Camera Work

I remember in the past campgrrls had pointed out some interesting long shots in this and other episodes. For instance, when Denny is leaving her literacy class, the camera follows she and Shell down the hallway, and then Nikki and Monica enter from a perpendicular hallway and the camera changes direction and follows them, without any cuts. The same things happens slightly later in the episode, where Zandra chases after Lorna (this is right before she and Shell trick Lorna in the bathroom) at the same moment as Monica returns to the wing from her visit with Spenser. In this case, the camera turns 180 degrees and follows Monica up the stairs to G2 where Nikki is standing watching her.

So, very nice camera work, yes. But what does it mean?

Well, I was thinking--this is the episode which begins with the cross-editing between Helen and Nikki getting ready in the morning. The editing is striking because of the way it conflates the two of them--Dom telling Nikki to get ready for her shower, and then rather than cutting to Nikki in her cell facing Dominic, the camera cuts to Helen in her home having just gotten out of the shower. Helen rubs her eyes in preparation for putting on makeup, cut to Nikki putting on eye makeup. And so on. So, Helen and Nikki are one, are unified. And, with the trailing camera I described in excruciating detail above, so are certain prisoners. At this point, Denny, Shell and Zandra are still the "baddies" in a way, while Nikki and Monica are the "goodies"--but yet the long takes, the lack of editing, emphasizes the way all these characters flow into eachother, the way they are not separate or different at all.


The Truth Comes Out

Did you notice that the potting shed scene and the subsequent scene in Helen's office are cross-edited with Dominic and Lorna finding drugs in Shell's cell? It made me think that the overriding theme of this episode is about the truth about people and relationships being uncovered. Helen learns how Nikki really feels about her. And Nikki also learns about how Helen really feels about her (that "Even if I were attracted to you" line is so telling, with Nikki's eyes lifting up in the most subtle but clear reaction, a sort of "Ah hah!"). Shell can't slither her way out of trouble anymore--she's caught red-handed. And then of course earlier in the episode we've got Shell catching Lorna admitting that she's brought in drugs for Zandra, and towards the end of the ep we have Fenner trying to prevent Dominic from seeing his true relationship with Shell. Fenner's the only one who is really able to hide the truth--and that's going to be the theme for seven long seasons with him....


Other Thoughts

Denny's a bit of a fickle friend with Zandra, isn't she? Just one episode after they've bonded and Denny is helping Shell steal Zandra's drugs. No loyalty, is there?

I love the contrast between the Helen-Nikki editing at the top of the ep where Helen is at home and Nikki in her cell, and then later in the ep when Helen is in her office and Nikki is in the potting shed. In the later example, they no longer flow into eachother--it's short edits, each close-up, each either dead center in the frame, or on opposing sides from the other. It's sort of static and choppy--neither one can move forward or progress when they are separate.

What's up with the canary? It's such a random thing that Shell has a bird in her cell. I've never been able to figure out the symbolism. It can't just be there so that Dominic can make the joke about hearing the canary sing, can it?

Helen's change of heart?
OK, the beginning of the ep, Helen's trying to put off the marriage proposal from Sean, and not wanting to discuss it. However, after the potting shed incident, she's all "I wanna get married as soon as we can". Now, has she had a complete change of heart? I think not. I think she's actually trying to convince herself that she wants to marry Sean - maybe not Sean inparticular, maybe just a man. In the scene in her house, when she's in her sweat clothes, I think the kiss she gives Sean at the end of the scene is really telling, in that she's trying to like him even more and wanting to get married.
I agree with Abzug, the "Even if I were attracted to you" line is almost too good to be true. You see Nikki's face light up for that very brief moment, and you can imagine that she's thinking exactly the same as we are, as viewers.

Shell, Zandra and Denny
I, again, agree with Abzug regarding Denny and Zandra's friendship. Just one episode earlier, they were comforting and consoling each other - now Denny's back to her old tricks with Shell? It makes no sense to me. The only thing I can think of to address this one is that Denny is very insecure and she thinks she needs Shell's 'protection' within the prison - no matter who's on the receiving end.


Well, that's all from me for now, I have to go to college soon. I'll probably think of some more comments later and post them when I get back.

Lisa
x

I always love reading your posts Abzug for I learn so much.
It's been awhile since I've seen that episode but I find it also interesting how Nikki is physically in a prison, yet free with her sexuality. No, let me rephrase that to she is free because of her acceptance of her sexuality. Then we get to see Helen, free from Larkhall, but yet, she's being held prisoner by her sexuality, or rather the fear of her sexuality is holding her prisoner. I loved how the camera work flowed and it was as though I was looking at one person, though initially I thought it was more of a juxtaposition, but after reading your post I like the idea of conflation.

I loved to switching scenes in this episode as well. It was a great way of pointing out even though one was locked up in jail and one was free they are both women and their lives are somehow connected.
The only part I would have liked explored more was shell noticing nikki/helens relationship. Twice you see in season one her standing on the landing studying them and her comments to nikki when she is placed on the 3's "She must be shagging her". I think this story line could have been interesting.

This is a really interesting point, because you're right--early in the season they had these very ominous moments of Shell watching Helen and Nikki together, and then it's like the only payoff is this almost throwaway line of Shell's when Nikki gets moved up. However, it does play into the broader theme of being watched, which also comes up in the moments when Helen observes inappropriate behavior between Jim and Shell.

I also think Shell's line is really interesting because it emphasizes a somewhat subtle but complicated theme in this episode, which is how the prisoners are infantilized even though they are adults. So the whole enhanced thing, there are all these jokes about it--the gold star comment Sylvia gives Dominic, Nikki's joke about saying her prayers, which are all about techniques of controlling the behavior of children. And truthfully, the prisoners really ARE treated as children.

But then you also have this other overlay, which is the idea that Nikki (and Shell) both have sexual feelings/relationships with the people who have gotten them onto enhanced, and there's nothing less childlike than that. So no matter how much you try to control the prisoners as children, you're still stuck with the fact that they are mature adults who might do annoying things like, I don't know, say, fall in love with you! (That's why I think it's no accident that the potting shed scene happens in the same episode where the focus is on this reward system.) The flip side of the same coin is demonstrated with Shell and Jim, because their example shows how sex can be used simply to control/wield power over someone else--it's how Shell preserves her status, but it's also how Jim controls her.

You make it sound like a schoolgirl crush. Which it sort of is with Nikki. There are the same rules and regulations, except that Nikki is infact an adult. But it's a similar situation - the officers can be done for sexual abuse just as a teacher would.

I love the contrast of themes in this ep. Like the switching camera positions, and the rewarding thing. I also think it's interesting that Nikki moving to Enhanced and the potting shed scene both occur in this one ep.

