epsode one
My thoughts keep going to a universal theme in stories like these,real or dramatized...and that is the fact that so many of us adults are really only aged or aging children. Paramount themes of selfishness and impatience. Blamming the innocents around you for whatever,while they are also often oblivious,or can't be bothered with the double-binds and torments of life. Of course dramas are frequently super focused on one person,so the intensity is ,while not exaggerated so much, amplified. But i am speaking to all of us,not just the central person. The family,the justice system,the lover,the teens and young adults,along with the stories middle aged central focus.
In the 1st episode we see Willie trapped. His family seem indifferent at best,his wife angry ,but not helping. She is instead of being a partner in this horror of financial double-bind,castrating and distance. But,we feel like that is the contract,unspoken in their and in so many relationships. The priest or vicar(I'm from the states..) seems to think moralizing is the answer,and is,while the only trained professional, he provides no help in problem solving or simple human sensitivity. The metaphor of the roulette wheel is how so much of what life is about really,LUCK....many people find themselves doing just what we are suppose to,but then find themselves kicked around by circumstances outside their control. Or being kicked so hard it is out of proportion to the mistakes made that need correcting.
People don't want to hear the truth..we marry,sometimes many times pretending all the while we have found eternal love,when all around we see the world screaming at us that it is like the roulette wheel. But we take the chance because love is just that powerful. And like everything, it is,in the end,work,and it can be well worth it. A good man,truly a victim of circumstance making mostly good decisions all his life,a big heart and while he breaks up bathrooms and has affair(s),he is just human. And we meet him while under terrible stress.
The scary thing about a story like this is that strings of rediculous bad luck really do happen to people. Companies go backrupt and people close to retirement lose their pensions while a spouse is very ill at the same time. We know that most everyday people are a paycheck away from disaster,but that new iPhone seems somehow irresistible. Our justice system is wildly unfair,so much so that it is a wonder people everywhere are not demanding a change. We are told that,from childhood,we are the best by far,so don't complain,but this is just part of the 1st thing I mentioned. We are really just aging children,most of us believe what we are told,even when we know differantly. We sit in judgement of others without any regard for our own bad behavior. We are bent on putting good people,non violent people in jail or prison,not to rehabilitate,but to punish,with justice never entering the equation...if it did,we would all be there or most would,depending on what justice is to the community involved. But we hold onto the delusion that we are not the guy who gets sick and has to stop working,our love is forever and we will be rich and happy if we do what we were told would get us there. We ,all of us,have been crossing our fingers,so much so,that it is a wonder they are not frozen in place.
The writers bring his plight into the hands of this one angry judgemental woman,who pretends not to know him. She dispenses judgement without context. Just how a really good prosecutor tries to. I found this episode compelling and well worth the time. I think the others will be even better?