i loved then 1st ep. very interesting and ive neva seem it show what happend outside the jail before well what they did to get sentanced and i have series 1-6 anyway i love lou do u think she is a lesbain it just the start of the ep?

At the very beginning I thought maybe she was, being how she was viewing the pole-dancer and ignoring that guy who was hitting on her. But I'm not too sure as of yet.

i think she is ... im sure i read on one of the boards that her and pat have some sort of relationship thing thats going to happen :hug2 ... i really liked the show but i do admit im not as glued to the screen as i used to be ... its become a little bit comical instead of being the hard hitting drama as it used to be ... and where was sheena think i must of missed some eps last season cos i thought her and pat were back together x

i suppose that could be a possibilty, because Lou has already warmed to Pat because she stayed on the wing when every1 else ran!

[colour=purple]I thought the first ep was great...ott melodramatic..and just BG...lol

Sorry see Neil + Phyl go...still don't like Buxton, never did

The advance publicity that l saw said that Lou *was* a lesbian character..took it as read.

Lou oggling the pole dancer was a pretty clear concise way of introducing the fact...[/colour]

thank you for this lovely reminder after ive already posted my appolagies its not like i put the whole content in the tittle ... i suggest you re read the rules of the board abzug cos it clearly states in them that

Here are some guidelines:

Don't be rude to others, or make an argument personal
Know the difference between a difference of opinion and a personal attack
Don't try to "win" an argument by repeating yourself over and over
Don't tell others what to post
:D

i do agree with your last part however and will not post things i feel may offened ... if they do i will do as i have 2 times previously and appolagise xxx

Hi--

I'm so sorry if I was rude! I definitely didn't intend it! I had confusion over what the spoiler guidelines were, due to a discussion thread on this topic from a few weeks ago. In that thread I thought we had "decided" (as much as a community can "decide" anything) that the spoiler discussions and the episode discussions would remain in separate threads, so that those who wanted to discuss episodes which they had seen could do so without finding out about things in episodes they hadn't seen.

From the Mods post on this topic from this morning, it seems like that is not actually the case, so I apologize for my misunderstanding, and for making you feel like I had targeted you in any way. It truly wasn't personal, and I'm very very sorry if I made you feel bad or attacked. It was not my intention at all.

I moved this post to the S8E1 discussion thread:

http://z4.invisionfree.com/Nikki_and_Helen...p?showtopic=507

i read that phyl isnt dead yet?
and i loved this first ep.
does anyone know where sheena is?
i never seen her.

Please note this is the original thread started about episode one. This one will allow for general comment about the episode and also spoilers to do with it and possible future issues or comments about characters that might arise.
In otherwords, the more general lighthearted discussions about the episode.

If you wish to discuss this episode in depth without any character or plot revelations - the relevent posts from this topic are now in a different thread Click here for alternative episode discussion.

love MJNet
Posted: Jul 13 2006, 10:30 PM
Report Post


The bosses slave!
*

Group: Admin
Posts: 2,361
Member No.: 1
Joined: 26-May 06




We enjoyed it! I am hoping this doesn't become a disappointment for us again (we had hoped other series were getting better only to end up with disappoinment, especially series 7).

No surprise about Neil - And its going to be interesting to see how they carry the storyline on. I just hope it isn't too rushed.

Looking forward to next week now.

(PS - LIPWADERULES - Not to have a go, but people don't like CAP'S in posts - its considered to be shouting at another poster. Please try and type with the CAP'S off. Cheers).

Lisa289
Posted: Jul 13 2006, 10:38 PM
Report Post


The Garden Assistant
*

Group: Members
Posts: 1,374
Member No.: 72
Joined: 29-May 06




What a first ep!!!! I knew Phyl was gettin shot in this series but the FIRST ep?!?! SHOCKER!!!!!

