Is there a happy ending for John (Richard Armitage)?
That's all I want to know...I'm aware that the story mirrors Wuthering Heights, so is he the Hareton character, or what? Thanks to anyone who can help!
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MovieChat Forums > Sparkhouse (2002) Discussion > Is there a happy ending for John (Richar...
Very vague spoilers below
It's left kinda open, and I'd argue that it doesn't follow the book close enough for the ending of the book to be a guarantee to the ending of the film... I think happy ish ending, but that's just my opinion as you're not given a definite answer at the of the film... To my mind Carol is Heathcliff and Andrew is Cathy, but I'm not sure if that's right so if you disagree with that then you're probably going to disagree with everything else that I write.
I think it's happy ish because Carol did in the end stick by John when he and Andrew were fighting, she forced Andrew to leave and helped John to clean himself up. When Lisa and John collect Carol she's in a state of break down because the one big obsession in her life isn't there any more, Andrew has been the driving force in her life since she was 10 and now she's got to practically rebuild her life again from scratch. In my opinion her love for Lisa and her fondness for John will help her. (Despite it all I think she is fond of John, it's not the all encompassing passion that she had with Andrew but she is fond of him in her own way, I don't think she was lying when she went to his house and told him that, and he is also the only man that she's ever been comfortable enough to sleep with, she didn't even sleep with Andrew and he was her great passion). I think it kinda implies that the three of them together could be happy. I think Lisa and John could help her rebuild her life and be happy now she's not got the slightly unstable influence of Andrew on her.
But as I say, that's just my opinion!
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Yeah. I think the ending is quite comfortable to me. Carol doesn't have to be bothered by Andrew. He is selfish, childish, not knowing what he should do. I think it is a "happy" ending for all people including Andrew's family. Oh I am so cruel...
shareOh good, so I'm not the only one!
I just got my DVD of Sparkhouse (YAY!) today and just watched it all in one sitting and as I was watching I was thinking "I know he's the real romantic lead and they're passionately in love and you should feel sorry for them not being able to be together and all... but Andrew's a bit of a tosser." Although I did feel twinges of pity for him at certain points. Just glad I'm not the only person who did get annoyed with Andrew here and there.
It IS an open ending. I don't really think Andrew's family will be that happy, but for Carol, Lisa and John I think they do have a shot of being a family and finding comfort in each other. After all, Carol is fond of John, and he does love her and look out for her (also adorably awkward at times!).
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I was thinking "I know he's the real romantic lead and they're passionately in love and you should feel sorry for them not being able to be together and all... but Andrew's a bit of a tosser." Although I did feel twinges of pity for him at certain points. Just glad I'm not the only person who did get annoyed with Andrew here and there.
Kixie, I felt the same way about that manboy Andrew. He drove me nuts. He only had himself to blame because he wasn't with Carol. He couldn't commit to anyone or anything except pleasing his parents regarding not marrying her.
I certainly do hope that Carol treats John well because he deserves it. The only truly nice person in the whole show he was. I think they have a shot at happiness. It may not be the firebrand passion kind of love she had with Andrew, but a more comfortable, safe kind of love which is the kind of love that lasts anyway. She will grow to appreciate that and John I believe because of the sadness and discomfort and downright pain she's endured in her life up to that point.
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Yeah, that's a good opinion!
By the way, I was just wondering if anyone knew what Andrew's dad meant when he kept saying that Carol could get him "struck off"? What exactly did he mean? At first I was wondering if he was the one who raped her and she has some secret hold over him or something but nothing like that came up, so maybe I've missed something or misintepreted (either way it's a good excuse to watch the whole thing again!).
Potpourri - Looks like breakfast, smells like your auntie!share
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I think it simply meant that because Carol was aware that Andrew's Dad had told him about the fact that Lisa was her daughter and not her sister, he had broken patient/Doctor confidentiality which is a sackable offence. Hope that helps!
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I don't think that John is Hareton, but i think there is a happy(ish) ending in that John and Carol stay together. Sally Wainwright, in a reply about her series, said she had written a sequal but that it hadn't been recommissioned. (I wish it had been!!)
She said-
"It was broadly along the Wuthering Heights lines; it was fifteen/twenty years later. Carol is still with John, and she is now loaded. She'd built up her own business. She and John have had a child, a daughter, and she fell in love with Andrew and Becky's son. I can't remember all the details. It was pretty dark stuff."
I hope this helps.
I never feel sorry for Andrew but when John offered his mother's jewel (as christmas present) to Carol I cried...
/ana:l nathrakh, u:rth va:s bethud, dokhje:l djenve:/.
