I watched another 9 episodes this weekend. It takes a bit for me to get back into this, but when I do, I enjoy it.
A good bulk of the story surrounds the continuation of the fallout of Javier Fernandez's death. While I hate the dead gay character trope, this all is decently done. The show is several weeks out from Javier's death and it still guides so much. Rosario's grief has landed her in therapy where she has fallen in love with her therapist. It's not my favorite story, but Rosario spiraling is and this seems like something she would do. I do wish there was more internal conflict within Rosario / Roberto's marriage over the emotional affair, but I know how this all ends so I imagine it may have been subtext. The therapist thread ends very quickly and Rosario (conveniently) recovers from the moment as if she had just had to deal with a bad hair day. While this is annoying, I did find the follow up in the story rather well played.
Bunny, who still owns part of Giorgio's, has sent word through the Costa del Sol grapevine that he has no intentions of returning and wants to sell his part of the restaurant. Because Freddie has been so helpful, Roberto is hoping that he will buy out Bunny. While Freddie enjoys the idea, Freddie is not financially in a place to do so. This question of ownership lingers and is nice day to day fodder to build into the bigger conflict. On a visit to a sick patient, Roberto seems visibly uncomfortable as the sick man is being cared for by his male lover. As Roberto attempts to slip out quickly, he stumbled upon a photo of the couple and Roberto's son, Javier. A shocked Roberto asks how they know him and they say that they were friends with Javier. And if Roberto knows Javier, he must know the Englishman... Freddie.
This leads to the big confrontation, which happens when Roberto drives Fredide off into the country to confront him in a tower (which I believe was previously featured during Pilar's kidnapping by the SIngh brothers). The confrontation itself is weak. The dialogue skirts around calling Javier, which I assume is in part a sign of the times and in part due to Roberto's unease at the conversation. Roberto even brings up Paco, which was the codename that everyone used for Freddie's mysterious Saturday night dinner partner. Roland Curram has done particularly well in all leading up to this (there was a nice near miss at Javier's grace and one where Rosario found Freddie there). I find Franco Rey less convincing because I feel like Roberto isn't this type of character for the big confrontation. I'm not sure which of the Fernandezes I would have wanted to discover this. I would have written it as a more of a betrayal because of Roberto and Freddie's growing closeness in the wake of Javier's death. I don't know. I'll be curious to see how everyone else reacts.
In another good story, Rosemary and Stanley Webb are about to get remarried, but Stanley is driving all over to get the paperwork in order only to slide off the road and be missing for nearly a day. Everyone assumes that Stanley has done a runner, and Rosemary even goes through Stanley's address book and discovers a bunch of names that she's never heard of. It is a nice little story because we know the outcome, but Rosemary's suspicions aren't unwaranted. Together with Drew, she finds Stanley on the side of the road and manages to get the medical services to treat him. In the wake of the accident, Stephen Law (Rosemary's son) returns to the Costa del Sol in order to seek solace and refuge as his marriage continues to disintegrate back home. Stephen is a nice comfort for Rosemary and a delightful diversion for the ever bored Isabelle De Luc.
I'm less interested in the show's gangster characters Alex Morris and Marcus Tandy, though I do appreciate that the shift in their stories is more romantic. Alex is reconnecting with Trish, the lounger singer, and we get a bit of backstory how she was a rising star and he was just a young punk. It's not a bad background, but I am not sure if this is what I would want for Trish. Meanwhile, Pilar and Marcus' relationship is deteriorating, which I am kinda happy for. Marcus and Pilar reminded me of when I watched EastEnders on PBS in the late 1990s or early 2000s and you had Phil and Tiffany. Just a toxic relationship that is not super fun to watch play out. Pilar has gone home and has reconnected with a man, Sergio, while keeping Marcus in the dark. I don't hate it. In addition, Alex spilled the beans that he and Marcus were so close Alex was best man at Marcus' wedding.
A lot of characters are travelling. As previously stated, Pilar is off to her local to be with her family. Olive King has gone off to Jerusalem, but not before a showdown with both Gwen Lockhead and Marcus Tandy over Tandy's influence over Gwen's son Blair. Blair had been frequenting Marcus' health spa which was a cover for a brothel. When the show started, Olive was an ornery individual, but she has softened quite a bit. I think this sorta a situation is perfect for her because she is clearly overstepping, but she does seem to care about Blair. In addition, when Marcus shows her everything is on the up and up (its not, but he managed to convince her it was), Olive was repetent. Gwen gets snappy at Olive, and I am not sure who to root for. A broke Blair keeps thinking about stealing tourists goods while also trying to land a night with an older prostitute.
Gerry has left Los Barcos for Morocco with Wilkie, as her paid companion. Wilkie is always a character who is praised and she is neat. She clearly is living in the past thinking she is still the person she was before she lost it all. There is a rather downtrodden moment where Wilkie goes to the hotel bar where she always stays, greets the waiter Fayed and asks for her regular, and he has no clue what that is. It seems that she is living in denial and its all quite tragic.
I was hoping to continue my journey, but I have noticed I misplaced the last disc with the final three or four episodes and I'm a bit at a loss. I'm sure it'll turn up because I remember watching a bit to see how things were going at the end, but I have no clue presently where I placed it.
By
dc11786 ·
.thumb.png.5c728e3a5029e28d95defc3cf6a72cdb.png)