Well, yes and no. That's certainly what Helen thinks it is. And so there is a little bit of that feeling to it, in the way the show depicts it (particularly the scene in Helen's office). But since we know what is going to happen, we know that this isn't a schoolgirl crush, it's True Love, of the sort that only emotionally autonomous adults can experience. So, in falling in love with Helen, Nikki doesn't stay within the behavioral guidelines which have been set up for all the prisoners--just be a good little girl and you'll get your early release. Instead, she's being an emotionally free adult, and Helen's emotional equal. The very thing the prison system (as represented by the incentives and rewards program) tries to prevent.

I agree, Abzug. It is like a schoolgirl crush from the word "go". But, of course, we know that this is just the beginning of a great story of True Love. I wasn't trying to imply that the whole story reflected that of a schoolgirl crush - just the beginning of it and Helen's initial perception of it.

I'm not getting the crush thing. The issue of whether we 'know' what happens later (on successive reviewings) or not doesn't bear, imo. Maybe there's an element of that to every affair, perhaps, but unless you want to infantalize lesbianism per se... I'm not keen on the implications. Anyhow, I'd need more examples.

I think it's not as complicated as you might be thinking from the previous posts. The only point is:
1. The incentive system is infantilizing, typical of every way the prisoners are treated (the examples I mentioned before--the "gold star", Nikki being good and saying her prayers etc)
2. Helen regards Nikki's interest as a crush, nothing more ("Focus your attentions on someone else. Don't waste your time on me."--this kind of comment is dismissive of Nikki's very ability to fall in love with Helen, because it suggests that Nikki hasn't fallen for Helen in the deepest sense of knowing Helen in her soul, but just for an authority figure who is nice to her)

Lisa and I aren't saying that it's ACTUALLY a crush, just that Helen tries to make it unimportant and insignificant, by treating it as such. And I'm definitely not trying to infantilize lesbianism in general (nor is Helen, imo). I think the only group being infantilized in this episode is prisoners at Larkhall, as a general category. They are the ones treated like children, not regarded as having the judgments or emotional capability of adults.

Does that make more sense?

Definitely. We all know it's more than a crush - but a crush is what Helen sees it as. And I agree, the "Focus your attentions" line tells us that Helen's treating it as a crush.

Or does she see it like that? Maybe she uses this tack so it doesn't come to something more? Again, I'm thinking of Helen convincing herself more than anyone else (Nikki and Sean inparticularly).

Totally. :) Thanks, don't know why I wasn't reading it right.

First of all a big thanks to everyone. Your posts have added so many layers to my initial viewing(s) of BG (and thus giving me another valid excuse to revisit the episodes :) )

ad 1) Very true, and it's interesting that Nikki is aware of this -- note her ironic distance in her inventory of her cell on G3 and the sarcasm in her line "No wonder everyone wants to get moved up here" -- but nevertheless she is still caught up in the incentive system and must to a large extent play by the rules (i.e. behave like a good little girl), because despite the irony she is thankful for the privileges of her new enhanced status.

ad 2) In relation to this I think it's telling that Nikki initially seems to be genuinely sorry or ashamed of the potting shed incident, when she's brought to Helen's office, but that her regretful attitude and facial expression changes the minute Helen starts belittling Nikki's feelings as a random school girl crush that she can somehow transfer on to someone else. This time Nikki is not willing to play by the rules and be treated like a child.

As for The Truth Comes Out theme of this episode I think it's no coincidence that the magazine Denny "buys" from Marie in the dorm has an article named "20 tell tale signs your lover is a liar"! A guide poor Sean probably should have checked up on given all the tell tale signs a sweat suit wearing Helen was showing, that she wasn't fine even if she claimed to be and that she didn't accept his proposal for the right reasons (notice how she didn't make any cute noises while kissing him?)

I'm building off of everyone's interesting posts. This might be my favorite episode; I have to give credit to Ann McManus for the writing.

I don't think Helen ever regards Nikki as anything other than an equal. Yes, there is a huge power differential between them in terms of the prison structure, but Helen recognizes Nikki's power and authority (which comes from within Nikki and is not bestowed upon her by any external source) from day 1. The privileges within the prison do create a paternalistic structure whereby the inmates are treated like children, but Nikki never allows herself to be controlled by this. She keeps all her privileges inside her head, as she later states.

I see Nikki as the embodiment of the saying we read on the wall at the start of the episode. “You may lock me up, you may throw away the key, but you can never take away the greatest freedom of all–my imagination.” For Nikki, imagination (through reading) is her freedom. Many other inmates rely on drugs (valium). Crystal relies on religion. Many inmates rely on each other (e.g. the two Julies). All are understandable responses to the life-crushing prison system.

Helen is told again in this episode that she should ship Nikki out of Larkhall. She does not want to do this, and it certainly seems (despite what she says) that she has personal reasons for wanting Nikki there.

I quite like the scene when Nikki is going through the advantages of her new cell on G3, using this as an opportunity to get at Shell. But Shell scores one over her with the "You must be shagging her" comment. Mandana nails this scene with her look in response to the comment. It's a great example of how a single look conveys so much. I think this is the first time that a character has explictly said that Helen's interest in Nikki is sexual in nature. However much she dislikes Helen, Sylvia dismisses the comment as ridiculous. But Nikki takes it seriously.

In the scene that evening when Shell returns and baits Nikki, we see that Nikki has changed since episode 5 when she attacked Shell for her comment about Rachel. Now, Nikki doesn't hit Shell but lets her go. She is able to rein in her temper even when provoked by the master of provocation. When Nikki has hope, she controls herself. When she loses hope, she lashes out.

The scene at Helen's flat is very telling. In a minute and a half, a great deal of information is conveyed, mostly through subtext. Helen is upset enough not to want to go to dinner, and according to Sean doesn't seem like herself. Most telling is that Helen doesn't tell Sean about what happened with Nikki. A momentous thing has happened--an inmate has come on to her. But she doesn't even tell her fiance, which if nothing else indicates that they don't have much intimacy.

[COLOR=blue]I dont think helen ever regarded nikki as anything other than an equal.

I think this is evident in season 2 when helen returns from her leave of absence and she gets nikki brought to her office and tells her that there is no way they can be her equal while she is nikki boss

[COLOR=blue]When nikki has hope, she controls herself. When she looses hope, she lashes out

How true!!!
Everytime nikki thinks there is trouble in paradise she does something wrong I dont know if this is a subcontious attempt at getting helens attention. Creating an opportunity to have contact with helen. Again like a child who is starved for love and affection from their parent. The one they love, look-up to, the one they what approval from.

