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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Spells &amp; Karma" data-source="post: 388641" data-attributes="member: 23">Episodes 281 - 285 8 - 22 July 1985Sheila and Bobby’s problems have certainly been shown in real time. It’s over seven months since Claire was born and the gap’s only widened since then.There’s a bit of a pattern with the Grants where either there’s a resolution followed by a holiday away from the Close or a holiday followed by a resolution. The latter formed an earlier part of this story when Sheila went to stay with her sister (I think) and returned somewhat lifted from her post-natal depression. This time round, it’s the resolution-holiday route when Sheila has a breakthrough after speaking to a more liberal member of the clergy regarding Bobby’s vasectomy.The conversation is rather fascinating. It’s clear Sheila wants to be given the green light but at the same time doesn’t want to to be too easy, so she challenges Father Gibbons on his more liberal views, telling him he’s the one looking for an easy route out. And he practically admits to her his envy that, unlike him, she can choose to enjoy sex if she wants. She gets her green light, but in an unexpected way.Now she’s made that long walk across the landing back to the marital bed, but this is immediately followed by a break since a holiday in Tenby is agreed and Sheila decides to go on ahead to visit her sister while Bobby wraps up work (these breaks, presumably, to recharge the actors’ energies after weeks or months of draining scenes). I really like that their deep, meaningful talk comes as they sit on the back doorstep, the dustbin in the background grounding them in a kind of reality even as they enjoy the bliss of the reunion. Along similar lines as Sheila made her phone call to reach Father Gibbons in the first place, she had to contend with the distraction of Damon banging on the window and mouthing some request or other to her, unaware of the importance of her call.Damon’s been enjoyable. There was a terrific role reversal when he came home from work with Bobby and Sheila away to find the house in a state, and Neil lazing round. Damon started complaining about the dishes and the state of the carpet and demanding to know why his dinner wasn’t ready, and it’s a cute little reminder of how far he’s come since he was getting it in the neck from Sheila or Bobby. Plus we got the “divorce” scene between Neil and Damon.Now, with the house to himself, he and Neil intend to enjoy it with the two girls with whom they’ve hooked up, with a seance planned. I remember the seance because of its proximity to another event on the Close which is coming up next week.Over at number 9, Heather’s bliss with Tom has been disturbed by her seeing him leaving the office giving affectionate gazes at a young woman who turned out to be his daughter. While Heather’s initial sulking, avoiding his phone calls and eventually challenging him over his dishonesty was all in character, I was very surprised how easily she was won over even after finding out that he’s kept his daughter a secret from his father for seventeen years. She’s pleased that he’s entrusted her with something that he hasn’t even told his father and sees this as deepening their intimacy, without seeming to consider that if he can so easily justify his lies to his father he can do the same to her. This echoes the slightly surprising attitude of Brookie’s other key liberated female Karen Grant in this run of episodes. She is delighted he has dumped the girlfriend he’s been two-timing with her, without seeming to consider that this might be part of a pattern. Even Sheila seems genuinely happy about this turn of events, without even a flicker of parental concern.It’s difficult to know if both Heather and Karen are conveniently overlooking the big picture, or if they’re actually incredibly smart and realises that her compassionate approach could prevent such a situation in the first place. Perhaps the very human truth is somewhere in between the two. It certainly suggests a change of outlook, since I couldn’t imagine Heather letting poor Roger off the hook so easily, nor Karen finding this acceptable from boyfriends she's had more recently. However, Karen did acknowledge that David's situation is similar to the one in which she found herself not so long back, so there's also a degree of empathy there. And at least she's not guilty of having double standards around this.The big news at number 6 has been Harry and Ralph’s purchase of a Fiesta from an auction. Cue comic scenes of Harry strapping cash to various parts of his anatomy to conceal it as he heads to pay for it. While a lower spec, low-mileage Fiesta is certainly sensible enough for Harry, the nasty lilac colour, go faster stripes and windscreen banner all suggest it was previously owned by a boy racer (there’s a nice moment where Ralph reaches to the banner and rips off the “B” in “Barry” to tailor it for its new owner). And I certainly hope they checked under those furry seat covers to make sure there weren’t blim holes in the upholstery.Russell Grant is a most unlikely guest-star for the series at this point. The cheerful, cosy, camp image seems so at odds with the realism of the series. But then he’s also exactly the type of personality who would open a reasonably modest hospital fete, and I dare say he’s interacted with many Damons and Ednas on such occasions and knows exactly how to relate and entertain, so we're well within the realm of credence here. His role was kept right-sized, but there was a nice little bit of business where Damon asked him to help find Edna wife who was lost. And, naturally, Damon had attempted to impress his and Neil’s new girlfriends by telling them “our Russ” was Damon’s cousin, hence the shared surname.The other key arrival at the fete was John Clarke. My goodness… things certainly escalated quickly, facilitated in no small part by bolshy drama queen Sandra who by the end of the next episode was screeching “Hee the hail do ya thunk y'are” at the poor bewildered man (who had, admittedly, stalked the nurses and shown up at their home). Equally understanding is Harry Cross who professed his sympathy for the mentally ill… until he found out about the planned halfway house behind the Close and started projecting about them drooling at the window and scaring Edna.The most compassionate character has been Kate. In many ways this really has been her week to shine as the voice of reason and empathy. The cry to rally neighbours' support regarding the proposed halfway house came from her. And her kindness towards John is no doubt a factor in him gravitating towards them.Kate’s open-mindedness has been key this week, and this extended to a brief-but-insightful conversation with Damon where they touched on the subject of spiritual belief as they walked into the Close together. He told her that he didn’t believe in anything, prompting Kate to discuss ley lines, and Glastonbury Tor. Implicitly, it seems she’s telling us she believes in energy… unseen forces which move inexorably towards very specific points where it becomes almost tangible. Watching this with the benefit of hindsight, it’s difficult not to read a deeper meaning.The week ended with Kate outside number 7 on a warm July evening, looking with concern at the empty Close from which John Clarke has vanished, mysteriously quickly. The atmosphere of the moment combined with the knowledge of what's to come could easily convince me there are potent - perhaps even preternatural - forces driving things forward as inevitably as ley lines.The week’s most prophetic-stroke-ironic line came from Kate. Upon witnessing Pat and Sandra’s poor performance at the coconut shy, Kate said it was a shame it wasn’t a shooting gallery because: “I’m good with guns”.</blockquote>

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