Sorry guys, but it’s just going to be a quickie post from me on this one. Just a few small points on each storyline.

Sticking a nail through a tongue?!?!
You wouldn’t, would you? I had to look away! Even though I have watched that scene may a time, I still cringe when I see Denny’s tongue. Is Shaz completely stupid? Actually, if we’re going on stupidity then you can’t get much worse than Di. Stupid cow dropped the nail then didn’t stick around long enough to bloody find it! Oh, and then there’s Buki; she must be a complete idiot for telling Shaz and Denny she did her tongue herself. But then again, she was after some drugs. She did remind me slightly of Zandra – but just a tad more desperate!


Sally-Ann Howe, I love you!
So do we, Nikki!! Nikki’s appeal finally getting off the ground. I loved the scene where Helen told Nikki about Sally-Ann, you could see that Helen was completely determined to get Nikki out of prison. And I think the “We’re gonna get this thing moving” line was said in such a way that it made me think Helen was talking abut more than the appeal. I don’t know why, but I got the impression that Helen was talking about getting their relationship back on track too; like the sooner Nikki gets out, the better?


Fenner’s return
Loved it, surprisingly! You know, we all love to hate him, but on more Fenner-less episode would have been a bit of a drag. And I’m glad he was “welcomed” back by lots of snide comments from the inmates; Yvonne and Shell in particular. And also, I loved Helen’s comments to him as well: “If you approved, I’d know I was doing something wrong”. Haha, class!


Yvonne’s change of testimony
Good on her! I knew she wouldn’t back down and let Charlie get what he wanted. I’m sure he didn’t want to get shot in the head just minutes after being let free!

Told you it’s be a quickie, but I really haven’t got the time right now to go into detail. Sorry guys, I’ll be back tomorrow to elaborate.

It's so funny--as I was figuring out what to write for this post, this was the first thing I was planning to say. No matter how many times I watch this episode, the tongue-piercing is so viscerally disturbing. I had to look away from the screen many many times.

Although, I did come up with a way of contextualizing it, and there's no better way to distance yourself from your emotions than by intellectualizing something, so here goes....

This episode has this motif of bodily mutilation, and really, more specifically, self-mutilation. The ep opens with Buki's arrival, and as her mug shot is taken, we see her copious piercings, and the scarring on her upper arm, which is clearly the results of a serious cutting habit. The next scene is Fenner returned to work, healed from his mutilation. And then of course we have the piercing incident, perhaps the most troubling of all the mutilations.

So, why do these mutilations occur? If we focus just on the piercing, there's a few causes. The nail is Di's fault: her obsession with Josh leads to petty theft which she has to cover up, hence the missing nail in the bathroom. It's also Buki's fault: she's so desperate for drugs that she's willing to provide the studs, and she never takes the time to explain clearly, or understand what Shaz and Denny intend to do. So addictions are very destructive and damaging, not just to the person who's addicted, but to those who suffer the aftershocks.

But there's one more reason that things go wrong: Shaz and Denny decide to do the piercing without help. They're annoyed with Buki, the only piercing expert available, and so they go it alone. And that's where the piercing plays into the other major theme in this episode: the vital importance of help and support, particularly between women.

There are numerous examples of women offering eachother help and support in this episode. For fun, I'll list them:
--Karen mentors Josh, offering to help him with his application (ok, that's a woman helping a man, but bear with me)
--Sally Ann Howe comes forward to testify on Nikki's behalf, and this only occurs due to the tireless effort of Claire and Helen
--The inmates all band together to intimidate Fenner; it's a full on group effort

And intercut with all the examples above is Yvonne, seemingly offering to support her philandering husband by testifying on his behalf. But it turns out Yvonne isn't going to be a Karen (who's maintaining her support of Fenner), but instead a Sally Ann Howe, standing up in a courtroom, testifying against the man who did her wrong. When Yvonne screws Charlie over, her daughter Lauren is thrilled--Yvonne is no longer a woman screwed over by a man, but is bonded together with her daughter against her husband.

It's this support and loyalty which is how people heal from being mutilated. It's why Shaz desperately wants to see Denny in hospital. It's why Fenner is angry with Karen for not visiting him while he was recovering. And why Karen kisses his scar after she's made up to him (a moment only slightly less gross than blood oozing from Denny's mouth). I would even suggest that the little pool competition feeds into this idea: the players are all playing in pairs (ie supporting eachother), and it's the cons vs the screws. Teamwork all the way!