This is a really important point, and it's part of what makes this whole theme about the incentives so complex and interesting. It's belittling, but Nikki values it anyway, and that shows the way it really is a successful mechanism for controlling the inmates, because the most independent-minded inmate still finds it motivating. I wonder if it's the cell and privileges, or if it's the caring from Helen which makes Nikki want it and be thankful for it? Interestingly, it's only a short time later when Nikki gives up on the incentives and rewards system entirely, when she doesn't explain why she attacked Tessa Spall--is that because Helen is no longer in charge? Or because she realizes that it's her emotional and intellectual freedom which is the only thing which brings joy to her life, because it's what enables her to love and be loved? Or maybe it has nothing to do with Helen at all....

Great description of Nikki's journey in that scene. I totally agree. And she has the same emotional trajectory after the kiss--at first apologetic, and then defiant, owning her desire when Helen wants to dismiss it or take it away.

Oooh, nice one! Great great catch. This show in the first season has SUCH attention to detail.

Wow, I hadn't thought about this scene in this way, but you're completely right. I was explaining to a friend why I thought Helen was never really passionate about Sean, and I brought up the example of her dodging the marriage proposal, because that happens even before Helen is aware of Nikki's interest. But in a way, this is also a telling example--Sean is not someone she really wants to share things with, not in any true emotional way.

Wow! You all are giving me a whole new perspective on this episode. I just popped it in and love how Helen comes out of the shower and goes to open the blinds at the window and then we see Nikki at the window looking for Helen. No Helen so Nikki turns away and we then see Helen turning away and going to her mirror and checking her eyes. Then to Nikki applying mascara. Beautiful. Then I love how we see Sean coming out of none other than a potting shed! lol Hmm. Helen has a thing for gardener's and it turns out she prefers them without the Y-front :lol:

As for the development of Nikki and Helen's relationship, well, it is quite an evolution. We have episode 1 in which they are at a standoff when Nikki calls off the fashion show for G-wing in protest of the miscarriage and how badly (oh I forget her name) that prisoner was treated. She was screaming for help. So, Helen stands her ground and puts Nikki on rule 43. (Interesting how in series 3 Nikki holds another protest that causes Helen to break it off with her for the umpteenth time!) Then there is the time Nikki bumps into Helen in the servery and turns around to yell but immediately changes her demeanor when she sees it is Helen. The sparks are there.
Then in episode 3, Helen senses something is going on with Fenner and Dockley as she passes by them. It's that look on her face. Then a few scenes later she is in Nikki's cell asking her about any unprofessional behaviour of her officers and Nikki adamantly states she is no one's grass, especially Helen's. Lots of attitude in that statement. Then later on in Helen's flat this conversation takes place between her and Sean:

S: You don’t mind do you, Hel?
H: Of course not. I always wanted a garden. Just hadn’t planned on having it in the living room, that’s all.
S: It won’t happen again, I promise. Only I need these potted by tomrrow,
and----
H: Don’t worry about it. It’s quite relaxing, actually. I can see why a lot of the women work in the prison garden.
S: Have you checked the potting shed for tunnels?
H: (Big inhalation) You should come and give a lecture sometime.
S: What, shut up with all those sex-starved women?
H: They’re not all that sex-starved.
S: Go on, shatter my dreams.
H: Maybe that’s the way in.
S: Come again.
H: There’s this woman on the wing. She’d be a great ally amongst the inmates if I could get her on my side. The trouble is I’ve tried everything. She’s not interested. But she’s into gardening.
S: Let me guess. Nikki Wade? (Long Pause) I know the prisoners are important to you ,Helen but that one’s becoming an obsession. (Helen gives squinty defensive like so what look) Anyway, didn’t you say she was a lesbian?
H: Yeah, she is. (Helen looks at Sean like, so? And shakes her head a bit)
S: Well, maybe that’s your problem. You’re the right species, just the wrong variety. You like your gardeners to wear Y-fronts, don’t you, hmm? (Helen grins a bit then turns her head as Sean kisses her on the cheek)\.

Okay, that scene has always gotten me. Here she is with her boyfriend and they are talking about the sex-starved inmates. Then Helen slips in "Maybe that's the way in." So, a bit later we are to find out she wants Sean to lecture about gardening, but I think the writers were planting another seed. They are talking about sex and lesbians and Helen just happens to say, "Maybe that's the way in," when talking about getting Nikki on her side. Now I don't think it was even conscious on Helen's part. I just think we are being introduced to bigger and better things to come between Helen and Nikki and when Helen says, "Maybe that's the way in," I certainly was not thinking of gardening. But then again, maybe it was just my projection.

Then in episode 5 we have that wonderful scene in Helen's office after Nikki attacks Shell for her insensitive remark. Nikki is in her rebellious mode and Helen won't put up with it. Everyone has been talking about the way the prison system has an infantile way of dealing with prisoners. Well, in this one instance I feel Nikki had a bit of a defiant, almost infantile behaviour. More adolescent actually. The arms crossed, eyes rolling etc. So Helen just yells at her to sit. Helen keeps her ground and finally breaks Nikki, not with anger but by only giving her a warning. To me that will always be one of the best scenes as Nikki tears up and asks for permission to leave. She is so submissive in her demeanor and Helen knows she broke through by that little smile when Nikki leaves. Now, Helen admits she doesn't know why she is sticking her neck out for Nikki, but I think the writers are letting us on that Helen is confused about her feelings for Nikki at this point and yet showing us she does have strong feelings for her.

