The Hour
So I finished S2 of The Hour and I seriously love these two SO MUCH:
"I miss you. I wrote you two letters, and I said... Just get on a plane & come. You didn't write back."
[Spoilers for the finale and unapologetic citation of my favourite Freddie/Bel moments.]
Well, this OTP have pretty much been EVERYTHING throughout S2. I knew it would always be them back when I started watching the show. I love the powerful emotions that would surface from time to time as Bel and Freddie were both dealing with his return, and I especially love how in retrospect, it goes in hand with the characters' motivations as explained in the S2 finale.
One of my favourite moments was when Bel gets a friendly advice to go out & pick up a date to have a good time with. "Run away for too long, and they stop loving you." And naturally, Bel finds herself with a bottle of wine at Freddie's door because that quote has a personal meaning for her. Because regardless of all the residual anger she feels at him leaving her for so long, he is still the only guy she imagines herself having fun with, and she wants things to be the way they were before between them.
Alas - shocker! - Freddie didn't come back alone... Her face at finding out he got married. OH MY HEART. Of course, she masks it with false happiness and wishes of all the best in the beginning, but she can't help telling how she really feels when no one else is around:
"I wish you'd told me before you did that stupid, stupid... er, wonderful thing."
"And what would you have done?"
This makes me feel like Freddie (maybe even subconsciously) did it to get a reaction from Bel. He wanted to return to the BBC despite the impressive gigs he had as a journalist abroad, he wanted Bel to see him with Camille. I do think he was fond of his wife, but definitely not in the way he was about Bel, even after all this time, which Camille was quick to pick up on.
"Camille and I keep fighting. About you. She says that all I care about is the story. The story and... you."
Unfortunately, while she is brilliant at talking about other people's feelings as a journalist, Bel is both terrible and terrified at voicing her own, so their every conversation, having shown promise in the beginning due to Freddie's being more straightforward, would hit a dead end. It's clearly eating her up from inside, but not going there with him is a much safer territory. Dating another man is a much safer territory because it will be bearable if that goes south.
I liked the recurring theme of Freddie's letters, and how he admitted to his take as to why she didn't answer him (and also rather cleverly used it to talk her into being by his side on a very important night for their story):
"And I told myself, of course, it's because you love news more.
That doing this will always be more important than any man.
So I will see you tonight, at El Paradis. Because this is what we do."
Watching Bel rushing off from her date, I couldn't help thinking how Freddie's words must have been more effective than he imagined them to be... especially given that we find out his interpretation of her silence wasn't 100% right. Bel's panicky parting words could very well fit her general thought process regarding Freddie, beyond that particular night:
"I need to be somewhere. I need to be somewhere else. I need to be with Freddie. He needs me."
"Mr Lyon."
"I just... I can't do this. I can't be this."
"Yes, you can. There's more to life than chasing history."
"No, there isn't. The truth is something you don't have to lie about."
It's like her heart took over from her brain for a while, and everything about that date screamed WRONG.
Which brings us to the S2 finale.
Oh God, the episode BROKE ME. Imagine how scared Bel was for Freddie's life before he left to fetch Delaine - enough to try & initiate the conversation she's been long terrified of. It's like she felt she needed to find a way to tell him before it was too late. Which resulted in this ominously BRILLIANT scene:
"Freddie. We need to talk... we haven't talked."
"We need to stop talking. We talk too much. Instead we have to do something."
"I'm tired of it not being possible. It is possible. YOU are possible. With me."
PERFECTION
I love Freddie so much for this. Honestly, no words could have made their mutual feelings any clearer. He knew they both wanted it, so he went for it. This is why she dotes on him - both work and relationship-wise he's ready to step in and act where she's thinking too much. :) Although I suspect Freddie also did it for similar reasons Bel pulled him into that room - because he didn't want any regrets if he were never to come back.
AND OH GOD FREDDIE BASICALLY GIVING HIS LIFE FOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPOSE CILENTI FOR THE MURDEROUS BASTARD HE IS. It was a heartbreak how Freddie was getting beaten up while watching The Hour destroy the house of cards that used to be his very wrongdoers' vicious scheme.
HIS TEARS BEING ON THE VERGE OF PASSING OUT THOUGH, they pretty much killed me dead because they weren't tears of pain, they were tears of sadness at most likely never seeing Bel again. That little touch with "Money..." turning out to be a series of his unsuccessful attempts to say "Moneypenny" over & over - like the name was the only thing that had him clinging to life - pretty much twisted the knife.
... cue MONEYPENNY'S TEARS assuming the worst happened to Freddie and her LETTER TO HIM (for a second there, I was sure they followed her getting a phone call that the paramedics couldn't save him on the scene). Why must you have done that to me, show. I'm a complete mess at this point, ngl:
"So I got your letter. San Francisco - amazing. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write back. There are life's natural heroes and then there's you. Your words. You always believe somewhere deep in you that there is a coward. I wish I'd told you that that's not true because you leapt while I stayed. Feet first into the unknown. Why should I have expected anything less than fearlessness from you? But I am not as brave as you. I want to write and say I'll be there. I'll get on a plane, I'll come right now. I really do. But I can't. Not because I don't love you. I love you, Freddie Lyon. But because you won't even get this letter. Because I won't ever send it. I'm the coward Freddie, not you. So, instead, I'm sending this prayer out there. Just hoping that somehow you'll know to come home. Just please come home. Now, soon and maybe your courage will make me brave to. Just come home and I will leap too."