And just to recap my memory, when did Neil get demoted to wing gov?

nz bad girl
Posted: Jul 14 2006, 03:15 AM
Report Post


Do not annoy the unmedicated.
*

Group: Moderators
Posts: 689
Member No.: 5
Joined: 27-May 06




*skips lightly through thread trying to avoid major spoilers...*

I just have one question... does the new gov (or something) really wear jeans on the wing?

notsuchabadgirl
Posted: Jul 14 2006, 06:35 AM
Report Post


Toni~
*

Group: Members
Posts: 4,372
Member No.: 59
Joined: 28-May 06




It took a little while to get into it, but i thought it was pretty good.
Poor Neil! Poor Phyl!

And yes the new gov does really wear jeans on the wing!

nz bad girl
Posted: Jul 14 2006, 06:58 AM
Report Post


Do not annoy the unmedicated.
*

Group: Moderators
Posts: 689
Member No.: 5
Joined: 27-May 06




Yay! Is she any good? (From what you can tell so far, I mean...)

I can imagine that Joy wouldn't be too impressed with the jeans

notsuchabadgirl
Posted: Jul 14 2006, 08:31 AM
Report Post


Toni~
*

Group: Members
Posts: 4,372
Member No.: 59
Joined: 28-May 06




First impressions... I thought she was great biggrin.gif

Joy was not impressed with her dress sense to say the least, the scene where they met on the car park was wonderful.

Joy *I though at least the department would have sent someone who knew how to dress for the job "


This was followed by an offer to loan Lou one of her tops...an offer that was flatly refused !!!!

nz bad girl
Posted: Jul 14 2006, 08:43 AM
Report Post


Do not annoy the unmedicated.
*

Group: Moderators
Posts: 689
Member No.: 5
Joined: 27-May 06




Sounds like it could be fun... I will stop reading now, until it screens in NZ.

Evangelist
Posted: Jul 14 2006, 08:58 AM
Report Post


Out of Dorm
*

Group: Members
Posts: 176
Member No.: 124
Joined: 6-June 06




Thanks girls! I can't wait to see it...I've got it, but now I've got to get some sleep. I guess I'll just have to wait until tomorrow.... laugh.gif

Lisa289
Posted: Jul 14 2006, 10:38 AM
Report Post


The Garden Assistant
*

Group: Members
Posts: 1,374
Member No.: 72
Joined: 29-May 06




Oh yes, I loved the car park scene! And loved Lou's response to Joy's offer to loan a top!! I'm lovin Lou already, think she's a great character - and Donny Kimber as well.

munky
Posted: Jul 14 2006, 10:43 AM
Report Post


Out of Dorm
*

Group: Members
Posts: 148
Member No.: 30
Joined: 27-May 06




It was good. It had brilliant moments. But somehow I felt it didn't pick the pace. Or maybe my anticipation and excitement were so high that I expected somehting as fast paced as ER. Though, you know when you are watching something that is engaging, you forget about the rest of the world and the fact that you are watching. Cause you are there in the world of whatever it is you're watching. Well, I didn't all the time with this ep.

Mainly I felt yet again that nothing & no one will equal S1-3 ever.

Having said that, I love the fact that Amanda Donohoe is there, she doesn't dissapoint. She's such a mischievous actress.

The grand ideas and challenges that Shed push through in the form of BG are good as usual. Style of filming is different though and this may account for my not being so taken by it.

I really think a bit of Shell is just what it needs.

manda Donohoe for us has already come out with a classic line for the series!

Natalie – “And who the hell are you, bitch?”
Lou – “I’m Louise Stoke and I’m the new bitch in charge of this wing.”

As well as the interaction with Joy and Neil:

Joy – “If you don’t like my methods Grayling, you know where the airlock is.”
Neil – “If I walked out right now, you wouldn’t last a day.”
Joy – “Perhaps you should walk out if that’s how you feel.”
Neil – “Perhaps I should, might teach you a bloody lesson.”
Lou – “Day one in the ‘Big Brother’ house or what?”

I actually thought it has some pace back very like we did get in the earlier series. I am holding judgement for the rest of it, because unfortunately I didn't enjoy the last one - even ended up giving up watching most of it - and I was disappointed because I thought both series 6 and 7 started with promise, but never quite delivered for me.