Loyalty and support isn't only about court testimony and pool-playing, however. It's also about the attacks which have been committed in the past. Nikki stabbing Gossard with a bottle. Buki knifing her pimp who was trying to steal her money. Shell stabbing the "rapist" Fenner. And then the concluding female-on-male revenge, the hit Lauren took out on her father. In all of these cases, the women were protecting themselves or a female loved one from a man's abuse. That's the kind of mutilation which has a focus, which seems understandable and maybe, in a way, justified.

In contrast you've got the senseless mutilation, the piercing, Buki cutting herself while telling Shaz "Don't stress." These are crimes women commit against themselves, the antithesis of protecting themselves, the antithesis of helping and protecting each other. And many of these women have the capacity for both impulses.

I love this scene too, and what made it even better was that I actually forgot it was in this episode, so when it popped up I got a huge smile on my face. The first part of it is filmed in such a strange way, with the camera starting on both of them, and then shifting and zooming in to Nikki's face, while Helen is still the one talking. I've never quite understood what this was about, other than that they were trying to emphasize Nikki's reaction over Helen telling the news. But it is such a bright spot in the episode, and amazing how these two actresses can create such energy when they have one two-minute scene together every three episodes.

TOTALLY! This may be one of my favorite Helen-Fenner moments, because she comes out with such the upper hand. My other favorite is when she tells him "Don't threaten me Jim, makes you sound guilty" in S2E2. But it's an interesting foreshadowing of the next time these two meet in the office, and when Helen doesn't come through quite so triumphantly. For next week's discussion....

Another of my favourite Helen-Fenner moments actually comes after next week's episode. Although in the next episode, Helen doesn't come up triumphantly, I think the next episode (where he tries to apologise) shows that she hasn't lost all her fight. But we'll leave all that for the actual discussion for that ep!!

Abzug, I love everything you've said about mutilation and stuff. You've explained it all so well :)

Am working from memory so could be wrong, but as I recall the 2 H/N scenes--in ep 3 & 5--are set up similarly, w/the characters on opposite sides of the screen expressing physical distance & an air of awkwardness as they (imo) continue to try to negotiate this odd non-physical relationship-in-suspension Helen's trying to do; anyway, in both scenes it seemed to me they physically do the gravitational pull midway through as the exchange relaxes & the cross-cutting picks up the pace & becomes more intimate.

That really is just totally from memory though, I hope someone will correct me if I've got it wrong or off.... Why, o why does my job keep getting in the way of the Important Things?! Argh. --e

That's true, e, in terms of a sort of gravitational pull between the two of them, in the case in this episode initiated purely by Helen (which makes it all the more delightful). But when you get a minute (damn those paying jobs we have!) rewatch the scene from this episode and you'll see the very strange camera work which is unique to this scene, and maybe you'll have the answer on it....

So I tried to rough out a response at work to this scene but this was as far as I got, I'm still not clear on what's odd about the camerawork. There's a lot of emotional pulling back-and-forth here but given how loaded the subject matter is & how much they're trying to say-without-saying in their typical Shed-British-Helen/Nikki-econo-way... is that surprising? I think the scene's mainly about what they're not doing--which is everything Fenner & Karen are doing. It's impossible for me not to read the two scenes and situations as shadows of each other.



Ok, making notes here, wait, opening up NoteTab Pro... ok.

--Yvonne welcomes Fenner back
--Shell welcomes Fenner back
--Fenner looks set to keck.
--Even Denny razzes Fenner. He's mean to her but his heart isn't in it.
--He targets Nikki instead--who hasn't said a word to him.
--Shell does her Walk of the Sharp Knives. Fenner's banter is sub-par as his pallor: "Hear you're stuffing envelopes now"? It's deliberately (literally) lame: he's too sick to be mean.

[Intro of Buki]

--Fenner starts making Fenner-like 'move-it' noises as he summons up some energy. Perhaps hearing Bodybag whinge tripped off his yell-receptors. No significant eye-contact or acknowledgment from Helen as she crosses his path on her way to Nikki.


7.56 Helen corrals Nikki in corridor. Nikki's on about Fenner, & Fenner is a minor gnat in Helen's universe bec she's too excited in her anticipation of telling Nikki about Sally Anne Howe.

