Review of

Ballykissangel Episode 4.12

The Final Frontier

Episode Written by Robert Jones


Wow. That was powerful. Cool storm. Great material for Peter Hanly. Mind you I'm writing this right after having seen the episode, so the last fifteen minutes are uppermost in my mind. The first part also had some beautiful moments, like Uncle Minto's entrance and Father Mac's oh-so-polite little conversation with Brian, but then it kind of got bogged down with that whole "Trixie is missing" thing, and Niamh and Sean's scenes before it started raining, and the set-up for Uncle Minto's alien encounter. So: good beginning, great end, mediocre middle. Kind of like...no, I won't say it. You fill in your own analogy here.

What I also liked was the fact that the different plots in this episode were more than just tangentially related. Even the episode title was appropriate for everything that occurred. The Final Frontier: Space? Adultery? The end of Series 4? Yes.


This episode had three stories:
1.    Storm's A-Brewin' or Trixie, I Don't Think We're In Ireland Anymore
2.    Beam Me Up, Scotty
3.    Did She Or Didn't She?

Storm's A-Brewin' or Trixie, I Don't Think We're In Ireland Anymore

I really liked the idea of the storm coming. It stands as an analogy for so many things. First, there was Uncle Minto's appearance, which was meant to shake up the establishment, or as he said himself, "You'd have seen something here, to blow your closed parochial little minds wide open." Unfortunately, his visitors didn't show, so that "storm" was a bit of a tempest in a teapot.

The next storm was the blowup between Niamh and Ambrose. It was beautiful how their confrontation paralleled the progress of the real storm, with the climactic line, "Only it's me that's no one, isn't it. Not him," coming at the climax of the storm, just at the same time (we assume) as the tree fell on Sean's house. Then, in the aftermath, when the air has been cleared, Niamh as much as starts with a clean slate, going over to Sean's place and carrying on as if she had already secured her divorce.

Then of course we had the (very weak) little story about Emma and Sean being at odds about her moving away. This also came to a head at the very peak of the storm, was interrupted or upstaged by the tree, and then smoothed over the next morning, once the weather had also calmed down. I'm puzzled, though, as to why Sean should have been upset that Emma was going to leave. As I understood the story in Episode 4.3 "Bread and Water", Sean had left Emma on her own back in London without telling her where he was going, when he first returned to Ballykissangel. Maybe he was just upset that he was going to have to pay for some hoighty-toighty art school. Hey, I just realized why Emma was so upset that Sean had painted the number on the side of the house. Obviously he had never gone to art school himself, and so had never learned about colour schemes and the like, and by painting the number with a colour that actually matched the house trim, he had committed some egregious error that would be a source of endless embarrassment to Emma when her fancy shmancy art school friends would come down for the weekends. Solution: Emma should leave and never come back! Yeah, I like that one.

The real, actual, physical storm was a little uneven in its approach (see Nitpick 1), but it gave everyone a much-needed soaking (Sean was just about due for a cold shower anyway) and cleared the air of all the nastiness, bad tempers, grudges, and general bad aura that was going around.

What *was* the point of the Trixie story, though? I mean, I know that her disappearance, like the heightened activity of the ants in the opening sequence, was supposed to herald the coming meteorological disturbances, but did they have to make a whole plot out of it?

Beam Me Up, Scotty

Uncle Minto is a bona fide Character, a caricature, larger than life (or at least 6 foot one-and-a-half). This is all his story, although it's not all about him. In almost a throw-away line, we get a nice insight into Orla's character:
Orla: Your flight path's one of the Ley lines.
I always had the feeling that Orla was a well-grounded cynic, just playing the role of the neo-hippy, with her bare, pierced midriff, but now I think she's a serious student of the paranormal. Ley lines! And did you see her face when Uncle Minto mentioned close encouters with aliens? I'm not altogether sure whether that interest was supposed to be indulgent or genuine.

