(Isaac got just a little bit carried away with this one. Make yourself a cup of tea, sit back and relax...)
A good episode with good acting in general - I think Peter Russell
hammed it up a bit too much, and the fight scene was cringe-worthy, but
overall a nice episode. Maureen played Vicki well, especially when Vicki
was unsettled at the start and when she showed off Vicki's ingenuity
later on. William's voice acting was good from what little there was of
it, and Alethea was brilliant in absolutely all of her scenes.
The first scene was a bit surprising, with a big change of tone from the
end of last episode, but worked well in getting me engaged. I liked the
relaxed nature of this scene, and I expect the first time someone
watched it that was necessary for them to get their head round it, but
it was also a nice bit of calm before the tenser later parts of the
episode. The Meddling Monk also seems to make a first class breakfast
(the Doctor's so ungrateful) and we get to find out a bit more about his
character from what the Monk would consider quite normal stuff (again,
well done Peter Butterworth).
We move on to see Vicki wake up a little worried from noises in the
bushes. She warily goes to check it out, tension tenses, and... it's
Steven. A release of tension follows, but lo! There are Saxons in the
bushes! They ambush the travellers, and take them to their village. This
is a cliche that is used quite a lot in television, and that does
stick out a little bit, but I like this scene anyway - we see a more
relaxed Steven, and a bit of dramatics is always nice.
We jump back to the Monk's renditioning his new poem "My Child" to Edith
and co., who had politely brought him food. After the visitors have
been ushered away, The Monk uses his authentic Saxon binoculars to spy a
Viking longship, but he is happy for a reason unknown to us. This was a
good scene, which I appear to be saying quite often in this serial,
with a show of how the Monk tries to fit in and a sense of mystery
around The Monk creeping back; Peter Butterworth's acting and humour
make me look forward to each scene with him in.
We go and see what Steven and Vicki have been up to. There is an
argument between Wulnoth and Eldred over whether they let our heroes go
or not. Then Edith intervenes on the companions' side, and the thing is
settled, with Steven and Vicki setting off for the Monk's abode and the
others going back to their hnefatafl or whatever they were doing. Peter
Russell, as I said at the start, did a bit of a hammy performance, but
it is made up for by everyone else's acting. This scene is another
good one that moves the story along, has some nice dialogue, and has a
bit more of Michael Miller's character - unfortunately, we don't get to
see an awful lot of him, and I think he's quite a good actor.
Changing viewpoints, we see the Vikings arriving on the beach. The
leader of their expedition orders his his men about their duties,
sending three to loot the nearby village for supplies. The leader
proceeds to disappear for the rest of the story. This scene is short,
there isn't much stuff to comment on, but I'll comment just the same. I
think that Geoffrey Cheshire had a good commanding tone and aura about
him, and the costumes looked a bit realistic, if not authentic.
We jump back to our lovely Steven and Vicki, who come knocking on our
mystery Monk's door. He answers it, using his usual 'I'm being super
religious' excuse, answering the pairs enquiries without a moment's
thought, until he is caught off guard by Steven asking about other monks
(doesn't Steven know it's perfectly usual to have a one monk abbey?).
Steven is suspicious, and devises a plan to uncover the Monk while the
monk is 'asking the others'. He enacts it, but lo! The Monk had heard
his plan, and plays along so he can set a devious trap for our friends.
The Monk goes back into his abbey, then Steven and Vicki discuss it.
Vicki has ingenuity enough to see through the Monk, and informs Steven
on how he's been fooled, but they decide to infiltrate the place anyway.
I really like this scene. It shows a bit of the Monk's cunning
side, with some more of Steven's forward manner; Vicki shows off her
cleverness; and it's all coupled with great acting - particularly on
O'Brien's part - and fantastic dialogue. 'Nuff said.
There is, as John put it, an elephant in the room. Some would address it
now, but I'm going to put it off for a paragraph later because I want
to talk about the matter a bit more completely. Edith hears some
rustling in the bushes, and picks up a spear. The three Vikings spring
from the bushes, overpower Edith, and drag her into the hut. This scene
is a bit of the dramatics, and has the cliched 'something in the
bushes', but it's pulled off well, so that doesn't matter. Edith picking
up the spear is quite realistic - people would have to know how to
defend themselves back then, especially near the coast.
Steven and Vicki decide that this side that they're looking at isn't the best one.
Now we come to the paragraph where I address that elephant.
Wulnoth and Eldred return to the village, to find Edith lying still on
the ground, alive, but it is heavily implied that she was raped. Eldred
starts to argue to Wulnoth that it was the travellers, but Wulnoth
bursts into tears, silencing him. After a while, he orders Eldred to
gather the villagers, anger clearly present. This scene is very grim,
darkening the tone considerably. The reactions of Wulnoth seemed
accurate, and there was a lot of emotion in his speech and expressions.
Peter Russell didn't do the best job on this scene - after Eldred's
initial shock, it didn't seem like he felt anything other than anger -
but the rest of the acting was fantastic. It will be hard to judge
whether the rape was handled well until I see anything other than the
initial reaction, so I'll write a paragraph about it at the start of
next episode's review.
We see the Vikings blunder along the path with their loot in hand, and
not being too quiet about it. We go back to the hut, where Edith is
still incapacitated, with Wulnoth and some villagers caring to her,
trying to find out who did it. Edith eventually manages to say Vikings.
This scene is quite good because it shows how bad it must have been for
Edith - it was such good acting, that it seemed almost real.
Now we come to a scene that completely offsets the tone that was built
up over the last few scenes. The fight scene. It is so badly
choreographed, that it is actually quite funny - the way they sort of
stand around, not knowing quite what to do - one falls over then stabs
someone in the foot. The mood is lightened by this slapstick, which is
sort of welcome - it is a family show, all in all.
The Monk walks past an opening, then Steven and Vicki jump in. They both
go opposite ways, and both say follow me at the same time. Steven ends
up following Vicki. This is a short scene but quite nice - it adds a bit
of humour, something that has been a bit lacking this episode after the
first scene.
The Monk sets his gramophone, checks his trap, then waits for our
travellers. Wulnoth drags Eldred up the path to the monastery. This
scene is good, with some nice expressions by Peter Butterworth. Peter
Russell does a surprisingly good injured person.
We see our travellers going along a passage, but unknown to them the
Monk watches from his hiding spot. Then our nice Monk is called by the
door. I liked this scene, mostly because of the expression on the Monk's
face.
Our friends find the gramophone, but do not share the Doctor's fate,
because the Monk has to answer the door. They search for a bit, and find
the Doctor's holding cell. Steven starts to pick the lock on the door.
This scene was quite good - O'Brien and Purves did a good expression of
surprise when they found the gramophone.
The Monk answers the door, just as Wulnoth starts trying to batter it
down - he invites them in, and is left standing outside by the Saxons.
Vicki and Steven get into the Doctor's cell, but lo! when they take off
the sheets, he is not there! This scene was nice - the humour with the
Monk was good, and there was quite a cliched cliffhanger at the end, but
that didn't particularly bother me.
Next Time:
May's review of The Meddling Monk.
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