Then in episode 6 we ahve the introduction of Jesse, Denny's mom. That whole scene in the servery in which Helen walks in and helps Jessie up and asks Bodybag for help and tells her if her back is so bad she shouldn't even be there. Then she tells BB to get Jessie a cup of tea. The look on Nikki's face in the background is great. Then when BB leaves the smile that Nikki gives Helen is priceless. Nikki is falling for Helen and here is where many issues come into play.
1) These are two very strong determined women and the sparks are there. One is in denial the other is totally aware.
2) Helen is a woman with a very high moral standard so despite the fact that she is falling for Nikki she is faced with the fact that she is in charge of Nikki's care and is breaking the rules. More importantly, she is going against her code of ethics.
3) Helen has always identified as straight and the idea of turning her world upside is terrifying.
As for Nikki, well, she has been dumped by her girlfriend of 9 years. She is vulnerable and here is this strong sexy woman showing interest in her. So, I feel that in part is causing her to fall for Helen. I wouldn't call it a rebound so much as realizing there are other options. But still, I feel Nikki is in a vulnerable state and that may have been one reason for the heavy attraction. Helen did pay a lot of attention to her. Of course I am a firm believer in fate so perhaps this was their destiny.
When it comes to Sean, I never got the feeling that Helen was head over heels in love with him. I got the feeling she had fun with him, but I never felt a real deep intimacy between them.
Okay, so later on in episode 6 Helen breaks the rules by bringing in her copy of Sophie's World for Nikki to read. Again, Helen is giving Nikki a message. She is telling Nikki she likes her and considers her special because she is willing to break the rules for her.
And then comes the wonderful library scene and the Juliet and Juliet comment by Nikki. Helen asks the all too familiar question, "Have you never been interested in men?" Nikki goes, "Not my flavour, no." Then Helen goes, "well," and Nikki goes, "What, I just haven't met the right one? They do nothing for me." Helen goes, "How can you be sure?" Then Nikki goes, "Same way you are. If you are..." And the look she gives Helen says it all. It's almost like a dare. Then Helen laughs nervously and says very softy, "I'm not interested in women. Not in that way." It seems she can't really look Nikki in the eyes at this point. Then Nikki quips back with, "Well you should give it a go some time. You don't know what you're missing." She gives Helen a look and hands her "Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit."
These are all brilliant set-ups to episode 7. We have seen the sparks, the flirting, the rule-breaking and the curiosity of Helen as she wanted to know how Nikki knew she was a lesbian.
So then we get Sean coming out of the potting shed and Helen is there to hand him his orange juice and then he proposes. She's on her way out to work and he already expects an answer and helen reminds him he took a month to decide on whether or not he wanted to even move in with her. He keeps wanting an answer and it seems as though it's just another thing to add to Helen's agenda, not a proposal of marriage. If it were I who had proposed I'd have been crushed and figured she wasn't interested. Sean must be one dense dude or he wants what he wants and won't settle.
Then Nikki gets moved up to the 3s and as so many have pointed out she pokes a bit of fun at teh perks, yet, she is beaming. She does like it but I feel it has more to do with the fact that it is because Helen worked it out for her and feels it is because Helen cares for her, not so much because of the "perks". So, if being a good girl means getting Helen's attention then I think Nikki will play along with the prison game. But then Nikki's world is shattered when she finds out Sean has proposed to Helen. Then there's the potting shed scene in which we have the wonderful, "It's about this!" embedded in our minds forever.
But what gets me is how insensitive Helen was. Or shall I say blind, dense, in denial. I'm not sure of the right word. Abzug, you're good with words, maybe you can help me out. She has no idea why Nikki is upset about hearing this news, yet she has gotten Nikki on the 3s, broken the rules to loan her a book, etc. She's has befriended her and sent out signals, yet, I honestly think Helen isn't even aware of the signals she sent out to Nikki. I really get the passion she feels for Nikki and when she's with Sean no passion and Helen can't even see this! Wake up girl! lol
Then once again we see the shift in camera work going from Nikki in the potting shed to Helen in her office. Nikki is close to tears and Helen is quite disturbed. Quite a contrast from the earlier scene of Helen getting out of the shower and Nikki putting on mascara. Here both are faced with dealing with the Truth which has come out. Nikki is facing the truth of Helen's engagement and the guilt of what she did. Helen is dealing with the truth of the fact that she has feelings for Nikki and how she should deal with what happened. Then she reaches for the phone and has
Nikki called into her office. As Nikki walks into Helen's office she is all contrite and Helen greets her with a cold wall of anger. Then Helen tells her that everything she has done for Nikki has been only for professional reasons. (That's why she broke a rule?) I love the "Even if I were attracted to you, WHICH I AM NOT," So telling. I think Helen said it more for her own benefit than for Nikki's and Nikki being intelligent and most likely has dealt with women who have had trouble in coming out before knows this. I can see why Nikki stormed out of the office and love the troubled look on Helen's face as Nikki leaves for you can tell she is in turmoil over the whole situation. Her world is being turned upside down and she is trying so hard to keep control of the situation. The only way she knows how is to use the power game.

I've always thought that Helen, as a straight woman, just never considered that Nikki could develop these feelings for her. So it's not that she's insensitive, just clueless or oblivious. I mean, she knows Nikki is a lesbian, but I think many straight women just assume that lesbians will know they are straight, and see them as off-limits, not a possibility. They'll even flirt up a storm with a lesbian and not think they are taking a risk, because it's like their straight identity provides a protective barrier in some way. And you're absolutely right when you say that Helen had no idea what signals she was sending--all she knew is that she wanted to win Nikki over. It never occurred to her that there might be a sexual/romantic dynamic, either on her side or on Nikki's.

However, I would say that once Helen was aware of what Nikki's feelings were, she was a bit cruel in her dismissal of them--but of course, we know that's because she was grappling with her own feelings, or trying to avoid grappling with them!

The fascinating thing about BG is that, after having gone through online debates before, along come fresh alert minds and pull out ideas which hadn't struck me. This has gone on throughout this debate on Series 1 and Abzug' 'the truth will out' theme is a blinder, where it links in Nikki and Helen and also Dominic and Shell.
I have a number of thoughts.

1. The very powerful opening sequences provide the irresistable impression that Nikki is doing her makeup for Helen, while glancing out of the window and that, up till how 'the boyfriend' has been that hazy impression that is not seen and somehow doesn't exist until the botany lecture.

2. Sean is shown to have 'kept on' in his oblique way of saying that Helen would 'be a good mother' until out popped his proposal and they verbally dance around each other. By contrast, Helen's talk with Nikki on the staircase leaves both of them wide open to what is unspoken and gives the feeling of a casual meeting on some staircase and this impression of the prisoner/ wing governor relation fading into the distance lasts right up to the potting shed scene. When Helen lectures Nikki in her office about 'professionalism' it is so striking how Helen looks in every direction except at Nikki while Nikki's intense stare says as much as words. The acting between the two of them was so striking in illuminating what was on the written page into worlds of cross cutting meanings

3. Dominic comes into his own with real strength in weighing in his support for Helen in getting Nikki up onto the 3s against Fenner and Bodybag's opposition (and the silent opposition from the rest of them), in facing up to Fenner in other scenes and in the drugs bust. it is noticable that this is where Nikki's respect for him is manifest.

4. Nikki's sympathy in helping anyone in trouble is pretty broad in the way that she defended Sean at a time when he was just another guy from outside giving her a talk on one of her interests and what was striking was the way Sean lied in saying that Helen was 'begging him to marry her.' which when cross referenced with the early scene in Ep 1 when he described Helen's interest in Nikki as an obsession, shows him to be manipulative and perfectly aware of what he was about.

