Meh. This series is a double edged sword. It has effective, emotionally charged scenes like the "family" dinner where Lol discloses the truth of Mick's death to everyone, and the bombshell of Combo's return, but it's almost ruined by poor acting and responses by the weaker members of the cast who would struggle to get a lead role in a local Am-Dram production. Milky, Trev and Sean I'm looking at you. It's strong in parts, but let down time and again by the poor choice of allowing improvisation, and these second raters just aren't capable of delivering strong lines off their own backs. That said, none of this is as painful to watch as the scene where Gadget tells Harvey the reason why Kelly needs to stay at their flat. The acting is so amateur and forced it completely takes you out of the moment.
As for Combo's return, not content with the utterly ridiculous nature of that storyline (he'd be sent to a bail hostel, not to live with members of the family whose father he bludgeoned to death with a hammer, I mean c'mon get real here) but they also decide to just randomly change Woody's personality in this moment and remove any emotional weight the scene was supposed to have. In the previous episode Woody was horrified to learn Lol had agreed to let Combo stay with them, in fact he looked utterly shattered by the news and terrified too, yet the moment when Combo walks through the front door Woody takes one look at him, breaks down in tears and hugs him like his best friend and soul mate has returned from a tour of duty. Ridiculous, irritating and revisionism at it's worst. Because you know, plot line.
I'm bewildered at the rave reviews this gets, it's not terrible, it's just decidedly average and underdeveloped. It could have been something quite special if they'd decided to cast real actors for every single role and worked hard on a script that works. But hey, this is "cool" so gets a free pass, it's Meadows, it's got Vicky McLure, Stone Roses and drugs, maaan. Meh.
As for Combo's return, not content with the utterly ridiculous nature of that storyline (he'd be sent to a bail hostel, not to live with members of the family whose father he bludgeoned to death with a hammer, I mean c'mon get real here) but they also decide to just randomly change Woody's personality in this moment and remove any emotional weight the scene was supposed to have. In the previous episode Woody was horrified to learn Lol had agreed to let Combo stay with them, in fact he looked utterly shattered by the news and terrified too, yet the moment when Combo walks through the front door Woody takes one look at him, breaks down in tears and hugs him like his best friend and soul mate has returned from a tour of duty. Ridiculous, irritating and revisionism at it's worst. Because you know, plot line.
I'm bewildered at the rave reviews this gets, it's not terrible, it's just decidedly average and underdeveloped. It could have been something quite special if they'd decided to cast real actors for every single role and worked hard on a script that works. But hey, this is "cool" so gets a free pass, it's Meadows, it's got Vicky McLure, Stone Roses and drugs, maaan. Meh.
