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We'll Meet Again - episode 1x21
After each episode Tanya Huff used to post her comments on the Lifetime forum, but those comments are long gone.Besides, due to the writers' strike in the US, these comments were never posted on Lifetime, only on Tanya's Livejournal.
These are Tanay's comments for the penultimate episode which she has graciously permitted me to repost on this site.
Written by Denis McGrath -- Dead Things on Sticks – this episode, We'll Meet Again, is the second one I cried over. (the first was 5:55 for those of you joining us late) The story was original and heartbreaking without sliding over the line into schmoop, the performances from the regulars were so strong, so on, that they didn't need to be the center of attention even while their stories were careening to a conclusion, and the guest star – OMG, Tyler Johnston as Lee was amazing.
Just think about it. The one thing Tyler has to carry off in order to make this work is exactly the same thing Kyle has to do – he has to act like he has an old soul. I'm amazed anew every episode that they found Kyle but to find another young actor ? How likely is that? You think it's easy? Go on, try it. I'll wait.
See?
And how ballsy was Denis to throw it out there, confident that they'd find someone? Because no matter how well written the episode – and it surely was – the whole thing falls apart if Lee doesn't make the audience believe in his search and later in his heartbreak.
Coreen's hair in the opening scene? Love it. It may be my favorite do all season.
"Mr. Wilson hide your ball?" That's a Dennis the Menace reference for the younger members of the audience. I liked that our Denis tossed it in then let it go.
While I'm not sure about the hip hop moves – maybe they were intended to be mocking? -- I love the matter-of-fact way Lee says, "You guys need to help me find my wife." He has to know how it sounds but that's how it is so there's no dramatics, no screwing around.
And Coreen looks so happy about the whole thing. Her, 'isn't this cool' face just makes the next scene.
The expression on Henry's face as the little parade walks into his condo... priceless.
I didn't care about the twenties talk but I love how they showed Henry believing him with the "I miss flappers." exchange. He's not testing at that point, they're talking. When he tells Vicki, "I like him." we all know that already. Showing, not telling. That's what your teachers meant. And that's what good writing does.
I could just spend this whole thing enthusing about the way Tyler plays his scenes but we'll save some of it for later when I'm bawling my eyes out.
Given what's gone down in previous episodes – and what's happening here later -- Henry's "Trust her, I do." becomes important. He believes in her but... And it's a big but.
The look on Vicki's face when Lee says, "I guess you're not hooked up then." I had to keep replaying it. So perfect. So funny.
And then Mike's story arc for the season starts to reach it's logical conclusion all summed up in Crowley's line, "There's just no reason to follow Nelson into the dark." Two ways to read that right off the top. He's only got 43 minutes and Denis is making every line work for him.
I was half inclined to roll my eyes and wonder how Vicki solved cases when she didn't have Mike to do the digging for her. I know we have to get Mike involved and I know we're only seeing 21 cases out of a year's worth of cases (give or take) but wow, she just doesn't seem to feel that his work should ever take precedence over hers. Mike, sweetie, you have got to stand up to her. You know that.
Putting an unsheathed knife in your jacket's inner pocket and then hugging someone; that could cause problems.
The vampire relocation broker? Dude, totally wish I'd thought of that!
During the visit with Jeff, as Jeff said, "But it took me ten years to find the courage." did you clasp your hands over your mouth and gasp, "Oh no..." as you filled in what had to have happened and what's likely to happen next? Okay, maybe the hands and the gasping was just me but the reveal – and this was the reveal, the rest is just confirmation -- was so beautifully subtle.
Tracking by female hemophiliacs, very clever. "Well, that needle kicks the haystack's ass." Also clever.
There's something different about Henry in the scene with Vicki. He's sure of himself means to lay it on the line for love and he's standing his ground. Vicki's seeing the parallels and she's fighting it, tooth, nail and witty repartee but she's losing and she knows it. Foreshadowing, the sign of quality television.
"So I either prove that she's from the west coast or..." I could have written that. When people ask about the show staying close to the heart of the books... well, duh. Every episode there's at least one line that could have been right from the books.
One of the things about Lee I love is that in spite of star crossed love and four hundred years and life after life after death – right now, he's a fifteen year old boy. And every now and then, that's so very obvious. (this thought engendered by the shot of him with the skateboard – and thank god the actor is actually twenty...)
When he kissed her hand, when he said, "You know who I am. You have to." That's when I started to cry.
"Real coffee would take this out behind the shed and beat it until it turned to tea." I wish I'd written that. And I had just about enough time to think that before thinking, Oh no, she's pregnant.
"The fairytale runs a little thin on the ground, doesn't it?" Brilliant. Layered. Sad.
And Vicki's description of what the men in her life mean to her. She doesn't have the words but her face says it all... to this woman who's made such a difficult choice, she can dare to be vulnerable, at least for a moment. Christina was so amazing in this scene.
And the parallel scene with Henry and Lee? Shared pain. But shared like guys. Not this is what I feel but this is what I did.
I'm still not sure if Vicki intends Henry to hear you and me instead of Lee and Helen but it doesn't really matter since it works either way. I think she does. I don't think she's thought it through.
Okay, the husband... a little over-reactive. Creepily over-protective actually. Not saying he deserved to be beaten nearly to death but I can't say I had a lot of sympathy for him.
A lot of sympathy for Mike though. Talk about a rock and a hard place.
The way Lee says thank you to Coreen... broke my heart.
Helen, I get that you're a pregnant hemophiliac and you have to be very, very careful but you're still a bit of a dishrag. A little less weeping, a little more um... anything might have helped. But still, he's fifteen and she isn't and that really shows in this scene. Also I like that it's raining. No big reason, I'm just fond of weather on TV.
Eeee! Mike and Vicki back story! And it's Dylan's turn to break hearts. "Great. Until it didn't." Don't get me wrong, I love Henry. I love him the way I wrote him, I love what Peter's done to him, I love the way Kyle's brought him to life but Mike... it's always been Mike for me.
I can almost see Lee running into Helen again, ten maybe fifteen years down the road. She's left her husband because he's an over-protective, controlling, emotionally restrictive creep and the two of them take a chance at an adult relationship. Not a lot of romance, but working toward the kind of love that lasts a lifetime. Or two.
As for the future of Vicki and Mike and Henry...
One more episode.
Forty-three minutes.
Watch this space.
(okay, not literally this space but later spaces like this)
08 April 2010