Mel O'Drama
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Rhoda
Season Three
The Separation / Together Again For The First Time / No Big Deal / I Won’t Dance / H-e-e-e-r-e's Johnny / Two Little Words - Marriage Counsellor / An Elephant Never Forgets / Rhoda Questions Her Life And Flies To Paris
The changes this season feel wholesale and immediate. With the marriage on the rocks in the first episode, Joe is downgraded to a recurring character. Ida made a whistle-stop appearance to write out both she and Martin. We haven’t visited Rhoda’s place of business (does she even still have it?) so there’s no Myrna. There’s been only a fleeting glimpse of the construction office, so Joe’s colleagues, too, are gone. Even the familiarity of the apartment has been taken away, even though there’s a sound canonical reason for doing so, since Rhoda cannot afford the rent without Joe (even logical solutions such as Brenda moving into the apartment have been explored and decided against, which goes some way to make it all feel more considered and a little less like change for change’s sake).
It sounds like there really should be nothing left that’s worth watching. Happily, I’ve been surprised once again by the enjoyment factor so far this season.
As I’ve watched, I’ve been too relieved that I’m enjoying this season to consider the reasons for it. On reflection, Valerie Harper and Julie Kavner are going a long way towards carrying it. David Groh remaining a presence - albeit sidelined - is a huge relief for me since I’d envisaged him leaving the series completely by the third or fourth episode. I understand he’ll be gone by season’s end, so I’m just making the most of every scene in which he appears.
The separation is actually giving some really good material and exploring different facets of the characters. Rhoda has now acknowledged on-screen that she’s not the same outgoing, confident young woman she was back when she arrived in Minneapolis and is on a quest to access that part of herself again, so it feels things are connecting up. I also really enjoyed the marriage counselling session, and Joe’s admission that he feels Rhoda forced the marriage when they were supposed to be moving in together felt like a massive vindication of my experience as a viewer back when I watched those scenes and felt that was exactly the case.
Brenda, too, has had some nice scenes. One of the last episodes I watched was when she reached her target weight and was struggling to accept her new, slim self since being overweight was something she felt was a part of her identity. Of course, there are echoes of the Rhoda The Beautiful episode of MTM, which shows a nice kinship between sisters (sister characters and sister series both).
The elements of low self-esteem and reliance upon the affirmation from diet clubs also reminded me greatly of Victoria Wood's character's arc in the TV play Nearly A Happy Ending:
It’s good news/bad news with the extended cast. One recurring returnee was Nick Lobo, which doesn’t generate too much goodwill within me. What’s more the new neighbour Gary feels very much along the same schlubby lines. He feels rather like a misguided attempt at the “wacky annoying neighbour” stereotype. He’s kind of what Fonzie might have been if Happy Days hadn’t been a period show. And he’s equally of his time, complete with waterbed, amber tinted aviators and the obligatory medallion. But he doesn’t do it for me at all. Sometimes annoying - even deliberately annoying - is simply… annoying. On the other hand, Ann Meara is a great addition as Sally Gallagher. It looks like she’s fairly short-lived which is a shame.
One of the men in the audience has the most annoyingly distracting laugh. A slow, loud, braying “HAR. HAR. HAAAR”. I’m sure he was also in the audience of earlier seasons so he seems to be a big fan… or someone who is involved with (or knows someone involved with) producing the series.
Wow - I’m over halfway through Rhoda’s series now.
Season Three
The Separation / Together Again For The First Time / No Big Deal / I Won’t Dance / H-e-e-e-r-e's Johnny / Two Little Words - Marriage Counsellor / An Elephant Never Forgets / Rhoda Questions Her Life And Flies To Paris
The changes this season feel wholesale and immediate. With the marriage on the rocks in the first episode, Joe is downgraded to a recurring character. Ida made a whistle-stop appearance to write out both she and Martin. We haven’t visited Rhoda’s place of business (does she even still have it?) so there’s no Myrna. There’s been only a fleeting glimpse of the construction office, so Joe’s colleagues, too, are gone. Even the familiarity of the apartment has been taken away, even though there’s a sound canonical reason for doing so, since Rhoda cannot afford the rent without Joe (even logical solutions such as Brenda moving into the apartment have been explored and decided against, which goes some way to make it all feel more considered and a little less like change for change’s sake).
It sounds like there really should be nothing left that’s worth watching. Happily, I’ve been surprised once again by the enjoyment factor so far this season.
As I’ve watched, I’ve been too relieved that I’m enjoying this season to consider the reasons for it. On reflection, Valerie Harper and Julie Kavner are going a long way towards carrying it. David Groh remaining a presence - albeit sidelined - is a huge relief for me since I’d envisaged him leaving the series completely by the third or fourth episode. I understand he’ll be gone by season’s end, so I’m just making the most of every scene in which he appears.
The separation is actually giving some really good material and exploring different facets of the characters. Rhoda has now acknowledged on-screen that she’s not the same outgoing, confident young woman she was back when she arrived in Minneapolis and is on a quest to access that part of herself again, so it feels things are connecting up. I also really enjoyed the marriage counselling session, and Joe’s admission that he feels Rhoda forced the marriage when they were supposed to be moving in together felt like a massive vindication of my experience as a viewer back when I watched those scenes and felt that was exactly the case.
Brenda, too, has had some nice scenes. One of the last episodes I watched was when she reached her target weight and was struggling to accept her new, slim self since being overweight was something she felt was a part of her identity. Of course, there are echoes of the Rhoda The Beautiful episode of MTM, which shows a nice kinship between sisters (sister characters and sister series both).
The elements of low self-esteem and reliance upon the affirmation from diet clubs also reminded me greatly of Victoria Wood's character's arc in the TV play Nearly A Happy Ending:
It’s good news/bad news with the extended cast. One recurring returnee was Nick Lobo, which doesn’t generate too much goodwill within me. What’s more the new neighbour Gary feels very much along the same schlubby lines. He feels rather like a misguided attempt at the “wacky annoying neighbour” stereotype. He’s kind of what Fonzie might have been if Happy Days hadn’t been a period show. And he’s equally of his time, complete with waterbed, amber tinted aviators and the obligatory medallion. But he doesn’t do it for me at all. Sometimes annoying - even deliberately annoying - is simply… annoying. On the other hand, Ann Meara is a great addition as Sally Gallagher. It looks like she’s fairly short-lived which is a shame.
One of the men in the audience has the most annoyingly distracting laugh. A slow, loud, braying “HAR. HAR. HAAAR”. I’m sure he was also in the audience of earlier seasons so he seems to be a big fan… or someone who is involved with (or knows someone involved with) producing the series.
Wow - I’m over halfway through Rhoda’s series now.