As she tells Nikki the news, the camera closes on Nikki, as N absorbs it. This is Nikki's scene, Nikki's moment of hope, understanding there's a slow, slow-moving reality behind all these noises Helen's been making.

They have a witness. And the witness is prepared to testify on Nikki's (a stranger's) behalf.

Shell doesn't have a witness, & never will.

(Oddly, this is the only episode, ever, where I can recall Shell making a nice comment to Nikki. Obviously it's transparently, ostentatiously nice because her only reason for speaking is to leverage it into a way to further goad Fenner, but Nikki can hardly object: Fenner's essential badness is the one thing they agree on.)


So. Then we go to a lonnnng, extended scene that will give us the rest of the Betts/Fenner storyline, basically. As much as I deeply wish to skip over it, I can't. It's Right. Next. to Helen & Nikki for a reason.

Sigh.

Fenner: Why are you avoiding me?
Betts: We Need Space. I can't afford to end up in any more compromising situations because of a... an attraction.

This is the *obverse* of Helen. In literally every way. Karen's about to chuck her career for doing what Helen will not allow herself to do. Karen's also disregarding every caution in her head, which is telling her sane, sensible things, in favor of giving in to her overwhelming (& completely inexplicable) urge to have Fenner do that thing he does which he seems to consider "kissing" and I would consider a violation of the Geneva Convention. But anyway--

Karen: God knows this investigation has been humiliating enough.

(Compare to Helen: she'll come up like roses during her upcoming investigation after Shell's escape. But the larger point is: in response to this, Karen is: a) adjusting her behavior to avoid same in future? or, b ) repeating same behavior to ensure same/worse in future? Damn, & she's already hatched spawn. Too bad. Not smart.

Anyway--Fenner: The investigation will show Shell's "deeply disturbed" and he's "innocent". "You do know that, don't you, Karen?"

This is really painful. Look at the woman's face. The deeply disturbed woman here is the one on-screen. In order to override what she in fact "knows"--that Fenner is at absolute BEST not to be trusted--she lets him sweet-talk her into this abomination, this farcical mimicry of romantic love:

"I wouldn't be standing here talking like this for one moment if I thought that you--"

["Nikki, if I didn't feel the way I feel... I wouldn't talking like this."]

These are perfectly reversed. Karen's incapable of really trusting her feelings. If she understood them better or attended them more closely, she'd run screaming from the room. It is because Helen trusts her feelings she's doing what she's doing, which as the show has demonstrated time & again up through this point, is the correct thing in most cases. It's only when Helen stops trusting her feelings & listens to something fear-based--her terror of breaking the law etc after Nikki's escape, her feelings of betrayal/fury after the riot (how could Nikki act that way if she loved/understood me), the rational brain suggesting she just throw in the towel, stop fighting the good fight & go back to what seemed to work before (Thomas) that she runs into real trouble. And at its worst it's still nothing like the soul-destroying ride Fenner will take Betts on.


F: "Something happened to me in that cell"
(Karen anxiously awaiting his next line, she needs the romance that goes with the scar-fetish so just about any terrible thing he'll say will do--)
and all the wanker has to offer is "you got me out of there". Duh much?

Betts: "I was doing my job."

That's very interesting. Helen would never say that. It's impossible to imagine her character doing so--and meaning what Betts means, which is the opposite (it was above & beyond but I am far too noble to say so: praise me). This is the same lie Fenner told her, earlier, about his rescue of her from Tessa Spall. If this is the best model of heroic behavior Karen can come up with, she'd well & truly screwed.


So--now he knows where to go with it, thinking on his feet as ever. And then there's the capper: "We've saved each other's lives, Karen. How many people has that happened to?" (ok, quick run to the john for more ralphing, this time from me...)


Here's the difference: Helen is saving Nikki's life by design. Not by accident: intentionally. With purpose, as part of a goal. Part of it is her own motivation to be with Nikki, sure, but just as much honestly is solely for Nikki's sake. (The rest of the Helen/Nikki story around this issue will make that blazingly, unmistakably clear.) Not as part of an incidental train-wreck consequent to ruining her life, as is & will continue to be the case with oh, say, Fenner & Betts.


Anyway, this ordeal is over, I can fast-forward through Fenner doing his hesitant thing around Karen's neck before they snog, meaning she snogs because Claire King is the only one selling these kisses--talk about deserving double pay for doing the heavy lifting.... <shudder>.