So fingers crossed, and I've always been a fan of Amanda Donohoe's anyway, so I am hoping she is a good strong new character.

I just cannot get to like Natalie Buxton - even allowing for her being the nasty side of G wing these days. Admittedly better than some, I still just don't quite feel she has it enough.

I thought the way they tackled the racism angle was also well done - and again its going to be interesting to see how they might develop the storyline.

Lisa289
Posted: Jul 14 2006, 01:17 PM
Report Post


The Garden Assistant
*

Group: Members
Posts: 1,374
Member No.: 72
Joined: 29-May 06




I also loved those two lines from Louise. I think I'm gonna really like her this series.

filbertfox
Posted: Jul 14 2006, 02:09 PM
Report Post


Out of Dorm
*

Group: Members
Posts: 195
Member No.: 99
Joined: 1-June 06




I remember Amanda Donohoe chiefly for her role in LA Law and also the memorable (although not in a good way) Brit horror flick 'The Lair of the White Worm'...but I have to say, her incarnation as Lou Stoke is the first time i've ever found her attractive.

I really enjoyed last night. Bodybag being typically racist (looks like the race relations course has been forgotten) and typically panicking when she thought that she was at risk of being poisoned. Joy very nearly being the captain that went down with her ship...even when recovering from being knocked out, she was still trying to stop the prisoners from running...

The fact that Emira was portrayed as a British convert was possibly the only way the storyline could work without ruffling too many feathers. Her debate with Pat was wonderful...Pat's assumptions that Emira had been brainwashed and Emira's own insistance that Islam had changed her life for the better.

And of course...all of the inmates on the wing just 'assumed'...mob mentality ruled supreme. Natalie was bound to take advantage.

My own personal highlight was the ricin discussion, particularly Janine's - "they send it to you in the mail and then you die'...brilliant!

richard
Posted: Jul 14 2006, 04:28 PM
Report Post


Out of Dorm
*

Group: Members
Posts: 138
Member No.: 83
Joined: 31-May 06




This episode was a pretty strong dramatic opener. Shed wrote well in portraying the hysteria about tererorist poisoning before deflating it to legionaire's disease in the same vein as the Christmas special. One bit of a technical gripe was the absent Principal Officer who would have stopped the likes of Bodybag 'leading' the other Po's to turn and run and leave the prisoners to their fate- you have to sneakily admit that Fenner would not have done that. Ditto goes for the strange introduction of a deputy governor. The whole terrorist/ Islamophobia issue was adriotly handled and in making the 'terrorist' a white convert. Interesting also was both Natalie's and Pat's antipathy, Natalie being a racist bully and Pat being an atheist. The episode was very prescient in the horrifying death of Phyl in relation to the recent real life heavy handed big police operations (Jean Menendes for instance).

There were (as yet) unexplained chyaracter absences- Kevin Spiers (especially with Donny Kimber coming from G wing) and Di Barker- perhaps we will be enlightened. I was not prepared for Grayling's exit and the adroit portrayal of Joy jumping to conclusions. Grayling's and Louise's evident rapport and Grayling's very pointed remarks were pure entertainment as was his final scornful dismissal of Joy.

Louise's entrance to Larkhall after watching the pole dancer is certainly a mark of better things to come.

ichard
Posted: Jul 14 2006, 06:48 PM
Report Post


Out of Dorm
*

Group: Members
Posts: 138
Member No.: 83
Joined: 31-May 06




It's interesting at the end to see the line of armed police looking something like the Po's in riot gear as in the Series 3 and 4 near riot situations but this time they were penning in prisoners and prison officers alike and the full glare of the lights cast an eerie spell.

