You Just Decked The Director Of Education.
My verdict on episode 7.28 of Waterloo Road: NO JOSH, TERRIBLE EPISODE.
I did enjoy this episode, actually, which is a good sign; Josh is in his final year of school (noooo Josh don't leave), so if I found myself incapable of enjoying episodes without him I would be in trouble. It could still definitely have been improved by the presence of Josh, though. I just want Tom to be comforting his son in the background of every scene; is that really so much to ask?
If I wrote for Waterloo Road, I would at this point (well, not at precisely this point, but once Josh is back from hospital) trap the school in a time vortex so Josh, Finn, Lauren and Tariq would never be able to leave. (Actually, if I wrote for Waterloo Road, I'd have trapped the school in a time vortex back when Sam was still around and Karen was still headteacher, although sadly in that case we'd have missed out on Tariq and Nicki.*) Why did I have to get emotionally invested in a programme with such a high cast turnover and such a small fandom?
(I'd need to find some way of ensuring Josh didn't cut his lovely hair whilst in the time vortex, of course, because then his hair would never grow back and it would be awful.)
Something not about Waterloo Road for you: have a handful of notes I forgot to include in my original write-up of the Bhaskar-Madeley-Humble-Jupp Would I Lie to You? recording in March.
Just prior to the recording actually starting:
Brydon: Yes, I can. (pause) I should point out that when I say 'yes, I can' it's in a response to a voice in my ear asking 'can you hear me?'; I'm not just trying to motivate myself.
Mitchell, in response to Humble's claim that she'd dressed in a giraffe outfit to photograph giraffes, opined that a real giraffe would probably be able to tell the difference between a fellow giraffe and two people in a giraffe costume. He used the phrase 'Surely it takes a giraffe to know a giraffe'.
Later:
Humble: Well, as you said, it takes a giraffe to know a giraffe, but...
Mack: (haltingly, frowning) Can I just say: you two keep saying it takes a giraffe to know a giraffe, but I'm not a giraffe, and I know what a giraffe is.
During retakes, Mitchell was asked to re-record one of his lines with slightly more pre-watershed-friendly language. Brydon saw fit to imitate his voice when telling him what the line in question was. Mitchell became quite annoyed.
Mitchell: Well, why don't you just fucking do it?
* I've previously spelt her name Nikki, but according to the credits it's actually Nicki. I feel a bit silly now. I was convinced that Nikki was the correct spelling! Where did that conviction come from? I remember trying to check the spelling before I first mentioned her in an entry, so I must have got that impression from somewhere.
For those of you who wish I'd abandon my apparent quest to post an entire fandom's worth of entries about Waterloo Road, incidentally, there are only two episodes left of the current term, so there's light at the end of the tunnel! Although I can't promise I won't try to fill the gap with fanfiction. Apparently the fact that Waterloo Road pieces get two comments if you're lucky hasn't deterred me from writing them.
I did enjoy this episode, actually, which is a good sign; Josh is in his final year of school (noooo Josh don't leave), so if I found myself incapable of enjoying episodes without him I would be in trouble. It could still definitely have been improved by the presence of Josh, though. I just want Tom to be comforting his son in the background of every scene; is that really so much to ask?
If I wrote for Waterloo Road, I would at this point (well, not at precisely this point, but once Josh is back from hospital) trap the school in a time vortex so Josh, Finn, Lauren and Tariq would never be able to leave. (Actually, if I wrote for Waterloo Road, I'd have trapped the school in a time vortex back when Sam was still around and Karen was still headteacher, although sadly in that case we'd have missed out on Tariq and Nicki.*) Why did I have to get emotionally invested in a programme with such a high cast turnover and such a small fandom?
(I'd need to find some way of ensuring Josh didn't cut his lovely hair whilst in the time vortex, of course, because then his hair would never grow back and it would be awful.)
Something not about Waterloo Road for you: have a handful of notes I forgot to include in my original write-up of the Bhaskar-Madeley-Humble-Jupp Would I Lie to You? recording in March.
Just prior to the recording actually starting:
Brydon: Yes, I can. (pause) I should point out that when I say 'yes, I can' it's in a response to a voice in my ear asking 'can you hear me?'; I'm not just trying to motivate myself.
Mitchell, in response to Humble's claim that she'd dressed in a giraffe outfit to photograph giraffes, opined that a real giraffe would probably be able to tell the difference between a fellow giraffe and two people in a giraffe costume. He used the phrase 'Surely it takes a giraffe to know a giraffe'.
Later:
Humble: Well, as you said, it takes a giraffe to know a giraffe, but...
Mack: (haltingly, frowning) Can I just say: you two keep saying it takes a giraffe to know a giraffe, but I'm not a giraffe, and I know what a giraffe is.
During retakes, Mitchell was asked to re-record one of his lines with slightly more pre-watershed-friendly language. Brydon saw fit to imitate his voice when telling him what the line in question was. Mitchell became quite annoyed.
Mitchell: Well, why don't you just fucking do it?
* I've previously spelt her name Nikki, but according to the credits it's actually Nicki. I feel a bit silly now. I was convinced that Nikki was the correct spelling! Where did that conviction come from? I remember trying to check the spelling before I first mentioned her in an entry, so I must have got that impression from somewhere.
For those of you who wish I'd abandon my apparent quest to post an entire fandom's worth of entries about Waterloo Road, incidentally, there are only two episodes left of the current term, so there's light at the end of the tunnel! Although I can't promise I won't try to fill the gap with fanfiction. Apparently the fact that Waterloo Road pieces get two comments if you're lucky hasn't deterred me from writing them.