The central plot-line for this episode is that Fran and Bernard are desperate to tell each other a story that has really unnerved them. How they decide whose turn it is to go first is decided in their own inimical style by having a rather childish but amusing 'girly' fight. In terms of Fran's story, that very morning she has seen her boyfriend Peter, played by Wayne Morris, best known for his role as Robin in Tony Robinson's 'Maid Marion & Her Merry Men, caress the cheek of another woman through a coffee shop window. As for Bernard, he has been completely blanked by his friends for a faux pas yet shrouded by intoxication. One only has to see the polite, reserved couple in question and be filled with trepidation as to what calamity Black has subjected them to.
Once again, this episode has some gem moments, such as when Black reveals that his friend Gerald, who had taken him in when he first arrived in the city and had even helped him set up the store, might have taken offence at his making passes at his wife Sarah. 'I did not make a pass at her. Well once. Twice. A few times. But not after I realised just how angry it made him. Well, once...' Moran then delivers comedy gold when sharing with Manny that Sarah is an interior designer working on 'Pet Surprise' - 'Oh, you know the thing, they take the dog out for a walk, he thinks it's a normal walk, but when they come back the kennel has a patio and French doors'. There are also continuing opportunities for Bernard to prove himself loathing of his clientele, such as informing one unfortunate customer about their purchase: 'It's dreadful but it's quite short'.
The next time we encounter our hapless shopkeepers we find Fran in a neck brace and Bernard in an arm brace. This time they squabble for the other to tell their embarrassing story first by poking and prodding at their respective injuries. Taking her stance from the power of the snub which has so unnerved Bernard, Fran had decided to publicly do the same to her boyfriend. Seeing him pass by the beauticians' window, she rushed out of adorned in a white robe and so nonchalantly 'looks the other way' she fails to notice she has walked into the road and is hit by a passing vehicle. Worse, in continuing to avert her gaze from Peter in the ambulance, the latter in exasperation to get her to look at him loudly cricks her neck. Cringeworthingly, it turns out the other woman was his sister, who Peter was consoling for losing her job.
One of the recurring motifs of this episode is the effect upon Manny of having spent the whole night awake with his birthday presents - a box set of The Sweeney and an espresso machine. Firstly, donning a Dennis Waterman- like brown leather jacket, he hilariously throws himself in line of fire tackling Bernard to the floor in response to a customer closing a book. Next, he decides to intervene when a thug steals an old lady's handbag outside the bookstore. Cue Bailey at his best at physical comedy, giving chase until both amusingly stop at a red light at a pedestrian crossing, and when the criminal finally turns to confront him, continuing to run past pretending he is on a morning jog. This intervention leads to his being mistaken for a real policeman and surreally becoming involved in the interrogation of another suspect. Taking the name 'Carter', when asked about his beard, Manny brilliantly says he is undercover trying to break a ring of heavy-metal musicians who have stolen some furniture. Playing opposite a great guest appearance by Colin McFarlane as Inspector Barry Norris, Manny's strange behaviour and confession that he is no policeman and has just drunk too much coffee so unnerves the criminal that it gets results.
Yet, the best is reserved for our discovery of just what Black gradually pieces together of his actions prior to his 'blackout' of the episode's title. Having already arrived at their residence so inebriated he was accompanied by a female police officer, when reintroduced to the couple's son, he painfully asks what he does for a living, and when reminded that the lad is just a boy, the audience wince as he declares: 'Oh thank God...I thought you had a disease'. We then are provided with one of his party tricks, 'Belly Savalas' and just imagine how fortunate the gathered guests were that Black had no cigar to follow-up with his 'CoBumbo'. Therefore, it comes as a slightly disappointing denouement that his impropriety ends up being having urinated on a wicker chair in the kitchen in front of the couple's child. Still, we witness Black's awful attempt to apologise which turns into a completely unbefitting move to take the moral high ground punished by his tripping unceremoniously down the garden steps.
Once again, this episode has some gem moments, such as when Black reveals that his friend Gerald, who had taken him in when he first arrived in the city and had even helped him set up the store, might have taken offence at his making passes at his wife Sarah. 'I did not make a pass at her. Well once. Twice. A few times. But not after I realised just how angry it made him. Well, once...' Moran then delivers comedy gold when sharing with Manny that Sarah is an interior designer working on 'Pet Surprise' - 'Oh, you know the thing, they take the dog out for a walk, he thinks it's a normal walk, but when they come back the kennel has a patio and French doors'. There are also continuing opportunities for Bernard to prove himself loathing of his clientele, such as informing one unfortunate customer about their purchase: 'It's dreadful but it's quite short'.
The next time we encounter our hapless shopkeepers we find Fran in a neck brace and Bernard in an arm brace. This time they squabble for the other to tell their embarrassing story first by poking and prodding at their respective injuries. Taking her stance from the power of the snub which has so unnerved Bernard, Fran had decided to publicly do the same to her boyfriend. Seeing him pass by the beauticians' window, she rushed out of adorned in a white robe and so nonchalantly 'looks the other way' she fails to notice she has walked into the road and is hit by a passing vehicle. Worse, in continuing to avert her gaze from Peter in the ambulance, the latter in exasperation to get her to look at him loudly cricks her neck. Cringeworthingly, it turns out the other woman was his sister, who Peter was consoling for losing her job.
One of the recurring motifs of this episode is the effect upon Manny of having spent the whole night awake with his birthday presents - a box set of The Sweeney and an espresso machine. Firstly, donning a Dennis Waterman- like brown leather jacket, he hilariously throws himself in line of fire tackling Bernard to the floor in response to a customer closing a book. Next, he decides to intervene when a thug steals an old lady's handbag outside the bookstore. Cue Bailey at his best at physical comedy, giving chase until both amusingly stop at a red light at a pedestrian crossing, and when the criminal finally turns to confront him, continuing to run past pretending he is on a morning jog. This intervention leads to his being mistaken for a real policeman and surreally becoming involved in the interrogation of another suspect. Taking the name 'Carter', when asked about his beard, Manny brilliantly says he is undercover trying to break a ring of heavy-metal musicians who have stolen some furniture. Playing opposite a great guest appearance by Colin McFarlane as Inspector Barry Norris, Manny's strange behaviour and confession that he is no policeman and has just drunk too much coffee so unnerves the criminal that it gets results.
Yet, the best is reserved for our discovery of just what Black gradually pieces together of his actions prior to his 'blackout' of the episode's title. Having already arrived at their residence so inebriated he was accompanied by a female police officer, when reintroduced to the couple's son, he painfully asks what he does for a living, and when reminded that the lad is just a boy, the audience wince as he declares: 'Oh thank God...I thought you had a disease'. We then are provided with one of his party tricks, 'Belly Savalas' and just imagine how fortunate the gathered guests were that Black had no cigar to follow-up with his 'CoBumbo'. Therefore, it comes as a slightly disappointing denouement that his impropriety ends up being having urinated on a wicker chair in the kitchen in front of the couple's child. Still, we witness Black's awful attempt to apologise which turns into a completely unbefitting move to take the moral high ground punished by his tripping unceremoniously down the garden steps.