Ok, washed hands, back from john again, this is going to lead me straight into OCD hell.... This has all been shot/counter-shot, it's standard angles all the way.


Ok. looking again at the H/N exchange... you know, after all this, I'm not sure what's unusual or odd about it. It's not following an entirely typical pattern in that it's not simply medium-shots mixed in with reaction shots & push-ins as the camera gets closer to the Big Emotional Moment at the end of the scene--but what we do have is just another example of interesting/good camera work, isn't it? I mean, if it were all by the numbers we'd be bored off our asses. We get a bit of that type of progression, then we back out again to mid-range shots, no?? which simply underlines this back-&-forth H & Nikki are doing. We want to move in; we can't; they have to maintain this odd equilibrium between them, the camera takes its cue from this awkward space they're trying so hard to negotiate a way through.

...They're exchanging sober information. They are not mixing signals & priorities while they do so, nothing like Fenner & Karen who are telling themselves lies to justify their selfishness; H & N are acting like grown-ups, certainly doing their damndest, anyways, far as I can see (and doing a much better job of it). And when Helen finally gets the news to sink in to Nikki--then & not until--does she caution N, she wants her craft steady in the storm-tossed sea, yeh? I mean--that seems a reasonable way to handle things, to me, given N's volatility, how hard things have been for them both, recently. And of course it's a way to remind herself of same, because she's just as volatile as Nikki, in her own Helenish way. Which is a little confusing for her, I suspect: she's not entirely sure how to proceed here either. Friend, lover, legal advisor, special unit confidant, what.

But the scene ends as it's basically begun, with the emotional emphasis on Nikki, far as I can see: she gets it. She gets what Helen's doing, & she believes her. And part of that is because of the emotional distance between them. It keeps things clean. It's not as much fun to watch because we long to see them together again, but they're doing something I have to respect here, both of them.


Beyond that... you know, I need details on what anyone think's odd. Is it unusual for the camera to 'crowd out' Helen from the frame? Yes. But this is Nikki's moment. Helen gets a lot of Moments & no one seems to mind, so...?

Also, this honestly *may* be an instance where the crappy cropping on the DVD did something we're reading as Directorial intent. Ultimately that closing shot does focus on Nikki, but H might have been cropped a bit sooner than was originally intended. Wouldn't change the final shot, but again, in a series where people find the lack of focus on Nikki problematic, why would a close-up shot during the conclusion of a big scene be problematic?

If anything I think it might well set up what's to come: Nikki's finally relaxing & believing It--just as things once again go straight to hell. Both characters get tested rather a lot, this season.

Ok, I'm sitting in my chair at "work". Sorry for the rush-job, I really prefer to not have to race through stuff in detail when it's gotta be at top speed, it keeps me from jumping in a lot these days I guess. If I made more spelling errors than usual etc sorry for that too. ;) --e

Yes, THIS is the part I found unique, strange, at least noteworthy in the camera work. As you say, this is NOT a traditional closeup. If they had the camera on the two of them with Helen talking, and then cut to a closeup of Nikki, I wouldn't have even noticed anything. But that's not what they did. They had the camera on the two of them and then slowly moved Helen out of the frame until they had a closeup on Nikki. Helen's talking and yet she's gradually edged out of the frame. So here's me, searching for meaning. :)

This explanation seems to hit the mark for me. The idea of the camera having to bridge the awkward physical distance between them in order to give us a close-up of Nikki, because Helen isn't quite fully intimate with Nikki these days, so it takes a bit of movement for the camera to get this intimacy.

Interesting. I found Shell's comment to be primarily sincere, in the way that they're generally happy when someone gets out, even if that someone is their enemy inside.

I think this is an excellent point and contrast between Helen and Karen. I hadn't ever quite conceptualized it this way, but of course it's dealt with kind of explicitly in later seasons when we start to see that Karen has a yen for "bad boys" (Fenner, Ritchie, etc). Both Karen and Helen have head-heart conflicts, but Helen should always listen to her heart, and Karen should always listen to her head.

I may be misunderstanding you, but Helen DOES say that in S1 to Nikki: "Everything I've done for you has been for professional reasons. I assure you that's the case."

Great great great point. I really really like this! The idea that Fenner is opportunistic (ie the Tessa Spall/firehose heroism), and that opportunistic heroism is less authentic, less powerful, less valuable than the type Helen is engaging in, of the sustained, planned, make-the-world-a-better-place sort.