I liked the amorphous nature of Uncle Minto's relationship to Donal. A nice statement on Irish society when we hear that Donal isn't sure whether they are really blood relatives, since "most of the neighborhood was family!" I think the secret is revealed, however, when Liam asks Uncle Minto where the name "Minto" comes from, and Uncle Minto corrects him: his name isn't "Minto", it's "Uncle Minto". Just like "Br'er Rabbit" or "Mama Cass". It's a part of the image that he (very carefully) cultivates, and thus a social statement rather than a genetic one.

One thing I missed was the opinion of the Church on extraterrestrials. We know what Brian thought of the whole thing, but what about Father Mac? Or at least Father Aiden, who was the most underused character in this episode.

Did She Or Didn't She?

Well, she didn't, but she might as well have. This was the only series-spanning story that was worth watching, and it really was worth watching. Forget Danny and Emma (great premise, lousy actors), forget the grudge against Sean (completely unbelievable, plus Sean is so unsympathetic, who cares if he gets run out of town?), forget Aiden's coming-out (of the monastery, duh! booo-riing!). Niamh and Ambrose are heart-wrenching, gripping, real. Nobody is made out to be the villain; in fact everyone (Niamh, Ambrose, Sean, maybe even Brian and the rest of the town) is equally at fault in the breakup of Niamh and Ambrose's marriage. You want to side with Ambrose, then you sympathize with Niamh, then you feel so bad for Ambrose, then you can't figure out what the hell Niamh sees in Sean, then you cheer Ambrose on when he confronts Sean, then you want to tell Ambrose that Niamh isn't good enough for him anyway, then you realize she actually is. Then you feel icky yet thrilled when she dances with Sean at the end in front of the whole town. Whew.

The corniest scene was the one where Sean's truck comes to a screeching halt right in front of Fitzgerald's, perfectly framed in the door which has conveniently blown open just at that moment. But this time Uncle Minto doesn't slam it shut with his butt. Instead, everyone is treated to the shadow play of Sean "kissing" Niamh. Right. Next sight gag, please.

Some Good Ones

1.    Minto: You'll be starting a war in your stomach if you put them two items in there together. Does your wife not
        provide you with a proper luncheon?
        Liam: Luncheon? This is breakfast.
        Donal: I'm not married.
        Minto: Still.

2.    Fr Mac: Well he is a dark horse. That's always appealing. The outsider has great allure.

3.    Brian: This town has had enough unwanted visitations.

Uncle Minto, Sean Dillon, Father Aiden...

4.    Sean: Emma, unless you've got something cheerful to say, will you just SHUT UP!

Thank you.

5.    Ambrose: The other day, when I asked you who you'd been with in Cilldargan, you told me no one. Only it's me
        that's no one, isn't it. Not him.
        Niamh: (no response)

"Oh no, darling, he really was the no one I met in Cilldargan."

6.    Kathleen: And Niamh Egan was there.
        Minto: It was very embarrassing. I took her for Mrs Dillon.
        Kathleen: Easily done.

Even easier after Series 5.

7.    Sean: I should have listened, but I didn't. You know why? Cause I'm stupid. I'm stubborn! And I'll tell you what else
        I am. I'm wrong. All wrong.

You'll get no argument from me.

8.    Kathleen: You didn't catch a cold yesterday...after that awful downpour?
        Niamh: No.
        Kathleen: You have to be so careful, don't you? Especially when you've children to look after.

Me-ow!

9.    Siobhan: I know you miss Assumpta.

*SOB*

10.    Brian: Was a time when a grudge was good for five generations. Now you're lucky if it sees out the week.

They sure don't make 'em like they used to.

11.    Niamh: Sean's not a thief.
        Brian: No?
        Niamh: No.
        Brian: Not been taking something that doesn't belong to him?

Oh no, nothing other than Ambrose's wife's affections.

Random Thoughts

Most useless lines: Danny.1

Most obvious appearance simply to fulfill contract stipulations: Aiden.

Best impression of a wet rat: Ambrose.

Number of rolls of toilet paper Uncle Minto packed for his trip on the spaceship: 4.