Wow. Umm, I'd never thought about this. I always interpreted Sean's comment as just harmless joking, but of COURSE, you are completely right that he has some (unconscious?) awareness of Nikki's importance to Helen, and he is purposefully marking his turf, in essence, with his charming little joke about Helen forcing him to say yes to her proposal. Brilliant, I love this. The character of Sean, although only minor, is so well-written, because they've created a character who you can believe as Helen's boyfriend, but who would also do something like the stunt with the incendiary suit at the end of S1.

Yes, I think you've captured this exactly. Knowing Helen has a boyfriend is different than actually having him intrude on Larkhall. If we get back to the marking your turf idea, Larkhall is the place where Helen belongs to Nikki (in a way). From Nikki's perspective, confined as it is by the walls of the prison, Helen has no important relationships other than with her. I mean, Nikki knows Helen isn't bringing in books for anyone else, or giving them a warning after attacking a prisoner, or giving them cells on G3. So she's feeling like a teacher's pet--adored, singled out. And then, boom, suddenly she has this unavoidable evidence that Helen has other people in her life, and that most-important person (Sean) is intruding on the space she and Helen share, interrupting their intimacy, perhaps reminding Nikki that she's not so important to Helen after all, that the intimacy is imagined, false. And not only that, Nikki is furious because she's been duped into HELPING him establish himself on her own turf, at Larkhall, because she's defended him against Shell's mischief.

Nice points about Nikki's anger at Helen around helping S establish himself at Larkhall, Abzug.

Richard, I was especially taken with your point 2; that there's a sort of telescoping of possibilities between Helen & Sean that runs in exactly the opposite direction from that of Helen & Nikki. Sean's proposal pushes her into a corner of increasingly narrow options--wife, mother, etc.--whereas the movement with Nikki, however nebulous--and paradoxically, trapped within a prison setting--is still infinitely more open, in part precisely because it's undefined.

I love the last two posts of Abzug ans Ekny and they really push things along nicely.
It's worth while pulling themes out of them at the risk of intruding into further episodes and reaching back to previous episodes, earlier on, it seemed (at least superficially) that Helen's flat and Sean was some sort of haven from all Helen's troubles. Where Sean starts to reveal himself in his true colours and Helen starts to face her feelings about Nikki, everything gets turned upside down. Your point, ekny about undefined possibilities points so surely towards the 'Arts Room' scene later on. Your description, Abzug, so clearly depicts Nikki's perspective of Helen.

What is captured so lyrically is seeing Helen in her office and Nikki (trying to) plant bulbs, separately after the 'potting shed' incident. It is the combination of silent acting and incredibly expressive music working together.

Can we think that Helen's bringing in of Sean is not that innocent, even if at a subconscious level? In other words could she be wanting to see Nikki's reaction to making Sean a real presence?
Why does she feel the need to bring these two very powerful forces (powerful for very different reasons) in her life together? How many prison governors bring their partners to work (on a voluntary or paid basis) in the prison system? Is that something that somebody with as much professional integrity as Helen would do, if it wasn't for the fact that she had other reasons as well? Reasons powerful enough to make her bend the rules a little bit?

This is an amazingly good point, munky. I have always just taken Helen's decision that she wanted to create a gardening class for the benefit of the inmates and Sean was convenient to hand with his knowledge and a 'posh bloke banging on.' She might have done it to broaden prisoner's minds- at least on the surface. What she thought of the consequences is something else seeing as Nikki was bound to go to the class. Somehow, she created the situation that he wasn't introduced to the prisoners though there was no reason to. What her unconscious was up to since that must have been attracted to Nikki is another thing and especially when she went to greet him.
It might be stretching things but she might have been unconsciously wanting the whole matter of her relationship with Nikki to come to the surface as much as she verbally denied it in the potting shed.
This is absolutely fascinating stuff where I am on absolutely new territory and am 'winging it.' Brilliant point and I'd be grateful for input on this to run through this, duly amend it and push on with it as I'd love to see other thoughts on the matter. Totally brilliant.

That is about where I was going with it, that Helen's subsconscious wanted to bring this to light. She played God a little bit here.
I think Nikki partly picked this up. That is maybe why she was 'agressive' later on in the shed.
Or at least if I try to put myself in Nikki's shoes that's what would have gone through my mind. 'There isn't a precedent for the gardening lessons so it's not like it was a custom of prison life. It's not in the curriculum. Helen never said anything about it before, not to me, not to the prison officers. So she brings him in and comes at the end of the class (and it's not like she goes to inspect at the end of every class) and then when she sees my reaction to it/ to Sean she comes in the shed after me and asks me what's this about??'.
This is Nikki who as we said before was just recovering from Trish's 'betrayal' (that's another rich topic).

If it was just the fact that Helen thought that gardening lessons are a way of getting Nikki on her side she wouldn't have chosen Sean. I am sure there are plenty of gardeners out there. Especially Sean, her soon to be husband.

And it's hard to believe that it didn't cross Helen's mind that she's making Nikki meet Sean and viceversa. In fact, the first time when Helen tested the waters and tested Sean (tested in a non-manipulative, non-malicious, subconscious way is when she tells him about Nikki.

Thanks, one hell of a lot, munky. Just to push this further, Nikki really battened down the hatches to an extraordinary extent to what must have been the utter paralysing shock of Sean's identity which was furthest from her mind before that minute. She had never put two and two together in advance that the lecturer on gardening might be Sean. Nevertheless, Helen picked up on it immediately and followed Nikki to the potting shed.

Your other points are spot on. There was no need for the class to bring Nikki on side since she was there already.

Well, now, this was something which had never occurred to me: did Nikki think that Helen had shown up at the end of class especially to see and talk to HER? If so, that would make the revelation of Helen and Sean's relationship even more painful.

I have to admit, when you first posed your question, my response was basically the theory you dismiss here: that Helen had the idea of reaching Nikki through her interest in gardening ("maybe that's the way in"), and since Sean was right there and available, it was an obvious choice to bring him in to teach the class. (edited to add: per Richard's point, perhaps now that Nikki was on her side, she still wanted to keep her there, do nice things for her?) And still, after the discussion we're having, I think that's all Helen's conscious mind was thinking about. But as for her unconscious mind, I do think she was eager to have Sean meet Nikki, in the way that you might want your partner/spouse to meet the important people you work with every day.* I don't know if Helen was quite as eager to have Nikki meet Sean, but perhaps she was--maybe she thought Nikki would see her as a fellow human being if Nikki met her boyfriend, rather than Nikki thinking of her as a prison officer.

*The real question to ask Helen's unconcious mind is: why is Nikki one of the ones who is so important to you? This is where Richard's point comes in a bit:

I do think Helen wanted Sean to meet Nikki because Nikki made such an impact on her, and she wanted in some way to share that with Sean, her boyfriend. But I don't think it was more than that--I don't think she thought of Nikki as someone she had a "relationship" with, just as one of the exceptional people she met at work.