I agree, it's definitely noteworthy, I thought it fairly subtle--it's an excellent observation & it's led to some interesting stuff so I'm very glad you brought it up.

Yes, the foibles of trying to do this kind of work at work, there were a few things that needed clarifying: Shell *does* come off as about as sincere as she's able. "Well, I think it's brilliant Nikki, you can prove that cop is a rapist--" etc etc. She's also using Nikki's name as an indicator of sincerity, like How to Communicate 101, very social-work-y, burgeoning therapy-queen of her. And very primary-school. But well--you know. Shell: x :Nikki. *Not* magical attractors. ;) (Unless you were thinking of another quote? We may be talking at cross-purposes here.)

Sorry, the rush-job strikes again: I mean, in comparing what Helen has done 'for her job' that is heroic--far above & beyond the call--ie her actions with Zandra on the roof, much less her constant efforts for Nikki (which we can call self-interested)... but certainly not the end with the sacrifice of said job; anything that would compare directly, iow, with the heroics of which Fenner & Betts are speaking (their own two little incidents: you know, having heavily-armed men break down the cell door after Helen's negotiated a peaceful outcome with Shell, and, ok, saving Karen's life, Fenner's possibly 1 good deed in an entire lifetime of badness, which he still manages to nullify). So yeah, I didn't mean 'in general' & wasn't referencing that earlier mind-set. Did that help clarify...?

Right! That. See above. :) Well-said.

I've been very late in posting on this as I've been really rired and rushed. I just love the contrast between the Karen Fenner scene and the Nikki Helen and the way the scenes are accurately drawn. I notice in the Karen Fenner scene the way Fenner tried to hypnotise Fenner by the use of his voice and looking- he did it before with Rachel Hicks and (very unsuccessfully0 when he and Zandra were on the roof.
Another aside is that this is the first and probably last time that Shell calls Nikki by her first name- invariably it's been 'Wade.' In the same scene, a striking insatance was when Nikki said defiantly to Fenner 'I am a miscarriage of justice' which is the first time she has really verbalised it and so emphatically.
One brilliant one liner was the argument between Fenner and Helen when he says 'You make me sick' and she snaps back with 'Well, that's a relief.'

One particular point of interest is the way Lauren's viewpoint on Charlie had shifted. In Series 3, a very tearful Lauren couldn't imagine how she could carry on without Charlie who was seen as the one managing business. By now, she had taken over the running of the business and seen the reality of Charlie's boastfulness in the very scathing way she said 'He can't look after himself, he's a dinasaur....' and that she'd been sorting out all the deals that he'd 'buggered up.' I always imagined him as being very similar to the sort of male characters in the Brit soap 'Eastenders' and that this was an effective Shed response. It is curious that Yvonne was concealing from Lauren her real intention of dropping Charlie in it and Lauren doing the same with hiring the hitman to kill Charlie. I always found Lauren an interesting minor character of whom more could have been made.

What a great way of putting it. And it explains why Fenner always bugs me so much, because that hypnotic influence is so infuriating. Because it's this form of mind-control, in that faux-soothing kind of way, where by getting his target to relax, he can go in for the kill.

Huh. It suddenly occurred to me, is it possible that Nikki didn't always think that she was a miscarriage of justice? I had assumed from S1 when she tells Monica about her crime that she really felt she had been treated wrong by the court system, and that she shouldn't have gone to jail. But now I'm wondering, maybe part of the reason Nikki was so negative about the idea of appealing was because she thought that her case had been ruled at least somewhat fairly. So then her comment to Barbara about also being in for manslaughter "but mine was for real" has a different connotation. I know this is going out on a limb, and that this is really a grey area, but it just got me thinking.

I always thought this was Shed's feminism shining through, the whole adage "if you want it something done right, have a woman do it" in full force. It's these little moments which make the show so effective in its feminist and liberal viewpoint, because they subtly pervade the show with a certain point of view and political perspective without hitting the audience over the head.

, by Abzug


I hadn't totally thought this one through but you ought to run with this one. Probably, Nikki hadn't thought in terms of Gossard's past history. You get the picture when she related her story to Monica that she had figured Gossard to be a particularly sleasy character but that she had killed the guy. You can see how Helen's information came as a bolt out of the blue and one very nice acting touch of Simone's was when she was telling the story was the way her voice was choked with emotion, that she identified with the pressure put on Sally Ann Howe by the male police officers.