Certainly, it was noticable that Pat Emeera (?) and Louise have the makings of a reasonable relationship while they looked after Tina. Whether things go any further between Louise and Pat as previous posts have hinted would / might bang up against Louise's position though there is a hint that 'she needs to get her career back on track' as Joy mentions. The peculiarities of Shed time are only joined up by Joy's reference to 'since Grayling was demoted' (at the end of Series 6)

onniehelen
Posted: Jul 14 2006, 09:07 PM
Report Post


Down the Block
*

Group: Members
Posts: 19
Member No.: 147
Joined: 15-June 06




Well I was not riveted to my chair by any means. The muslim s/l is being handled well and rings quite true to the times. I loved the fact that bodybag thought she could step into Graylings place when he couldn't be found. However the mass exodus of both guards and prisoners was a little hard to swallow and the fact that Lou could figure out the problem with the a/c so fast another. I think Amanda Donohue is a great addition (I loved her in LA Law & Murder City). On the prisoners side there are very few that I could care about unlike previous seasons.
I must admit that the introduction of the idiot who played Ricky on Eastenders was also a minus. I hope as the season progresses they add some strong characters. It looked in the previews like they were hinting at a realtionship between Lou and the new doctor so I hope it is not a variation of the H&N s/l.

abzug
Posted: Jul 15 2006, 02:35 AM
Report Post


Don't you wish it was electric
*

Group: Members
Posts: 1,248
Member No.: 53
Joined: 28-May 06




Hi everyone, great posts on this episode. I thought it was riveting--felt fully captivated the entire time and eager to see what would happen next. I'm not sure that I have any deep thoughts (for anyone who might have been anticipating them from me) but I am intrigued by all the ambiguous sexuality we're seeing all over the place this season. First, the introduction of Lou, with her absorbed in some sort of non-verbal flirtation with the pole dancer (and repeatedly ignoring the man hitting on her) told me she was a lesbian right off. And I think that's what Shed wanted us to think. But then they give us two instances of her flirting with a man (one with the new guard what's-his-name, and the other I guess was with the SMO in scenes from next week). But her rapport with Grayling suggests they have at least a little something in common. And then that very pointed dinner invitation for Joy, which echoed that moment in the first episode of series one where Fenner tries to invite Helen out for a drink and she refuses (as does Joy)--both were couched in similar terms: we have to figure out how to work together, lets go out for dinner/a drink--professional, and yet not? So very deliberately ambiguous with Lou (ah, love the masculine nicknames for the women!), and then we still don't know Joy's story (sexuality-wise), and we've got the new female officer actually scoping Lou out (blink and you'll miss it, but I rewound and it was really there--in the scene in Joy's office).

Apart from the sexuality stuff, I found Lou to be a very engaging character. A bit oppositional, a rebel--which I like. Moments of toughness where she reminded me of Frances Myers. And a definite caring concern which was reminiscent of Helen (her interactions with the ailing Tina etc).

I thought the staging of the attempted prisoner escape was very interesting--Joy was standing with the prisoners, among them, one of them. With a very scared, not-in-control look on her face. This is not the Joy from the end of season 7, that's for sure. Its a huge shift for someone who has shown very few signs of any identification with or feeling for the prisoners.

Oh, and poor Neil! At least he got a decent send-off, as any character who has been with the show four seasons deserves. And Phyl! Say it ain't so! Is it cynical of me to speculate that they couldn't afford to pay both Amanda Donohoe AND Stephanie Beecham?

Oh, hey, tothestarsandback and others, can we all agree to not post spoilers in the episode discussion threads? Its hard for those of us who are trying to stay relatively spoiler-free, but want to discuss episodes which have already aired.

abzug
Posted: Jul 15 2006, 02:55 AM
Report Post


Don't you wish it was electric
*

Group: Members
Posts: 1,248
Member No.: 53
Joined: 28-May 06




Oh, and, interesting twist with Pat coming down against Emira. I think Richard mentioned this upthread as well. Pat, who always stands up for the underdog, has absolutely no patience or sympathy for anyone driven by religion. Very interesting contrast to her reaction to the cons' bullying of Arun. In this way, Pat is like the antithesis of our current evangelical-moralistic culture, where religious people are valued and people of alternative sexualities-genders are not.

