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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spells &amp; Karma" data-source="post: 209554" data-attributes="member: 23">Episodes 351-355Something feels a little flat at the moment. Whether it’s me or the series isn’t clear, but I’m feeling less pull to watch.It’s taken the best part of a week to watch five episodes. Usually, this is a good thing as it reduces the desensitisation of binge watching and allows me to find the meaning in what’s going on. Not so here, though. It’s still an enjoyable way to while away twenty minutes but, for the most part, once it’s finished it’s forgotten.The key arc this week has been the Dark Steven storyline where Steven, influenced by Dodge, is rebelling against authority, be it Tom and Pippa or Donald and the school. We’ve been here before, with Jeff Samuels And The Power Pack (which, it strikes me, looks like the name of either a Motown act or a bandleader and his orchestra). Adam Willits seems to enjoy getting stuck into these scenes and strikes a good balance of arrogance and confusion. I have found myself wondering if this is perhaps closer to the real Adam. And while I don’t know either way, it doesn’t really matter so long as I believe it to this extent.On his first short stint in the bay as the outsider, I found Dodge to be a most compelling character. Since returning as a foster kid, he seems to have been somewhat diluted. Thanks to Kelly Dingwall he’s still very watchable, but I’ve found myself strangely uninvested. Even when he’s intimidating a ten year old:<img src="https://i.vgy.me/SDoCWd.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />The interest for me is very much coming from the big picture rather than the individual pieces within. Dodge’s presence has thrown off the dynamic of the Fletcher family unit. Up until very recently, both Tom and Pippa have been blithely unaware of what’s been going on. But there are now growing suspicions.After the discovery that Steven and Dodge sneaked off to the city while ostensibly camping, both have been grounded. Dodge continues to do his Dodge thing and Steven loyally covers. At first it’s just covering for him or backing up his story.Steven’s motivation, if you like, is that he fears Dodge will be removed from the family. He mentions that Tom and Pippa were reluctant to foster another kid when suggesting that Dodge should toe the line. This prompts Dodge to work his charm on Tom with a bluff<img src="https://i.vgy.me/Nd7qAk.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Tom buys it but Pippa doesn’t and they have one of those Knotsy gender-separated discussions where they cover the same topic through very different eyes:Their respective environs further accentuate the gender divide. The women converse in the home, surrounded by babies and with the kitchen as a backdrop. The blokes are in the masculine surrounds of Alf's dark green painted bait shop, all laddish smiles and folded arms.<img src="https://i.vgy.me/5sQtG8.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" /><img src="https://i.vgy.me/MwQ50O.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />Then Steven begins taking the blame. First for an incident at school (adding insult to injury, he then refuses to show up for his detention) and then when Dodge steals car for the umpteenth time and is involved in a collision (which sounds exciting but actually felt very prosaic. Maybe that was the point):<img src="https://i.vgy.me/HC7koq.jpg" alt="" class="fr-fic fr-dii fr-draggable " style="" />continued...</blockquote>

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