Something rich and strange...
updated 1 December 1999
written by
Guest cast:
Introduction:
There's no episode guide yet as I have been out of my mind with work. Here is a reformatted version of a debate on aus.tv. Lyn kickstarted the conversation and this is what ensued. As usual the posters from aus.tv did not disappoint.
Finals in general overall
Lyn said: Finals tend to be disappointing, and I thought this one left a lot to be desired.
Quokka said in response to Lyn: Agreed.
Revenant said in response to Lyn: I want to say up front that I thought that, while the ep had some weak points it was the best Seachange I've seen in a while.
Episode in general
Lyn said: [I] wasn't expecting any closure with Max and Laura (they have another whole series to build the sexual tension, so why start now?), but I thought the episode was consequentially light and evasive.
Bruce said in response to Lyn: Got to agree with you, I thought it was really a silly episode. Some previous ones have bordered on silliness (the ghost and some of the dream sequences) but this one crossed the line. Poor ending to the second series.
Quokka said in response to Lyn: Agreed.
Revenant said in response to Lyn: They have started already in previous episodes. Sexual tension is something that has to build gradually. And there was a significant step towards the end with Max telling Laura he didn't want her to go (Reminiscent of Diver Dan).
Shay said in response to Quokka: Disagree. I thought it was very strong in character development. Basically it was setting up next season. Instead of a cliffhanger as you get with most dramas, you get a setup episode. Basically they have set up Max as a potential suitor. One of three I'd guess. With Dan back next season, Laura will be torn between, Max Dan and Jack.
Lyn said in response to
Shay: First, if this is your anticipation of what will happen, I'm gonna HATE
next series. Seachange should not be a saga of 'who will Laura get with this
episode.' The writers are, hopefully, smarter than that. Second, this wasn't
a setup, it was just a bit cute. There were no less than three times when Laura
was jammed up against a bookshelf or her desk when it looked like Max was thinking
of kissing her. Three! Why? Oh, just to toy with the viewers. Blegh!
Closure of the courthouse
Lyn said: Starting with the closure of the courthouse: basically it was all a bit sudden.
Quokka said in response to Lyn: Agreed.
Revenant said in response
to Lyn: OTOH, they wanted to show that the axe *could* be sudden and unexpected.
Shay said in response to Quokka: Disagree. It showed exactly how easily it was for the isolated Pearl Bay, to be ripped apart, by the opening of the bridge.
Lyn said in response to Shay: Yeah, an interesting point, and I imagine that's what the writers wanted us to think (the vulnerability factor). But I didn't like the way that Laura showed no shock / emotion over the prospect of moivng, she had accepted it and seemed almost pleased. Even though this meant she went on an emotional journey in the episode (ie: realised she really didn't want to move), we've already had one of these episodes (second-last episode last season was Laura doing the whole 'will I, won't I go back to city' thing), and I didn't think it was particularly in character for her to have become so fatalistic so quickly.
No foreshadowing
Lyn said: It's a shame that this episode wasn't developed earlier, as the treatment could have been better if we could have seen this as a progressive thing. Less cases, the inevitable closure nears, Laura reflects on her place in the town, etc. Instead, we're asked to believe that despite the fact that someone seems to be on trial for something every day, all of a sudden the courthouse is at risk, and Laura's decided to move back.
Revenant said in response to Lyn: I get the impression there really are only two or three cases every day. If Port Deacon suddenly became within 15 minutes reach, then there is good reason to close down the Pearl Bay Court.
Significance of the courthouse
Lyn said: I also didn't buy the whole 'the courthouse is the centre of our town' thing. Centre? If so, how disturbing! (has anyone ever thought of the High Court as the glue that binds us all together?)
Quokka said in response to Lyn: Yes... that was a complete load of nonsense eminating out of Meredith's mouth wasn't it?
Shay said in response to
Quokka: I didn't think so. Meredith saw her whole world slipping out of her
reach. Pearl Bay is everything to her. The courthouse was just representative
of the problem. The situation was compounded by the fact that the courthouse
is also representative of Laura and how her presence in Pearl Bay has cemented
the locals together. She is an integral part of the community.
Meredith's anxiety
Lyn said: Meredith's anxiety based on the wider trend of closures was more convincing, but even then I didn't see her grabbing the rifle was particuarly well done.
