META: Full of Women: an analysis of episode 2x04 (part II)

[chamekke]

Update, 25-Aug-2017:
Seeing a bunch of ugly broken Photobucket images? See my post on how to fix it.

And here's the second part of this two-part essay... because LJ does not like long posts :-P

Comments

[lozenger8]

I am in awe of this detailed analysis. WHY haven't you shared this before now? Okay. I know, I know. But, Cham Cham, this is so enlightening and engaging. Even the assertions that I would have disagreed with going into a discussion of this episode made perfect sense when shown in context.

You know, I have also always loved 2.04, and I'd picked up on a smattering of what you clearly delineate here, but I think I really only loved it on a surface and a half level? But here you show there are so many layers

[chamekke]

Yay! I'm so pleased you liked it ♥

There are many layers to this episode. Don't you have the sneaking feeling there are many others still to be discovered? I know I do! (I didn't include absolutely everything in this essay, BTW. There was a ramble about the motif of water that just didn't fit... and it was probably just my imagination anyway ;-)

One thing I love about 2x04 is how richly cinematographic it is. There are so many running leitmotifs and synchronicities and thematic echoes, it's hard sometimes to believe that it's merely a series episode. Sometimes it feels like a miniature film.

And OK, maybe I'm reading some things into 2x04 that aren't 'really' there, but the choice of the name Beauvoir? I swear, that can't have been coincidental. I really think Ashley was trying to tell a feminist tale - at least, as much as he was able, given the constraint that the show's two main characters are male and that everything must be shown through, and revolve around, Sam's POV.

I ADORE her vulnerabilities in this episode as much as

[basaltgrrl]

This. Best thing ever. Made me think so much; I'm still thinking - about Annie's life, Annie's evening after she left the pub. About her complexities as a character. About the dichotomy of Sam the lover of women, and Sam the inept.

Re: Sam's failure to communicate with Annie, it seems that it may have to do with the conflict between his head and his heart; he's only human and he's alone and has been for some time -- he yearns for simple human contact nd kindness. And yet he still knows (or believes) intellectually that he's in a coma, that he needs to "get back" to his real life that, as you point out, is feeling increasingly distant. And then there's his les than stellar introspection; he's NOT putting it all together. He thinks, and he feels, but he doesn't necessarily integrate.

[chamekke]

Re: Sam's failure to communicate with Annie, it seems that it may have to do with the conflict between his head and his heart; he's only human and he's alone and has been for some time -- he yearns for simple human contact nd kindness. And yet he still knows (or believes) intellectually that he's in a coma, that he needs to "get back" to his real life that, as you point out, is feeling increasingly distant. And then there's his les than stellar introspection; he's NOT putting it all together. He thinks, and he feels, but he doesn't necessarily integrate.

I quoted this in full because I absolutely LOVE this insight. YESSSSS!!! It's like Sam knows on one level that he wants/needs Annie's companionship, but he only allows himself to try and connect emotionally with 2006 (and Heather-in-2006) because he's convinced it's reality and 1973 isn't. So there's this colossal ambivalence, because Sam thinky-thinks that Annie's not real, and he can't quite bring himself to reach out to her - even though, underneath it all, that's what he really

[basaltgrrl]

Your response made me ponder even more about darling, confused Sam. How interesting would it be to write an essay about LoM and Sam through the framework of id, ego, superego? Or left brain/right brain? Or even just going into more detail about the head and the heart and whether Sam will ever really connect with both of them...

In any case, your essay may inspire me to write fic; the seed has been planted, anyway.

Gosh, Cham, you rock so much.

[petronelle]

I enjoyed the hell out of this.

[chamekke]

Thank you! ♥

[grassle]

I can pay this no higher compliment than to say I started reading, stoppped, fetched my knitting and a cuppa, and settled back down. No gribaldis, sadly. Nor pink wafers

[chamekke]

First of all, thank you for the lovely compliment of knitting and a cuppa! I'm really touched and pleased. It's nice to be sat down with, if you know what I mean ♥

And Annie as a strong character who happens to be a female not a Moffatised strong (= superhuman) female character was great to see.

It's true! Annie is properly awesome in this ep. I really do love how Ashley Pharoah (damn I always have trouble spelling his surname) writes women. Did you watch the late lamented series Eternal Law BTW?

I remember thinking how 'childish' Sam was seen as in this ep

Hmm, funny you should mention that! One of many bits I chopped out (because, length) was a ramble about Sam's memory gap. It's like he formed NO lasting emotional connections between the age of 4 and his days as a DCI. All the people he ever says he cares about are either remembered from his early childhood (parents, Heather) or from his recent police career (Glen, Maya). Remember 1x06, when Sam literally can think of no happy memories between the day of his fourth birthday and

[_lethe_]

Wow! I always love your analyses, but this is a particularly brilliant one. And a great preparation for next Sunday's watchalong! :)

Sam punching Twilling in the stomach is one of my favourite moments in this ep, because it reveals so much of Sam's feelings.

I must have "canonized" that drabble because I actually thought that Carol mentions Gracie in the episode.

As an aside, the screencap of Annie feeding Sam a hedgehog canapé made me LOL.

Wonderful! Into the memories it goes.

[chamekke]

Thank you ♥

Sam punching Twilling in the stomach is one of my favourite moments in this ep, because it reveals so much of Sam's feelings.

Oh, mine too. Sam is comparatively inscrutable in this episode, in that we sorta-kinda know what's going on in his head but we're not 100% sure ... so that was a welcome moment of *cough* unambiguous emotional expression ;-)

I must have "canonized" that drabble because I actually thought that Carol mentions Gracie in the episode.

:-D

As an aside, the screencap of Annie feeding Sam a hedgehog canapé made me LOL.

I love that too. Their expressions are perfect. That was one of those moments that left me shipping Sam/Annie like a shipping thing. Sometimes they are just too adorable together ♥