable - especially when he was making arrangements to get rid of the kids for the night so he could get his end away. And when he said he "hoped" someone had Evie, I wanted to smack him and yell at him to bloody well find out!
(Although of course, David Tennant being all coy and uncertain around a woman is very cute :-) And him grabbing her with intent(*g*) is damn hot!)
I get that he's still dealing with Rita's death and now he's got what he learned from Stuart to process as well - or perhaps I should say that he's NOT dealing with it. My impression is that Dave's going to have to wake up soon and get his priorities straight. What Michelle said when she arrived with a poorly Evie - welcome to life as a single parent (or words to that effect) - was spot on. When there are two of you, parenting kids is a tough thing to do at times - but when you're on your own, it's even harder and there's even less "me" time. Anyone with kids knows that having sex when they're in the house can be a tricky business ;-) And when they're ill, forget it! Dave should have known that when your kids are ill, any plans you may have will go straight out the window.
I'm not saying that he's not allowed to have a life and have a relationship - but he needs to get himself organised and put the kids first for a while instead of just lurching from one crisis to the next. I mean, one of his sons is so desperate for his father's attention that he smashes himself in the ankle with a hammer just so he can be at the centre of things for a while. That doesn't bode well.
That said - as a portrait of a guy who's far from perfect, who's a bit of a mess and who is struggling to cope and adjust to the fact that he's now the sole carer of four kids, it's working brilliantly.
The scene were Dave met Stuart (Rupert Graves - yay!) was the best of the episode. Yes, even better than watching David Tennant taking his shirt off, although that may have melted my brain.
But it was again David's face that did everything in that scene. He said hardly anything - and didn't need to, because it was all there, plain to see. Shock and betrayal and disbelief and about a hundred other emotions playing across that lovely face and providing yet another sucker-punch.
I thought it was beautifully played - absolutely note perfect, both of them.
So... Stuart knows all about Rebecca/Lucy - but had no idea about Dave or the other kids. Rita told Lucy she was the product of a one-night-stand and that she didn't know who Lucy's father was (I think?) - and never told Dave the truth.
The plot thickens.
Anna continues to be rather poisonous, although it's clear that she thinks she's acting for the best. (Mind you, I'd be pretty annoyed if a relative bought my kids a mobile phone each without asking me first, as well.) And it seems as though her suspicious about Dave's ex- aren't without foundation, even if she chose a bad time and place to express them last week. But she also seems to be the one person who had a reasonably un-"romanticised" view of Rita. She's undeniably bitter, which makes perfect sense if, as it seems, Rita got away with a lot without being caught/challenged, but I also got the sense that she's bottled a lot of things up because she loved her sister and didn't want to ruin things for her or the people around her. But that becomes very hard very quickly, hence all the snide comments.
I'm not clear though as to whether both she AND Rita were adopted, or if it was just Rita. Anyone get that?
Much as I'm enjoying seeing David Tennant get to play a romantic role - am I going to be drummed out of the fangirl-brownies for saying at this stage, that I don't think the romantic angle of SF is as interesting or as engaging as the plot about Dave coping with the kids and his extended family and then with Stuart and what he might be about to find out about the latter's relationship with Rita?
Sure, whether it's appropriate to have a relationship with someone so soon after his partner's death is obviously one of the many dilemma's Dave's having to cope with, but it's the least interesting one IMO, and I really never thought I'd say that. I htink it's becase I can't find anything in Sarah as a character to latch on to. She's obviously reached a crossroads in her relationship (as revealed by the discussion about kids with Rita last week), and is avoiding dealing with that, but other than that, she's not a particularly well drawn character. I can understand that she's starting to realise that perhaps Matt isn't the man for her, but if she didn't have the inclination to jump her best friend's fella before, I'm still at a bit of a loss to work out where that's coming from. (Becuase, Duh - he's gorgeous! doesn't really cut it, does it?) I don't dislike her - I'm just indifferent, which isn't good when you're supposed to be invested in two characters as a couple.
But I'm looking forward to next week - sounds like the shit's really going to hit the fan!
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Date: 2010-10-18 06:19 pm (UTC)I also agree that the idea that Dave has had such an amazing support mechanism - both before and after Rita's death - is key. I hate to stereotype, but I think a lot of men out there who are not the "homemaker" in the relationship don't quite realise just how much it takes to run a home and look after kids - and just how much your life isn't your own when you're the main carer of young children.
The speed of the thing with Sarah isn't bothering me - in fact I can understand why someone might do something like that after a tragedy - as a way to forget for a while, as something life-affirming, whatever. I'm more puzzled simply as to "why her?" Because so far, it seems that the answer is "because she's interested and making herself available". Which is, I suppose as good a reason as any in some situations, but I don't think that's what we're supposed to be seeing in the context of this drama.
Even Mr Caz, who normally sits and gently pokes fun at "the skinny Scottish git" was impressed by said skinny Scottish git's acting in the airport scene :-)