Quokka said in response to Lyn: I saw her grabbing the rifle as one of the crappiest moments on Australian TV this year. There has been a disturbing trend in recent episodes of SeaChange to play around this thing called "slow motion" - as if they've just discovered a new toy to play with. It was used here (completely ineffectively) and in many other places during this episode.
Revenant said in response to Lyn: Yes, that was a bit odd, but I put it down to the fact that Meredith had grown quite fond of Laura. The fact that her long-time boyfriend works there probably had an influence too.
Revenant said in response
to Quokka: I thought this was well done. In conjunction with the zoom-in on
Meredith's face and the angle they chose, it gave the scene a feel very much
like a western which was an interesting take.
Shay said in response to
Quokka: There you go, you've found something I can agree with. Slo-mo bad. I
would have preferred to see Meredith marching furiously to the courthouse in
real time.
Quokka said in continuation
of his response to Lyn: They also comitted one of the worst offences you can
make when using slow motion - switching between normal motion and slow motion
during the one shot! There is nothing more sickening. This was a cruicial link
to the plot of this episode and it was *very* weak.
Lyn said in response to Quokka: Totally agree. I think they use it as a kind of subverting tool (ie: the scene of Laura in slow motion in the Fire episode was meant to be a parody of a cliche. At least, I hope it was!) But it really doesn't come off that well in execution, does it?
Revenant said in response to Quokka's continuation: I'll give you this. It did seem very sudden and out of character.
The siege
Lyn said: Having said that, the siege was pretty funny.
Quokka said in response to Lyn: Agreed.
Shay said in response to
Quokka: Hugely funny.
During the siege
Lyn said: Once they got to the rather cliched hostage situation, they then proceeded to do interesting stuff with it: like Max's demands that the journalists be released in some far off country . . . nice touch!
Quokka said in response to Lyn: We were also very amused by how Max was *also* pulling the wool over Laura's eyes so completely, even by getting her to crouch back under her desk. :)
Revenant said in response
to Quokka: Mind you, it was also amusing when Max returned from Laura's office
to find that the situation had drifted from his control (Heather and Karen had
gone and made demands without him).
No resolution of Laura's conflict
Lyn said: But Laura's genunine conflict of interest was unresolved (she just got to look serious and concerned for a few minutes),
Quokka said in response to Lyn: Agreed.
Revenant said in response to Lyn: If you mean the job thing, it was resolved for her - she has no choice but to stick with Pearl Bay. If you mean the accessory to the crime thing, she clearly made her choice to stick with the town over the law on this one.
Shay said in response to
both: I thought they (the writers) could have done a bit more with this. It
would have been much better if it was Laura who played along with the 'gunman'.
But then again, it probably isn't in her character.
Heather's trauma and Sergeant Gray's canniness
Lyn said: the Jelly family trauma over Heather had no resolution, and precisely how or why any of the demands would actually be adhered to once the gunwoman had 'vanished' is unclear.
Quokka said in response
to Lyn: Very unclear. The very fact that they chose to resolve it this way (with
the demands being met) is also highly dubious - normally there'd be just a *tad*
more negotiation. Similarly, although the ordering of pizza was amusing - it
was clearly also bullshit. Sargent Gray is no fool - it's very rare for him
not to get to the bottom of things.
Lyn said in response to
Quokka's response to her: On whether Grey was duped, in case you're not aware,
I'm a bit of a Sergeant Grey fan =). And I actually think he figured it out:
his comment about the party, and his expression in some of the hostage demands
suggests to me that he may have clued in. I'm surprised Carmen didn't figure
it out: she looked a bit incredulous at times, but her comments to Max on the
phone undercut this.
Revenant said in response to Lyn: Max mentioned this. The whole thing was more to draw the issues to the attention of the media than to resolve them on the spot.
Revenant said in response to Quokka: Fairly consistent with the extensive experience of the Pearl Bay police force as hostage negotiators... (in relation to Sergeant Gray) I thought it was pretty clear that, by the end, he had a good idea of what had gone on and chose to let it slide...
Shay said in response to
Quokka: As someone has said, Grey realised what happened
Jelly conflict
Quokka said: As for the Jellys... they've clearly left this as friction for next year, but the build up in this final episode justified some kind of - well not a closure, but some kind of firm end point. It had none - we ended with Heather at the van, only closing the seige subplot.
Shay said in response to Quokka: I thought it was a good ending for both Bob and Heather. Heather showed herself to be her own person. I am still laughing about her volunteering to be the next gunwoman. Comparing it to the end of last season, Heather was falling apart looking for her parents. This season she has found them and become stronger because of it.