... and she did. She kept her promise and took a chance. Just... this entire letter, guys. She doesn't love her job more than him the way he assumed. I don't think she loves ANYTHING more than him tbh. In fact, precisely because of how powerful her feelings for him are, it scares her, and she bottles it up. The only reason she can write, "I love you" in that letter is because she knows beforehand she's never going to send it. I wonder how often she thought of this letter and wished she HAD sent it after Freddie came back... and now that he was away and in danger, she'd never wished she'd been more courageous more because of how much precious time was wasted, the time they could have been happy together.
"Moneypenny..."
IDK, I was actually optimistic in terms of Freddie's chances of survival after I finished watching, but having written all this out, I started to wonder if they would rather this tragic end to their love story than a season of them being together. Because there's really no more delaying the inevitable now, and TV hasn't been very kind to me in terms of my OTPs surviving the series finales as of late.
Tl;dr Series like The Hour remind me why I aspire to produce for the BBC one day. Keeping the hope alive that should there will be a S3, Ben Wishaw will return despite his busy schedule filming the movies. I'd love another series of this amazing show - not only because of my OTP, but also because of the compelling period drama it is; a drama which nevertheless would be too painful to return to should Freddie be gone. Otherwise referred to as "overinvestment".
P.S. Just how gorgeous is Romola Garai? I'm in awe. Not sure whom I'm crushing more on, Ben or her, lol.
Also, I've come across this beautiful new song "Lighthouse" by IYES today & haven't been able to stop playing it. Randomly, I've discovered that it fits this flawless Freddie/Bel video if played together so perfectly it hurts. The video is a collection of best of Freddie & Bel from S1-S2, and the original track are all those great quotes I love, but - vidder forgive me! - playing "Lighthouse" over it resonates with my overwhelming feelings for them somewhat more tonight. Please tell me I'm not the only one who does that with her favourite vids & songs, lol.
It's just such a heartfelt tune, and the band were very sweet to me, which makes them even more amazing in my books. I have promised them I'd spread the word about the song, so do check it out, with or w/o the vid. :)
"I hope that pure and simple things come true."
"I miss you. I wrote you two letters, and I said... Just get on a plane & come. You didn't write back."
[Spoilers for the finale and unapologetic citation of my favourite Freddie/Bel moments.]
Well, this OTP have pretty much been EVERYTHING throughout S2. I knew it would always be them back when I started watching the show. I love the powerful emotions that would surface from time to time as Bel and Freddie were both dealing with his return, and I especially love how in retrospect, it goes in hand with the characters' motivations as explained in the S2 finale.
One of my favourite moments was when Bel gets a friendly advice to go out & pick up a date to have a good time with. "Run away for too long, and they stop loving you." And naturally, Bel finds herself with a bottle of wine at Freddie's door because that quote has a personal meaning for her. Because regardless of all the residual anger she feels at him leaving her for so long, he is still the only guy she imagines herself having fun with, and she wants things to be the way they were before between them.
Alas - shocker! - Freddie didn't come back alone... Her face at finding out he got married. OH MY HEART. Of course, she masks it with false happiness and wishes of all the best in the beginning, but she can't help telling how she really feels when no one else is around:
"I wish you'd told me before you did that stupid, stupid... er, wonderful thing."
"And what would you have done?"
This makes me feel like Freddie (maybe even subconsciously) did it to get a reaction from Bel. He wanted to return to the BBC despite the impressive gigs he had as a journalist abroad, he wanted Bel to see him with Camille. I do think he was fond of his wife, but definitely not in the way he was about Bel, even after all this time, which Camille was quick to pick up on.
"Camille and I keep fighting. About you. She says that all I care about is the story. The story and... you."
Unfortunately, while she is brilliant at talking about other people's feelings as a journalist, Bel is both terrible and terrified at voicing her own, so their every conversation, having shown promise in the beginning due to Freddie's being more straightforward, would hit a dead end. It's clearly eating her up from inside, but not going there with him is a much safer territory. Dating another man is a much safer territory because it will be bearable if that goes south.
I liked the recurring theme of Freddie's letters, and how he admitted to his take as to why she didn't answer him (and also rather cleverly used it to talk her into being by his side on a very important night for their story):
"And I told myself, of course, it's because you love news more.
That doing this will always be more important than any man.
So I will see you tonight, at El Paradis. Because this is what we do."
Watching Bel rushing off from her date, I couldn't help thinking how Freddie's words must have been more effective than he imagined them to be... especially given that we find out his interpretation of her silence wasn't 100% right. Bel's panicky parting words could very well fit her general thought process regarding Freddie, beyond that particular night:
"I need to be somewhere. I need to be somewhere else. I need to be with Freddie. He needs me."