Oh this is an awfully interesting question.

Most of what's going on with H is unconscious. All she's aware of is she's using resources at her disposal to make life better for women inside. That's about it, imo. Look at how well-bred & oblivious: introducing Nikki to Sean like they're at a fucking cocktail party. It's gracious but also more than a little bizarre but that's straight women for you.

This is right before the PSI (Potting Shed Incident); 2eps before the first kiss and well before Nikki's declared herself to Helen.

So what Helen consciously knows is only that Nikki's flirted with her. If she got her knickers in a twist every time she was exposed to that in a women's prison she'd be a very poor administrator indeed. Iow: Helen wouldn't notice and be effected as much as she is if she weren't already interested.

(Thus far, for Nikki, it still falls into the category of play: is the quality of her come-on really that different from her tone in S3 with Caroline? I don't think so. Sure Nikki's playing it cool; only way to go in this situation particularly. But so far as what Helen knows... it's not like a major big deal to the woman.)

In other words, Helen's falling apart all on her own. (It takes her 3 seasons to do it properly & then start rebuilding. With Sean she's got something, it's got cracks all over the place & she keeps trying to mend them long as she can; with Thomas, there's barely more than a framework: the whole thing finally just falls down, bang. And it only goes back together one way. With Nikki.)


So on the most basic level, Helen wants to compare Sean & Nikki to reassure herself, both that it's Sean she wants and to ward Nikki off.

Like so many of Helen's actions, it's internally contradictory &, in fact, impossible: she has to look at what she desires to gauge the effects of her actions in denying that which she desires. If Helen is doing this in the first place, it can already never work. (...or, let's say, what 'interests' her at this stage, though I do think by ep7 we can make a case for what's built up here to be a bit less antiseptic-sounding). She has to look at Nikki to know if N's getting it; her eyes--her consciousness--will have to be on Nikki all the time, to see Nikki's reaction.

I was thinking of it in a much more primal way. Helen senses something building up in her about Nikki. At the same time Sean is pushing with the wedding (or in the other words the wedding is imminent). Helen already has doubts about the wedding and the whole thing with Sean. But at the same time she doesn't have anything yet with Nikki or she doesn't know what she has but she definitely has something and it is a very powerful pull. So for different reasons she's completely split, hung. The balance is perfectly still in the middle. But because the wedding is round the corner there isn't time to wait for the balance to tilt one way or the other on its own. So she subconsciously creates the situation that will tilt the balance. Because she needs to, she can't stay hung.
She's not only provoking Nikki, she's also genuinely putting the two contenders into the ring. Nikki's reaction is exactly what Helen needed (to be sure that Nikki's feelings are what she senses them to be and at the intensity that she Helen thought they were) - needed in any love situation, but especially because of the very definitive thing that she was deciding upon (ie marriage).
And Sean's reaction (she's begged me to marry her) was the one that Helen expected, that of a weak man. It's poking fun at yourself that accentuates (for Helen, who knows the reality) the fact that Sean is weak. Even the fact that he needed to mention it to an inmate means he feels threatened by Nikki. And yeah, he does say it to mark his territory.

Look at the conversation again:

First of all Helen is thinking of Nikki at night when she's at home with Sean. Secondly when she says ' Maybe you should come and give a lecture sometime' she genuinely says it as a tease or banter. But then, because of what her mind is really focusing on, she realises the implication: she could make the balance tilt.
She's so preocupied with the situation with Nikki that she's really upfront with it when talking to Sean. Even Sean senses that when he immediately thinks of Nikki.

I find that hard to believe since Nikki is already somebody that Sean is uncomfortable about /complaining about. And secondly Nikki isn't a work colleague, she's a prisoner. I mean Sean doesn't seemed to have been introduced to anybody at work (nobody's on the list for the wedding). More so, by the sounds of it, and like we've always said, helen keeps (or wants to very much) professional separated from emotional, work from family.

Let's assume that Helen is completely oblivious at this point of Nikki's feelings. She still wouldn't bring Sean for that reason (Nikki seeing her as a human being) for Sean's sake. Sean has expressed his slight displeasure at the obsession Nikki has become. So I would think that Helen respects him enough not to use him (by making him meet the obsession) for her work in the prison (we've started by assuming that Nikki is just prison work for Helen at this point).
Consider the other possibility: Helen is aware (more or less) of Nikki's feelings. She doesn't think then that Nikki might not be seeing her as a fellow human being.

I'm sorry but that doesn't hold in my mind. Again, Nikki isn't somebody she met at work, she's a prisoner in the prison that Helen runs. She has just started there so it's very hard to believe that a prison governor would make it a point of their husband to be meeting a prisoner you barely know. It is even harder to believe when what Sean was interested in (and what Helen knows she should be interested in) is the marriage ceremony (and the big step that marriage is).
To say that anybody would pick up exactly this moment to introduce their partner to a prisoner you barely know, especially when you're ducking the whole marriage issue every way you can, just doesn't seem realistic to me.

I wasn't thinking of that. What I meant was that Nikki thought that Helen came at the end of the class to gauge Nikki's reaction to the reality of Sean (and them being together). So then to come in the shed and say that you don't know what's Nikki upset about is a bit rich.

If Helen wouldn't have come at the end of the class, Sean would have left and Nikki wouldn't have known any better, she would have thought Sean is just another gardener. And Helen knew this (that Nikki had no way of knowing the gardening teacher is her husband to be). So you can't even say that she didn't think about it, that she didn't realise it. She knew and that is why she went to the end of the class, because she needed to see Nikki's reaction to the physical reality of her boyfriend.

What Helen didn't want (she didn't think Sean would mention it) was to tell Nikki about the wedding. She just wanted to see Nikki's reaction to the reality of Sean. Because she needed to, proof of what she thought she saw in Nikki and precious info when deciding upon the marriage.
Sean pushed it to the point of saying something about the marriage because he was already uncomfortable/threatened by Helen's 'obsession' and by the fact that Helen wasn't that enthusiastic about the marriage (yet she was enthusiastic to the point of 'obsession' with her prison work, with a specific prisoner actually, a lesbian.

It was a very intense game of poker what happened in that classroom. Everybody wanted to see the other's hand, for everybody the stakes were high and none of them could really say who's going to win.

ok love everything everyone has written in this thread.

Want to know what you think about Helen telling Sean that Nicky dragged her into her cell and tried to kiss her? As we never actually see this happen. I assume it didnt

I think this is helen yet again using her subsconcious to gauge Seans reaction to her feelings for Nikki :devil , and also her confusion as to her feelings for Sean :cry2 .