Revenant said in response
to Quokka: An interesting sign though that heather is growing more and more
into her own person.
Blowing up the bridge
Quokka said: Bob blowing up the bridge by deliberately getting Bucket drunk at the wheel of a boat carrying fireworks was also a little odd to say the least. And was with the crappy fireworks vision mix? Who were they trying to kid? For crying out loud, can't the ABC even afford a small amount of explosives these days? As for the bridge itself - okay, you're not going to be able to actually blow up a public bridge in Southern Victoria - but they could have done a lot better than the crap dished up.
Lyn asid in response to Quokka: I agree the bridge special effects sucked.
Shay said in response to Quokka: Bob also is revisiting the seen of last year's finale. His marriage in tatters, he takes the first step of letting go of his dream the 'Bob Jelly Bridge' and renames it after Heather. This year he goes a step further and destroys it. It's almost mirroring a character change for Bob. But I hope the writers won't go too far in making him a decent person.
Revenant said in response
to Quokka:
Lyn said in response to Shay: You say mirroring, I'd say repetition. For crying out loud, we even had another birth scene (although this baby is alive). Bob's motivation in blowing up the bridge was weird. We were meant to think that he attached all his problems / traumas to the existance of the bridge, hence blowing it up was cathartic, or something. I missed this train of thought.
More on the siege / Karen and Angus
Lyn said: In short, although the idea of the courthouse 'siege' was funny and quite unexpected, the scenes prior to and preceding this were fairly ordinary.
Quokka said in response
to Lyn: Even during... the Karen and Angus plot was completely inexplicable
to me. I find it very unlikely that Karen in particular would be so forward
in front of the others and then what were we left with? Nothing. We got the
message that the town knew she was leaving, but then what now? Did she leave?
Did she stay? It'll be a bloody crappy "cliffhanger" if we come back
next season to discover Karen has stayed. If she did leave, she should have
left during this
episode (or the last one a la Andie on Dawson's Creek).
Lyn said in response to Quokka's response to her: Dawson's Creek again??? Quokka, can't you at least compare it to Melrose, or god help us all, Charmed once in a while? However, point taken. I do think that Karen and Angus having sex in a crowded room was a little - odd? I think it was pretty clear that she still intends to leave, though.
Revenant said in response to Lyn: I'll agree to that.
Shay said in response to Quokka: I think the Karen story has already been explained by someone. Karen is having her own 'seachange'. Again character development.
Revenant said in response
to Quokka: I was very surprised by this, but did not find it unbelievable. Karen
has gone through a paradigm shift. She's realised that infinite possibilities
are open to her and she's exploring. (in relation to Karen's departure)
Kevin and Phrani
Quokka said: The development
of Kevin and Phrani was similarly inexplicable to me. Firstly,
again, discussing it in the courthouse - but then the very sudden lotus flower
bizzo (and yet more of that *&@#ing slow motion) at the end? After all the
"many steps"? Give me a break.
Shay said in response to Quokka: This was really good. Kevin and Phrani began as incidental characters, they didn't even make it to the minor character department. However, Kevin is the keystone to every ending now and Phrani just has to have the funniest lines. I really look forward to their stories.
Revenant said in response to Quokka: Yeh, I thought that was a bit of a copout. Maybe Phrani just got impatient? Aside: I'm sure it was a deliberate sign, but it irked me that the very end bit wasn't *just* Kev and Trev...
Lyn said in response to
Shay: Yeah, I'll agree on this one. Kev and Phrani rock.
Trudy's Baby
Lyn said: I have to admit
to relief over the paternity of Trudy's baby. I don't want her around in the
next season, and the whole Laura / Jack / Trudy saga was getting a bit too much
'Days of our Lives' for my liking. Also, the poor baby would have had a bit
of emotional baggage to deal with.
Quokka said in response
to Lyn: I don't know... I found it a bit weak to have it suddenly discovered
at this stage
only, with such a throwaway line...
Revenant said in response to Lyn: Unfortunately, my guess is that she may still be around next season, especially with Laura burying the hatchet.
Shay said in response to both: I thought this was piss poor. Not because of the saga but the fact that they (the writers) ended it. I would have been a great running gag over the next season, giving Laura no end of trouble. I could just see Laura being featured in some scurrilous journalistic expose about her being a menage-a-troi like marriage with her sister.
