Fortysomething: Series 1, Episode 6 (2003)

 

Pilfrey's spell as a “new man” proves to be pretty short-lived.  In the series finale, he elbows his way into the main plot, suggesting Paul try hypnotherapy to help with his myriad fears, failures, and neuroses.  Naturally, he declares himself fully qualified to perform it, and you can imagination how strong the pull is toward mischief once he has Paul under his power.

 

Pretty silly again, although this time it's Hugh Laurie bearing the brunt of the embarrassing material.  Pilfrey takes on the role of Scottish Svengali with quiet, underhanded pleasure, planting ridiculous suggestions in Paul's subconscious that get him into all sorts of trouble.  You get the feeling that he might have started out with the honest intention of trying to help Paul, but his innate weaselness takes over and he just can't help himself.

 

After seeing the whole series, I'd say that PC gives a pretty good performance playing an unevenly-written character.  There are places where the writing is so over-the-top I don't know what else he could have done, but for the most part, he makes it work.  He plays arrogant, obnoxious, and snake-like to a tee.  On the whole, a fairly amusing villain.

 

Final write-up:

 

Accent Watch

 

Still Scottish – imagine that.

 

Recommend?

 

In General – I don't know.  It has a number of excellent actors in it and some genuine good stuff, but I feel the writing is so inconsistent.  

 

PC-wise – Eh... maybe?  Hard to say.  If you want to give it a try for a single episode, maybe go for episode 2.  I think Pilfrey is at his best there, and he has quite a bit of screen time.

 

Warnings

 

There's a lot of sex going on in the finale.  You never see the deed itself, just a lot of post-coital snuggling and people walking around wearing bed sheets.