I like your interpretation of the changing Lauren Charlie relationship and I feel that Shed certainly meant this point. The dialogue by Lauren is verey striking.Additionally, it is interesting how they play off Charlie's macho boastfulness against his incompetence while Nikki in particular is noted by her simultaneous resourcefulness and unnassuming nature- you don't see her bragging about the situations she has sorted out.

When Karen tells Fenner that they need space she actually has to get up and move away, in order to create a real physical space between Fenner who has come in and plonked himself down on her desk, and herself. She attempts to establish her authority and put a professional distance between them. What Fenner does next is very close to the bullying tactics that he has used in the past and will continue to use on other women, because they serve him well - they usually get him his way. He doesn't allow Karen the space she needs to resist the emotional power he has over her; instead he gets up and moves up close to her, crowding her, his intrusive closeness suffocates her reason.

We've seen him use this "in your face" tactic to intimidate the likes of Shell in the past, as well as Renee, and also Nikki in S2 Ep 3 when he gets right up in her face, taps her nose and warns her that she'll have to keep her nose clean now that Helen has gone. He violates personal space in order to browbeat people and get what he wants. In this episode when he tries it on Helen she has to literally tell him to get out of her face. She and Nikki unlike the others are not intimidated by him and he scores no points over them. (And it is possibly this that makes him realise he is going to have to step up his personal space violation several notches to a full on assault, if he to succeed in intimidating Helen.)

It is not the power of authority that he wields over Karen, but emotional power. She is powerless to resist his emotional bullying. (There is perhaps an element of this physical and emotional crowding later on with Thomas and Helen after the dog races, when she attempts to turn away from him and change the subject, but Thomas pushes her to listen to what he has to say.)

In contrast Helen does not attempt to create any more of a physical distance between herself and Nikki than is neccessary, and instead sits as close to her as her new professional "rules of engagement" will allow - which in a parallel with Karen and Fenner, would also appear to be perched on Nikki's desk/table. ( Incidentally Fenner also echoes Nikki's "Why have you been avoiding me then?" line to Helen in S1 Ep 10, after the kiss in her cell .) She doesn't remain standing at a distance looking down at Nikki, and so there is no sense of her attempting to wield her authority over Nikki in order to create a distance between them, as she has done on some occasions in the past. She sits down at Nikki's level and there is an emotional equality between them too. She is comfortable and confident that Nikki, unlike Fenner, has respected her decision to gear down their relationship while she is still a prisoner, and Nikki hasn't attempted to bully or emotionally blackmail her into doing something that goes against her better judgement as Fenner does with Karen.

The battle for Nikki's appeal is their battle not only Nikki's, and if it succeeds they will both be free - Nikki in a very literal sense, but they will also both be free to pursue their relationship. Fenner's language is about himself, except for the odd bit of manipulative talk about having saved each other's lives. Helen in contrast says things like "Claire says we've gotta get a petition together to the Home Secretary." Nikki responds with "Eh? How're we gonna manage that?" Helen later says "We've been here before; so lets stay calm. No need to get too excited too soon." Nikki answers "We've never had a bloody witness before!" And Helen's final line includes "but we're gonna get this thing moving - alright?" It's about them as a unit, not about individual aims or needs.

As far as Shell's nice comment to Nikki is concerned, I would agree with ekny that a large part of Shell's agenda is to have a go at Fenner, but also with abzug's observation that the women are generally happy for anyone who gets out . As Nikki says to Monica in S1 Ep 10 "everyone who gets out of here gets out for all of us." And there is also the example of Shell's own genuine sincerity when she stops walking up the stairs in S2 Ep13, in order to say to Crystal who is being released "Don't do anything we wouldn't eh." Which in effect is Shell wishing her well.

Great post, JAMBF. I love your focus on the physical relationship between the two characters in each couple, and how that's a manifestation of the emotional/power dynamic.

And so, referring back to that tiny moment of camera movement that I am obsessed with, perhaps the camera zooming in on Nikki and leaving Helen out of the frame could actually represent the distance Helen is maintaining between herself and Nikki, which has two implications when in context with the Karen/Fenner scene.
1. Helen is sticking to her guns regarding her relationship with Nikki. Yes, they are in this together, but there are barriers and she's holding them firm.
2. Helen allows, is allowing, Nikki to be her own autonomous person, in control of herself (as much as someone serving a life sentence can be).