I like how the show has consistently examined the role religion plays in society and for individuals. We've had a number of significant religious characters and plotlines (Crystal, Barbara, the nun, now Emira) and in every case the character's and the audience's assumptions about religion are questioned. Crystal ultimately loses her faith after seeing so many unjust deaths, Barbara overcomes her homophobic prejudices (which we assume were rooted in her religion), the nun who we all perceived as a loving and caring person was exposed as a sadistic abuser, and an Islamic fundamentalist who we thought was driven to harm people was shown as something much more complex. So there seems to be a bit of suggestion that religion has its time and place, and it helps certain people and hurts others. Before this episode I would have said the show came down decidedly against fundamentalism, but now with Emira I'm not so sure--she was able to articulate her case pretty effectively in her discussion with Pat. So kudos to BG for exploring a very touchy issue without being reductive or simplistic.

Ceridwyn2
Posted: Jul 15 2006, 04:05 AM
Report Post


Up to Basic
*

Group: Members
Posts: 71
Member No.: 68
Joined: 28-May 06




Well, according to the Official BG website Larkhall Insider, Di Barker won't be in series 8, at least not as a regular.

The new additions include:
Dr. Rowan Dunlop - played by Colin Salmon - the new SMO
Mandy Goodhue - played by Angela Bruce - a transfer PO
Donny Kimber - played by Sid Owen - a transfer PO
Louise Stoke - played by Amanda Donahoe - Assistant Governing Govenor (Grade 2); and now G-Wing Governor

Returning Characters:
POs
Sylvia (Bodybag) Hollamby - played by Helen Fraser
Joy Masterton - played by Ellie Haddington

Regular Inmates
Julie Saunders (Vicky Alcock)
Julie Johnston (Kika Mirylees)
Janine Nabeski (Nicola Stapleton)
Natalie Buxton (Danielle Brent)
Pat Kerrigan (Liz May Brice)
Tina O'Kane (Vikki Bush)
Phyl Oswyn (Stephanie Beachum)
Bev Tull (Amanda Barrie)
Darlene Cake (Antonia Okanma)

richard
Posted: Jul 15 2006, 10:00 AM
Report Post


Out of Dorm
*

Group: Members
Posts: 138
Member No.: 83
Joined: 31-May 06




Hi Abzug, glad to see your posts
My political sympathies are antiwar but not religious except to the point of appreciating Barbara's tolerant, humanistic version of it. I found myself in some sympathy with both Pat and Elmira and Shed have handled the whole issue with great care. By contrast, Natalie personified the Rupert Murdoch influenced bigoted approach.
I love the way that Grayling and louise immediately struck up a conversation leaving Joy definitely sidelined and makes a very effective link in him 'passing on the torch' to her which Grayling has himself inherited from Karen, Helen etc. and Grayling's contempt for Joy that 'without him, she wouldn't last five minutes.' This contempt is peculiarly appropriate as it is a reflection on when he first came to Larkhall and had ideas which were as removed from reality as Joy's. That being said, you get the feeling that she is not just the ex army squarebasher, especially with her views on Christmas and of self improvement, however misguided they are in execution.
You got the feeling that Elmira was a touch more humanised in the way that she, Louise, Pat and Tina were all together and that while Joy is prejudiced against Pat, Louise sees a different side to her. And yes, the image of Joy with the others caught in the police spotlight was a very powerful image.

This thread has been split - this new topic is for the more overall discussion about the episode - allowing for some conjecture about characters or possible ideas about how it might tie in with future episodes.

http://z4.invisionfree.com/Nikki_and_Helen...topic=507&st=15

Is where you will find the more indepth discussions.

I enjoyed the first episode and like AD as Lou. So with all the speculation on sexuality does this mean that ol' Bodybag will be the only straight women working in G-Wing now? Joy, Lou and Mandy all seem kinda gay to me. What does anyone else think. Poor Bodybag what would she say if only she realised it.