"Mr Lyon."
"I just... I can't do this. I can't be this."
"Yes, you can. There's more to life than chasing history."
"No, there isn't. The truth is something you don't have to lie about."
It's like her heart took over from her brain for a while, and everything about that date screamed WRONG.
Which brings us to the S2 finale.
Oh God, the episode BROKE ME. Imagine how scared Bel was for Freddie's life before he left to fetch Delaine - enough to try & initiate the conversation she's been long terrified of. It's like she felt she needed to find a way to tell him before it was too late. Which resulted in this ominously BRILLIANT scene:
"Freddie. We need to talk... we haven't talked."
"We need to stop talking. We talk too much. Instead we have to do something."
"I'm tired of it not being possible. It is possible. YOU are possible. With me."
PERFECTION
I love Freddie so much for this. Honestly, no words could have made their mutual feelings any clearer. He knew they both wanted it, so he went for it. This is why she dotes on him - both work and relationship-wise he's ready to step in and act where she's thinking too much. :) Although I suspect Freddie also did it for similar reasons Bel pulled him into that room - because he didn't want any regrets if he were never to come back.
AND OH GOD FREDDIE BASICALLY GIVING HIS LIFE FOR AN OPPORTUNITY TO EXPOSE CILENTI FOR THE MURDEROUS BASTARD HE IS. It was a heartbreak how Freddie was getting beaten up while watching The Hour destroy the house of cards that used to be his very wrongdoers' vicious scheme.
HIS TEARS BEING ON THE VERGE OF PASSING OUT THOUGH, they pretty much killed me dead because they weren't tears of pain, they were tears of sadness at most likely never seeing Bel again. That little touch with "Money..." turning out to be a series of his unsuccessful attempts to say "Moneypenny" over & over - like the name was the only thing that had him clinging to life - pretty much twisted the knife.
... cue MONEYPENNY'S TEARS assuming the worst happened to Freddie and her LETTER TO HIM (for a second there, I was sure they followed her getting a phone call that the paramedics couldn't save him on the scene). Why must you have done that to me, show. I'm a complete mess at this point, ngl:
"So I got your letter. San Francisco - amazing. I'm sorry it's taken me so long to write back. There are life's natural heroes and then there's you. Your words. You always believe somewhere deep in you that there is a coward. I wish I'd told you that that's not true because you leapt while I stayed. Feet first into the unknown. Why should I have expected anything less than fearlessness from you? But I am not as brave as you. I want to write and say I'll be there. I'll get on a plane, I'll come right now. I really do. But I can't. Not because I don't love you. I love you, Freddie Lyon. But because you won't even get this letter. Because I won't ever send it. I'm the coward Freddie, not you. So, instead, I'm sending this prayer out there. Just hoping that somehow you'll know to come home. Just please come home. Now, soon and maybe your courage will make me brave to. Just come home and I will leap too."
... and she did. She kept her promise and took a chance. Just... this entire letter, guys. She doesn't love her job more than him the way he assumed. I don't think she loves ANYTHING more than him tbh. In fact, precisely because of how powerful her feelings for him are, it scares her, and she bottles it up. The only reason she can write, "I love you" in that letter is because she knows beforehand she's never going to send it. I wonder how often she thought of this letter and wished she HAD sent it after Freddie came back... and now that he was away and in danger, she'd never wished she'd been more courageous more because of how much precious time was wasted, the time they could have been happy together.
"Moneypenny..."
IDK, I was actually optimistic in terms of Freddie's chances of survival after I finished watching, but having written all this out, I started to wonder if they would rather this tragic end to their love story than a season of them being together. Because there's really no more delaying the inevitable now, and TV hasn't been very kind to me in terms of my OTPs surviving the series finales as of late.
Tl;dr Series like The Hour remind me why I aspire to produce for the BBC one day. Keeping the hope alive that should there will be a S3, Ben Wishaw will return despite his busy schedule filming the movies. I'd love another series of this amazing show - not only because of my OTP, but also because of the compelling period drama it is; a drama which nevertheless would be too painful to return to should Freddie be gone. Otherwise referred to as "overinvestment".
P.S. Just how gorgeous is Romola Garai? I'm in awe. Not sure whom I'm crushing more on, Ben or her, lol.
Also, I've come across this beautiful new song "Lighthouse" by IYES today & haven't been able to stop playing it. Randomly, I've discovered that it fits this flawless Freddie/Bel video if played together so perfectly it hurts. The video is a collection of best of Freddie & Bel from S1-S2, and the original track are all those great quotes I love, but - vidder forgive me! - playing "Lighthouse" over it resonates with my overwhelming feelings for them somewhat more tonight. Please tell me I'm not the only one who does that with her favourite vids & songs, lol.
It's just such a heartfelt tune, and the band were very sweet to me, which makes them even more amazing in my books. I have promised them I'd spread the word about the song, so do check it out, with or w/o the vid. :)
Click to view"I hope that pure and simple things come true."