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I think women are ultimately very practical. Carol did all the right things. She sent Andrew away. She knows what this all means to John. She does respect him. I think they'll end up very happy even if she still feels regret that Andrew didn't have the moxie to do the right thing when they were 18. John will be all right once a kid comes along. No worries.
Andrew was such a momma and daddy's boy. I am glad Carol ended up with John. At least he truly loved her. I think it was telling after Andrew got married and had the baby when he said he just wanted to be eighteen again. It wasn't about wanting to be with Carol but having that time back when he didn't have responsibilities and his life was carefree.
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Tricky one. I have the disadvantage of not having read Wuthering Heights, so I can't compare the characters in Sparkhouse with the ones they are based on. But on the other hand, that might also be an advantage, since I only know the characters (and also all their actions) as John, Carol, Andrew and Lisa.
I do think, as you suggest I-must-be-adopted, that John has this "darker" side. In that fight with Andrew, he's not only protecting himself, he really makes it clear with his fists and all, that he wants A out of their lives for good. He is also really upset every time there's some mentioning of Andrew and when Andrew's father phones them that evening when A has gone missing, John simply denies Carol the chance of speaking to A's father by saying she can't come to the phone. He doesn't want Carol to have any connection with A or his family anymore. To say "no" to Carol on this particular occasion, when everyone is so worried about Andrew, suspecting he might have done something really bad, I feel he makes his standpoint clear for everyone: NO more Andrew! I think they are heading for a conflict, I do think Carol has to make her choice, and this time for real.
One thing I'm wondering about a lot, is the fact that John believes Lisa is Andrew's daughter. He walks around believing A and C have had a sexual relationship. Will the truth ever come out? I think it would mean so much to John, to know that was never the case. That would at least give him some comfort?
Also, knowing that Sally Wainwright intended them to stay together, means that they must somehow have come to terms with all this Andrew-business. Maybe Carol never grew to love John passionately, but the two of them staying together, indicates that Carol at least fulfilled her promises to John: never make a fool of him and respecting him as a man, as a person, trying to be a "good" wife - and who knows? Judging from the looks she gave him when he had his hair cut - she is not completely unaffected by him!
Oh, I hope I make sense, I feel I'm just rambling along here.
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Yes, I have to admit that's a hard one. Since Carol is ashamed of the fact her father abused to the extent that she went along and had sex with John without even indicating anything was wrong, I doubt she will ever tell him the truth about Lisa. But as she is very nervous when it comes to 'sex' and John will inevitably grow more relaxed about it, I wonder if he will not come to realise something is wrong. I think he will start wondering, asking her about what's wrong. If she will tell him or not, that's something we will never know, but as John is such a considerate and sensitive person, he may figure out the truth anyway. In their day to day life there must be some form of conversation and perhaps Carol will give away crucial information without even realising it?
Of course I would wish her to tell John, I think he would be able to handle it. I mean, he is crazy about Carol, she is the love of his life (from what it seems) and being so kind and sweet to her, I think he'll be able to take it. I don't think he could ever think badly of her, or feel she's 'dirty'. I think he would grow even more protective of her.
The question is: how would Carol react and behave if the secret is out? Would she be able trust John and to confide in him, or would she distance herself from him?
I'm by no means a psychologist, I must say I have no idea about these matters...
But I have to say that Sally Wainwright's comments about her written sequel being very dark, sound very worrying.
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Hmmm, this is really very tricky. I sincerely hope there won't be any Heathcliff-related insanity on Carol's part. Judging from her behaviour towards the end of the 3rd episode, she seemed to really have made up her mind about John and Andrew, distancing herself from Andrew. I don't know how much of it she really meant, deep down in her heart, but she did try to put A behind. I kind of felt as if she realised Andrew was a 'weak' person, still very much a child trapped in their quite naive and romanticised world. I felt as if she somehow understood that she would never be able to build on a future with him. I may be wrong here... She did after all go looking for him.
Everything happened so fast at the end, but as Andrew told Carol he was Lisa's father (knowing the truth) did Carol realise he knew? She looks as if she could kill him, what does that tell us? I must say I'm at a loss here.
Ok, let's say Carol and Andrew had a chance to talk, would Carol have let Andrew take care of her? There must be some relevance in the fact that she always refused to have sex with A but not with John, or? Would she continue refusing A? There must be something of significance in the fact that she deliberately choses to remain with John. And that not just being the money. I know she would hate to lose the farm, but would she really sacrifice so much just to be able to keep it? To the extent she would always remain miserable? She left once, why not again?
I agree with you about the sequel, I too wish it had been made.
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