I think we're going to have to agree to disagree on this one munky. First when Helen arranged for Sean to come in to give the lecture, he had not yet proposed, and therefore Helen did not yet have a relationship crisis. The proposal is the first time we really see Helen actively avoiding emotional intimacy with Sean. Second, Helen says to Nikki "Didn't Sean tell you? He's my partner." Now, there are MANY things where Helen is not a reliable narrator, but in this case, I believe her--I think she assumed Sean had told the prisoners who he was. So when she shows up after the class, I think it's simply to see how her boyfriend's class went--he was nervous about it, and she wanted to check in.

Now, I'm not totally opposed to the idea that there's something deep in Helen's unconscious which makes her want to see Sean and Nikki together, perhaps to compare them in some primal way. But you're describing a level of manipulation in Helen which I think is just not there. To say that Helen knew that Nikki wouldn't know who Sean was, and therefore went to the class to reveal Sean's identity to Nikki and watch to see if Nikki was upset--that's an almost cruel interpretation of Helen and the scene, imo.

No, it's definitely not just your projection. So, let's set the scene. We have Helen and Sean sitting around having a domestic moment potting plants. What does Helen start thinking about? Nikki.

This scene is absolutely written so that we jump from the topic of women having sex in prison (i.e., lesbian sex) to Helen saying that's the way in. It's obvious, but Helen is in such denial that she doesn't notice what she's saying. But Sean does: "Come again?" So Helen changes the topic to gardening. In this scene, as in others, Helen skirts around the issue of Nikki being a lesbian. She's aware of it, but only vaguely.

I absolutely agree that there's something to the idea that Helen brings Sean into the prison. Helen is bringing her personal life into the professional realm. But of course, the professional realm is already very personal for her, and the separation between the two is nearly nonexistent. Helen wants Nikki to meet Sean. This seems to be what she's consciously thinking: "Nikki is into gardening. I'll bring Sean into the prison to give a gardening class. Nikki will appreciate this and like me." But what Helen ends up doing is bringing the love triangle into the same room. Helen is unconsciously bringing about a confrontation where she has to face her feelings.

What Helen requires is a very direct, completely nonambiguous action to get her to honestly look at what's happening. Nikki has already tried to tell Helen (the "you should give it a go" scene in the library), but Helen is still oblivious.

I really believe that Helen wants a confrontation with Nikki. Helen needs to understand her "obsession," even if she can't articulate this to anyone. She keeps pushing Nikki until Nikki pushes back. Helen does the following out of an unconscious need to understand her feelings:

She pursues Nikki relentlessly.
She flirts with Nikki.
She does favors for Nikki.
She asks Nikki about Trisha and how long they were together.
She asks Nikki about her sexuality ("Have you never been interested in men?)
She brings her boyfriend to the prison.
She stops by after the class to see her boyfriend and the woman who her boyfriend describes as her "obsession."
When Nikki gets a confused look, Helen has to explain that Sean is her partner (note that she never said anything beforehand--i.e., oh, by the way, Nikki, I'm bringing my boyfriend in to teach a gardening class). When Nikki leaves the room, instead of letting it go, Helen pursues Nikki into the intimate space of the potting shed (contrast this with the later scene when Helen has Nikki brought into the professional realm of her office).
In the potting shed, Helen can't let it go even though she can see that Nikki is getting upset. The continual idea is that Helen lacks knowledge, and she thinks Nikki can teach her.
Nikki asks: "Why are you telling me then?"
Helen answers, "I really don't know..."
Nikki: "You really don't know?"
Helen: "If I knew, I wouldn't be asking you, would I?"
And then you have it: Nikki shows her. Helen is shocked, but now she KNOWS. There is no going back to a state of innocence.

I wouldn't even call it manipulation. Because that in my mind implies coldness, cold blooded planning and detachment. I said from the beginning that a lot of it is at the subconscious level.

Not to see her upset. Helen doesn't enjoy making Nikki suffer. That is why she just says partner. Partner is the UK is used very much for boyfriend. She didn't plan on telling Nikki about the wedding. Subconsciouly she needed to know Nikki's reaction to the sight of Sean.

then my memory doesn't serve me right. but I'll check anyway :)

I disagree with that. I believe Helen had a relationship crisis before she even started at Larkhall and she would have had one even if there was no Nikki at Larkhall. But anyway, for certain she had a relationship crisis the minute she started at Larkhall.

Let me clarify: Helen's relationship was not in great shape at least from the moment she started at Larkhall, perhaps before. However, it was humming along in its way, and she could pretty much ignore the ways it wasn't the ideal she wanted. However, the relationship wasn't in crisis until Sean did something which broke her equilibrium, which put her in a position of having to actually say to herself "hey, do I want to spend the rest of my life with this guy?" That's what I mean by crisis. For fun, I actually went to the dictionary to look at the actual definition of the word "crisis" and the various definitions refer to phrases like "turning point," "condition of instability or danger leading to a decisive change," "emotional upheaval."

In my reading of this episode and Helen and Sean's relationship, none of these were true until he proposed. Something was definitely brewing with Nikki before that, but again, it was all something Helen could ignore and/or repress. Once Sean proposed, and Nikki learned about it and forced Helen to confront the connection between them, well, that was like double crisis for Helen.

Ah, thanks for the clarification. It's hard to describe a character's subconscious motives while still conveying how subconscious they are. Sorry I misread you.

maybe I'm having a blank moment here but I'm not sure I understand that

What a working relationship is is down to personal interpretation. But look again at the way Helen reacts to Sean from the beginning of BG and then look again at the second scene between the two of them in thsi episode.
In the first scene (opening scene) Sean proposes. The scene ends without Helen saying anything to his 'What do you think'?
The second scene is all about Helen being terribly uncomfortable with the idea and we have again the 'can we discuss it later'. She doesn't even have to think how she feels about Sean ('s proposal). She knows the second Sean says it that she doesn't like it. To me that's not a working relationship, not even one that's humming along in its way. Even Sean knows it. Look at his face at the end of this scene.


on a previous matter: I said that Sean hasn't been introduced to Helen's co-workers. He has, in ep6 when he comes back at night (after pub closed down - which is at 11pm) to find Helen having a glass of wine with Dominic. In the pub, upon seeing that the it's closing time she tells (no less) Dominic 'off to my place' to keep her company.

Hi munky, you and I agree on this point. :) I never said that they have a working relationship, because they don't. Helen and Sean do not have a great relationship from the start of the show. The only thing I was trying to explain in my post is that I don't think Sean and Helen's relationship was "in crisis" until he proposed (at the start of this ep). So the scene you describe (Helen avoiding giving him an answer on his proposal) is starting to show the crisis--the cracks are spreading and they can't be ignored anymore, by Helen or Sean.