Lyn said in response to
Shay: But what about the kid? And the one thing I really hate about the plots
this season, is the more 'shocking', and hence more conventional trends. I don't
want this to descend into a show about 'relationships', and hence any avoidance
of the aftershock of Trudy and Jack is a great thing (provided that Laura remembers
not to kiss him again. Yick!)
Is Trudy a slut?
Quokka continued: "I must have got my dates mixed up". Is Trudi such a slut? I didn't get that impression from past appearances. Okay, she's a complete low-life, but it appeared that this was in relation to Jack alone.
Lyn said in response to Quokka: Trudy is well established as someone who a) sleeps around, and b) targets Laura's boyfriends. She even flirted with Diver when she was in town (episode 5, season 1). She definately has a track record.
Shay said in response to Quokka: No she was a slut. But so was Jack.
Are Trudy and Jack off the hook?
Quokka said: I also didn't like how this suddenly got Jack and Trudi significantly off the hook.
Shay said in response to Quokka: It shouldn't have. As I said before the writers should have thought about her they could have milked the situation for all it was worth.
The Real World
Lyn said: The one great touch in this episode was Laura contacting her old boss, and finding out that she couldn't just walk back into a job. Finally, Laura actually does have some genuine needs: her position as magistrate isn't just something she can waft in and out of as she chooses.
Quokka said in response
to Lyn: Agreed... that was quite a major turning point. You'd expect quite a
number in
a finale like this, but I think that was about it.
Lyn said in response to Quokka's response: Yeah. They still slept together after all, and Jack's lie is still operative. It was good, though, that Laura made up with Trudy before seeing the baby wasn't Jack's.
Shay said in response to both: I thought this was a bad touch. It would have been better if she could have gone back but chose not too.
Lyn said in response to
Shay: You are so wrong! This would have been exactly like last season, which
is why I was so relieved when they actually changed something in the plots they
were just re-running. Laura needs to need Pearl Bay, because if she doesn't,
what's the point?
Max and Laura
Lyn said: I also liked Max and Laura consuming the bottle of brandy which was filed away in Laura's filing cabinet. Just what I'd do in a crisis.
Quokka said in response
to Lyn: That was okay... but I didn't like the final shot of Laura and Max on
the pier. I
thought that was completely gratuitous and not very helpful.
Revenant said in response to both: Yup.
Final thoughts
Quokka said: Although there
were moments to like in this episode and some aspects of the
siege were very funny, I was thoroughly disappointed. Some of the acting was
quite weak (Phrani and Meredith in particular), most of the plot was woeful
and
various technical details (slow motion and special effects mostly) were
pathetically amateurish. I'd rate this as the second worst episode of SeaChange
yet, after "Playing
With Fire".
Lyn said in response to Quokka: I'm going to think some more about your season 1/2 comparison . . . but overall, we're agreeing to a disturbing extent. Although I did enjoy large segments of this episode. Phrani and Kevin growling at each other was pretty hilarious, as was Trudy screaming over the megaphone.
Shay said in response to Quokka: Strongly disagree. I think both episodes were the most memorable of the second series.
Revenant said in response to Quokka: "Playing with Fire" was okay. I'd probably rank it above this one. Partly because this is a finale and you expect more...
Max commented: I can't believe that so many aus.tv ppl really *liked* this episode. I am a big SeaChange fan but thought this ep was absolute crap, from start to end. Silly is a word that readily springs to mind, as mentioned by others here. I reckon the actors must have been severely embarrassed by this ep.
Jason commented: I think one of the more interesting aspects of the episode was the fact that Bob Jelly seems to have renounced his ways (i.e. the councillors who scrapped his plans opened his eyes to the what he may become, and he cheered as Bucket crashed into the bridge). It will be interesting to see how his character is handled next season.
Lyn said in response to Quokka and Shay: No way! Strongest contenders for best episode are to my mind the invisible crabs ('The house that Jack built), last week's episode ('Other people's opinions?) and Diver's departure ('Vaya Con Dios to All That). For me, the final episode fits into the category of a lot of episodes this season: still great viewing, but unsatisfying in some irritiating respects. The problem is that the script writers have given themselves so much to live up to, that when they fall short, it's noteworthy. But as I've said before, I'd still read a shopping list written by Deb Cox . . . =)
Ann said in response to Jason: My guess is the beloved MR Jelly had the bridge insured anyway,I doubt his entrepeneurial (sp?)obsession will lay dormant for long
Revenant said in response to Ann: LoL! My Dad reckons that Bob'll have forgotten his lesson by next season. I tend to have a bit more faith in the Seachange writers than that. I think he's changing, albeit very slowly. He's a stubborn fellow...
