This episode is a bit of a hodgepodge – not that it’s bad, but while it includes a number of interesting threads, they don’t all necessarily feel like they fit together. One where the sum of its parts is maybe greater than the whole.
The watch has a difficult time rescuing a homebound young woman from a fire while also dealing with her overprotective mother. An inadvertent revelation puts Ziggy, the one female firefighter in the watch, in an awkward position with her coworkers, and Kev weighs how/when to address an issue in his relationship with Trish.
We’ll start with the fire rescue. Honestly, I think the variety of fire scenarios and seeing the firefighters at work is the most consistently-successful part of the miniseries for me. It’s always interesting to me to see the situations they have to deal with on the job and how they handle it. In particular, I like seeing the gentler, more personal side of what they do. I think there’s an image of firefighting as an action-hero career, all daring risks and high-adrenaline situations, which brings with it a certain macho air. And to be sure, this is a miniseries with a testosterone-heavy focus. There’s a certain amount of hazing on the job, lots of guys giving one another a hard time about their manliness. Obviously, that’s a big issue right now for Kev, given the nature of his injuries and how they make him feel emasculated, and after Ziggy has spent years cultivating a “one of the guys” attitude with the rest of the watch, the awkwardness that arises in this episode is because of something that brings her gender to the forefront of their minds.
However, even though the career calls for strength and bravery and ballsiness, it also really calls for care, compassion, and patience. The people that the firefighters encounter are often frightened, hurt, and panicked, and so the watch needs to be prepared to meet them where they are in order to get them to safety. Sometimes that means getting peed on when someone can’t hold it in, or not getting angry when someone is hysterical and lashes out at them, or finding a way to calmly quiet someone’s agitation when time is of the essence. I really like that, even though the daring feats of bravery are more cinematic, each episode also takes time to display these softer skills that are just as essential in their line of work.
As I said, the storyline goes in a number of different directions, all of which are interesting, but none of which tie together all that well. The result is kind of a mishmash, albeit an entertaining one. I enjoy getting a bit more insight into Ziggy – it’s not quite Ziggy-centric, like last week’s entry was largely about Al, but we do get a better look at her. I also like the setup of the main fire plot here.
We’re back to a relatively-good episode for Trish. One thing I’m appreciating about this character is that she’s flawed and she knows it. She owns her part in the friction between her and Kev, not making excuses. But at the same time, she doesn’t grovel or self-flagellate. Jodie Whittaker plays her like a woman who understands herself. Her Trish is very self-possessed, and even in intense emotional scenes, there’s something grounding about her.
And yeah, there are some intense emotional scenes here. Whittaker gets to show off a bit of her range, especially in one important scene between Trish and Kev where she has a nice monologue to deliver. I feel a little frustration with the character as a whole – there are clearly some good foundations within her characterization, but the writing for her can be up and down – but I think Whittaker is really making it work. Trish is someone that would be very easy to get wrong, and a lesser actress would likely be dragged down in the weaker moments. Instead, Whittaker brings this presence that rises to meet the strong material and elevates the flimsier stuff.
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