Interesting, I feel you guys have been having a conversation in the key of G & I've been doing a short solo in the key of F & they're basically about the same thing, or at least running in parallel. Dunno if we can share sheet-music here or what but will try:

I discussed my post w/a friend, who replied with a long riff on the same set of ideas around Helen's degree of consciousness/awareness (& how this bears on the question of her inviting Sean to lecture on gardening in ep7). I think it's spot-on & pretty much agree with every word. I'm including it now bec, as well as following from my own post of yesterday, it does seem to address what you are discussing as well.


"There is no conflict between Sean and Nikki. In fact, Nikki and Sean work together to make the class on gardening worthwhile and positive. The conflict is inside Helen, not between opposite sex other and same sex other. The conflict is not between types of desire, which is how Helen sees it (subconsciously). She may have been trying to "show" Sean to Nikki in order to banish the Nikki effect, much as the Byzantines went to battle with sacred icons and relics before them. [...] There was no conflict because the outside world was not the battlefield. The conflict is between sources of self-understanding, which is the same as the conflict between self-understanding and lack of self-understanding. Is Helen to take her image of what she is from what she has been taught or from the promptings from within? Since what she has been taught is wrong, not because it comes from without but because it contradicts the promptings from within, all external struggle is beside the point, but she will [continue to] struggle externally to avoid struggling internally. She holds Sean out to Nikki as Zander holds the cross out to the Willow who isn't a vampire. It just doesn't work because Nikki is not the enemy, and Sean and Nikki are not enemies per se, which they would be if Helen were a thing they were contesting for possession of. Why does Helen wnat to be a thing over whom others might fight? [It leaves her with no] personal responsibility for the outcome.

She is not an object to be possessed, therefore, Sean and Nikki aren't fighting. (Aren't presented as fighting; we can only talk about what is presented. Of course Sean would regard Nikki as an enemy if he were in possession of all the facts. We have to accept what is left out as having been left out as well as deal with what is presented and assume that there is a damned good reason for both). On the conscious level, she is only setting up a class to help the women, with a slight dash of showing Nikki that she's a nice straight girl with a nice fiancee. But that slight dash is all. Why in the hell would she have to do that if she had no doubts, felt nothing? She would have to do something if Nikki were aggressive and persistent, which she is not. ..."

I come back to what happens next, the potting shed incident. The way I read it Nikki does what she does there precisely because she thinks that Helen 'orchestrated' her meeting of Sean. Maybe Helen didn't (or didn't realise the full implications of making Nikki meet Sean after the intense and sustained attention Helen has shown her so far). But to me it seems that that is how Nikki saw it.
Remember that when Helen asks her how it went Nikki says with that look on her face 'Well, you learn new things every day". Now she didn't learn that Helen had a partner, nor that he was called Sean (she already knew this from a previous episode when Helen comes in and Nikki is lying in the grass) and it didn't bother her.
It is the marriage news that bothered Nikki. Nikki being the commited type, the type that takes relationships seriously (so seriously that she is ready to kill the person hurting the one she loves).
She's thinking 'ok, so I've misread ALL the signals, but did she had to let me know that in this way?' or she's thinking 'what is she playing at and why. She flirts like hell with me and then she brings him in to rub my nose in her coming marriage'. And then when Helen comes after her int the Shed and pretends (that's how Nikki sees it) innocently that she doesn't know what Nikki's reaction is about...well, that is too much for Nikki.

Wow, interesting. I have to say, I never interpreted Nikki's motivations in the potting shed this way. The way I read the scene, Nikki was upset that Helen was getting married, not that Helen was clueless or had orchestrated the meeting after the class. The only time Helen had mentioned Sean to her previously was by saying "the longer we're together the less time we spend together" (might have gotten the wording slightly wrong, but not the meaning). So in Nikki's mind, Helen has a boyfriend, but he's on the way out. The relationship in her mind certainly isn't heading in the "let's get married" direction.

Then, when you get to the potting shed, Nikki is upset about the wedding, upset Helen didn't tell her ("you kept that quiet"), upset at how she found out, yes. But I don't think she thinks Helen is pretending to be innocent. I think she's angry at how innocent/clueless Helen actually is, and she wants Helen to know the effect that her flirting has had on Nikki. Nikki also wants Helen to know that her interest in Nikki might have another layer to it, a romantic layer, and Nikki is angry at Helen for continuing to ignore it.

You have very smart friends, e. I liked this summing up of the whole class sequence. Of course, it's in this episode that Nikki becomes aggressive and persistent, and that forces Helen to actually take an active role in what is going on, to take a conscious interest in the conflict going on inside her. Which is the answer to the question of why Helen wants to give up any responsibility for the outcome and become an object that is fought over. It's the best way to continue repressing her feelings and desires. It occurs to me that as long as Helen continues to work at Larkhall, she continues this avoidance technique: she has to be careful with Nikki, she can't get caught, she's broken the law--all to avoid really taking charge of her own desire, really allowing herself to do what she wants (or to even KNOW what she wants to do!). If Larkhall sets the rules, then Helen doesn't have to make all of her own decisions.

I think I don't quite get this part, which might be because my Buffy knowledge has faded with time. In my reading of the scene, Nikki DOES see Sean as the enemy, or at least, as an intruder into the private Larkhall world she shares with Helen, where Helen flirts with her and makes her feel special and loved. I don't think Nikki wants to get into a battle to possess Helen, but I do think she feels the threat of Sean's presence, the threat of Helen making a commitment to Sean by getting married.

Here's something that always interested me when I first heard it. This is a convo between Helen and Sean in their flat. I've taken the excerpt from Dakinisbreath's post: H: Maybe that’s the way in.
S: Come again.
H: There’s this woman on the wing. She’d be a great ally amongst the inmates if I could get her on my side. The trouble is I’ve tried everything. She’s not interested. But she’s into gardening.
S: Let me guess. Nikki Wade? (Long Pause) I know the prisoners are important to you ,Helen but that one’s becoming an obsession. (Helen gives squinty defensive like so what look) Anyway, didn’t you say she was a lesbian?
H: Yeah, she is. (Helen looks at Sean like, so? And shakes her head a bit)
S: Well, maybe that’s your problem. You’re the right species, just the wrong variety. You like your gardeners to wear Y-fronts, don’t you, hmm? (Helen grins a bit then turns her head as Sean kisses her on the cheek).

I know it's a clever and a witty statement to make by Sean but an inane one in my opinion.
Is Sean being obtuse or am I being obtuse? My question is why would Helen be the wrong variety, I mean a girl is a girl is a girl, esp. someone like Helen. Nikki doesn't think so.