Hey JAMBF, just wanted to say how great I thought your post was. Not going to break down every little detail, but just felt it necessary to compliment the detail you put into it :)

What she said! :) Yes, lovely reading.

Cracking good piece of observation and analysis, JAMBF. This is a piece that asks all of us to rewatch this scene concerned and other scenes and merits a study of personal space which Fenner uses to manipulate others. It emphasises how much of a control freak Fenner is and how angry he is with those who blocks all the attempts to control. I'd never previously noticed how peculiarly accurate are Helen's words 'Get out of my face."

Something interesting about this episode that no one else seems to have touched on, so I thought I'd revive the discussion and read your thoughts on the matter.

It's the scene outside the courthouse after Charlie's trial. I got the sneaking suspicion that Lauren put a hit out on her Mom for backing her husband instead of her daughter. Which plays into the whole theme of teamwork. Lauren felt betrayed by her mother as evidenced in the scene in visiting. I think she had decided she was going to be the "Godmother" of the family and no one, including Yvonne, was going to stand in her way. Of course, when she realizes what Yvonne's true intentions are, she makes a "change of address" for the pizza delivery but still offers up a warning to Yvonne prior to the "delivery."

Of course, I base this entire line of thinking on the scene where the pizza guy gets off his scooter and hollers, "Atkins!" and the gun is actually pointed at Yvonne initially for a few seconds and then moves on to Charlie. I feel this wasn't done for dramatic license but as a warning to Yvonne that Lauren is in control now and if Yvonne wants to stay on side, she needs to remember just who's in charge and calling the shots.

I think this is a good point. I've always thought there must be a reason why the gun pointing at Yvonne was sort of dramatised.

If I may do the honors....Bump.

As I recall there are so many different things going on in this episod: Fenner returns which always stirs the pot; new character both in Gwing and in the appeals plot (can we say Sally Anne Howe how we love you): the tongue thing; the Yvonne testifies and lives to tell about it; the Helen/Fenner conflagation is building to the end. I usually don't like this sort of episode, where so many things are going on, where mulitple subplots and storylines intermingle vs an episode with only one major storyline (Shaz's move to remorse or Gina's pregnacy or escapees wrec havoc) but this episode works for me as I remember. I look forward to seeing it again at "tv broadcast" speed vs youtube to see how it holds up.

See you all latter.

So, what did you think? Personally I can't watch this episode again. The toungue thing is just too much for me. I don't mind the interwoven stories though. I guess it's like this episode has 2 A storylines, and then a bunch of B (or maybe C?) storylines--the appeal, Di and Josh, etc. Which works for me because those smaller storylines are carried on from previous episodes and carry into subsequent ones.

I rather like this episode, the combination of heavy/light storylines feels well-balanced, & there's also a good mix of new/old material/people. As for the piercing thing, I believe I voiced my supreme disgust at the visuals there in some detail, although it was a while ago now, so won't belabor it except to say this is the only place where I literally cannot watch--& feel no need to force myself to. I just go all squinty-eyed & blurry until those bits are past. Gah.

I watched this episode last night. Like others were saying, the tongue bit was pretty gross, especially when Denny starts spitting blood into the sink, (spitting blood seems more gross to me than dripping blood or pooling blood, for some reason lol) but the rest of the episode was great.

And good god, that one PO...what's her name? Di. She's a real nut job. I keep waiting for someone to figure it out.

However the most disturbing part of the whole episode (and this is Di and Denny aside) was Karen and fenner getting their shag on in the office. *gag* How gross was that? When she kissed his scar I thought I'd died and gone to hell.

Hmm... the Nikki/Helen bits were nice tho'. :)

There isn't much I can add to previous comments which are pretty well on the mark. One thing I noticed is in this period, Helen had that spring heeled snappy retort down pretty well this bit is a prize example. Of course it testifies also how emnity is heating up between Helen and Fenner with consequences that we know.

"Well, that is a relief. If you approved, I'd know I was doin' somethin' wrong."
On a lighter note, scribegirl must run through those screen caps of Helen very intently. :D

Bwahahahaha.

Last nights epi might not have had a lot of N/H but what it had was great. They were absolutely gorgeous and bloody well melted the camera lens with their chemistry. Some tongue from Helen helps make my evening as well. :devil