Number of lightning flashes: 12.

Number of characters who got soaked to the skin: 10
Number who didn't: 7
Number of characters who were laid up with heavy colds for the next three days: 9 (All except for Niamh, who assured Kathleen she didn't catch a cold).

Nitpicks

1.    The weather. I know I've mentioned it before, but in this episode, the weather is supposed to play a meaningful role. The problem is, the weather changes from calm and sunny to dark, windy, and stormy, from one scene to another, and even from one shot within a scene to another, and then back again. I suppose the scenes might not be in chronological order...maybe Fr Mac spent the morning at Brian's house (it was sunny and calm during their scenes), and all the scenes with Emma, Sean, and Niamh took place around midday (it was overcast and beginning to be windy during some of their scenes), and the ones with Uncle Minto, Liam, and Donal in the late afternoon (it was very dark, windy, and with heavy cloud cover during most of their scenes)...but then Uncle Minto, Liam and Donal showed up at Sean's house while Niamh was there, so that wouldn't work.

2.    When Emma and Eamonn are walking across the field and she tells him that she got accepted to art school, Eamonn says that Danny has gone to Cilldargan. Five seconds later, Danny joins them from stage right, completely taking Emma and Eamonn by surprise. Now, that's a pretty darn large field they were walking across, as is clear from the long shots. How could they not have seen Danny coming? Did he just beam down in front of them? Must have been one of Uncle Minto's aliens.

2a.    Why did Danny have to go all the way to Cilldargan for worming pills for Trixie? Didn't Siobhan have any?

3.    When the tree fell on the house, windows continued to break several seconds after the tree had settled. Sonic repercussions?

4.    If you, a red-headed veterinarian in a random northern European country, had just run through a downpour with your infant daughter wrapped in a blanket and were soaking wet, what would be the first thing you would do once you got inside?

a.    Take off your wet jacket.
b.    Unwrap the baby and check to see if she is warm enough.
c.    Hand the baby to her father, conveniently located on the next bar stool, and go into the bathroom to dry off your face and head.
d.    Clutch the baby, wrapped in a presumably wet blanket, against your definitely wet jacket, and stand there politely listening to the ravings of a madman for a good twenty minutes.
Not that I'm doubting there was an actual, live baby in that blanket. Not for a minute, no sirree.

5.    A carpenter could make a pretty penny in Ballykissangel simply by going from house to house re-hanging those doors so that they don't keep blowing open. Must get fairly annoying, especially as Ireland's a downright windy place.

6.    Could Emma have *been* any more of a snot during this episode? Can she *deliver* a line without whining?

Sean, all hopeful and proud of the paint job: So. What do you think?
Emma whines: What have you dooone to it? <hangs her jaw open in disbelief and looks pathetic>
Sean, willing to give his beloved daughter a second chance: What?
Emma whines: But I said IIIIIII was going to do it. <frowns and pouts>
Sean, who at this point should have slapped the brat's fizz, instead emphasizes how much he loves her:  But I've done it for you.
Emma whines: But it's like the wrong coooooolour! <stomps her feet and curls her lip in disgust>
I've got a colour for you. How about red? A nice, deep red. It'll look brown once it dries, though.

7.    Does Father Frank MacAnally always travel with a shot glass in his pocket? At the end, when Brian toasts Sean with his little pocket flask, Father Mac is at the ready with a little glass to take his share. Everyone else was using plastic cups.

1Appendix

Danny's lines. All of them:

Danny: In you go. Come on.
Danny: Beautiful. (??)
Danny: How are yous?
Danny: Well? Did you get in?
Danny: Ya did? Oh, nice one!
Danny: Ha haaa, see that? Uncle? Not just beautiful, talented too.
Danny: You know, she'll come back when she's hungry.
Danny: Trixie! (x3)
Danny: Me and Eamonn'll go on.
Danny: Is she back?
Danny: Uncle, she was home.

From this to Minority Report and Britney Spears. Who'd a thunk?

Review written by Margaret Pattison