Ann said in response to Revenant's response: I think I might have to go with your Dad on that one. ;)
Lyn said in response to
Ann: What a masterly conspiracy theory! I'm absolutely convinced you're right.
Sure, Bob was motivated by his family angst, but it would be so like him to
have this materialistic little contingency in the back of his head. Love it!
The conspiracy theory I'm currently entertaining is that Laura is attracted
to men not on the basis of charisma, or intelligence, etc: it's a caffeine addiction
thing. Think about it: way back in the first episode, whether Pearl Bay would
have 'real coffee' was quite an issue for Laura. She then hung around Dan's
place all the time: ostensibly for the sexual tension, but maybe the coffee
was far more important. Laura's caffeine addiction could in fact have made her
dependent on Diver, and the symptoms of withdrawal convinced her that it was
love. The transfer of her affections from Diver to Max was thus inevitable:
not because Max is cool, but because he inherited Divers espresso machine.
Which just goes to show that when Jack was offering Laura a place in his new
house, he should have forgotten the sea view and the lavender hedge or
whatever and instead tempted her with a funky cappucino maker. Gets her
every time..
Ann replied to Lyn: I think you could be onto something with the Laura/coffee theory. What's the good of all that other stuff ,like goodlooks ,money and charm, if there's no decent coffee to be had. I certainly couldn't live happily ever after if I had to drink International Roast the rest of my days.
Comparisons of the final episode of season 1 and 2
Quokka said: I won't make
an overall Season 1/Season 2 comparison at this stage, but I will
compare the final episode of each.
Season 1 finale overview
Quokka said: The Season
1 final only made one major mistake - resolving the Laura / Dan
tension. It otherwise opened up a number of new issues, especially for
Heather, Kevin and Phrani. The final scene was also priceless... after the
bridge finally opened, a storm came through leaving us with that final shot
- a
bolt coming loose off the bridge!
Shay said in response to Quokka: Last shot very funny. But I disagree that there was any mistake about resolving Laura and Diver. The characters just didn't match. Once they got together they were never going to get anywhere. The whole UST thing came about because they were so different. Those differences made it impossible for them to have any long term relationship.
Revenant said in response
to Quokka: That wasn't really a mistake, I don't think. It was necessary leadup
for him leaving. If they'd got together in Season 2 then he had suddenly disappeared,
it would have been too much.
Season 2 Finale overview
Quokka asid: The Season
2 final was a strange general mish mash. Karen and Angus
were dealt with in the second last episode. Kevin and Phrani were more or
less resolved for no apparent reason. Trudi and Jack were more or less
resolved for no apparent reason. Heather was left no-where in particular -
nothing resolved, but nothing particularly unresolved, other than what we were
left with at the end of season 1 - how was everyone going to cope with the
situation? Lastly, the final shot was just a wanky useless shot of Laura with
Max. Bleah. The Season 2 final got only one thing right - it cut Laura's life
line with the city.
Shay said in response to Quokka: Disagree entirely. It set up a number of things rather than resolve them. Where to for Karen? She's not a cop, not a bride. She's going to have to do something. Similarly with Angus. What is he to do? Kevin and Phrani, have just taken one step in a relationship they are not an old married couple. Laura has semi-forgiven Jack, and the relationship with Max looks promising. Add that with Diver returning as I said before makes for an excellent character conundrum.
Revenant said in response to Quokka: Mebbe. It's more a genuine choice if she feels she has an out.
Lyn said in response to
Shay: I don't think it was setting up things for Karen: I think next season
she's just going to be gone. And on this episode generally: I don't think it
was the worst episode I've ever seen. I'm just ranting a lot because of my level
of depression. The last episode we're getting for nine months or so, and it
was frankly, average at best. Mind you, this is still average for Seachange,
which is better than everything else on TV. But this doesn't mean we can't whinge
that it wasn't as spectuacular as its usual standard.
Laura finding a job elsewhere
Quokka said: (Even this is weak though - if she was that good, she could go find a job elsewhere).
Revenant said in response
to Quokka: Sure she could. She's just not willing to leave Pearl Bay *and* take
a step backwards.
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