Elaine took Claire in because as she rightly pointed out it was a situation where everyone could gain as much as was possible that way. They were all together - Claire was with the man she really loved - and so was Elaine. They all kept a bit of self respect, and after Claire's death there was a place from which they could build their marriage again. If he had stayed with Elaine while Claire died alone or with that prat of an ex he would never have forgiven himself or his wife. If he had left Elaine he could never have gone back and say "hey she's snuffed it now, so shall we go back to how we were". This was the one way to save the family life. As for the minging bitch bit - well just because Elaine knew the way forward and the best way to get through the situation didnt mean she didnt have any hurt or resentment. I dont think she was some angel, some symbol of Godly perfection - I just think she was a very shrewd and clever woman with a fair amount of compassion thrown in too. I can honestly say I was right with her all the way and would probably have done exactly the same. As for Petra - good grief wasn't every teenager confused about how far to go with guys when they were still new to it all? One voice says - he wants you to, he will like you more if you do, another says this is scary, another says it might feel nice, another says what if he hurts me or I hurt him, another says my friends all do it, another says what if I mess up and he laughs at me etc etc etc. She went off on the horse because that was where she felt back in control. For me it was a perfect parallel to the main story as it symbolised just how much like her mother she was - but also that she still held on to the wild and reckless part of youth that her parents were craving and led to the affair in the first place - it sort of explained the motivation behind what was happening with the adults, as well as being a natural reaction of a teenager scared of growing up and scared of her parents being people other than just her parents. I thought it was a fantastically constructed drama - certainly one of the best ITV has offered in a while, and there have been some pretty top notch ones competing.
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