Goodness, this episode certainly had a lot going on! I counted five separate stories, three more or less major ones and two minor ones. In my opinion, the best stories were the ones with Vincent (1 and 5 below) and the one with Liam and Edso (2). I may not be the best judge of acting talent, but I love watching Robert Taylor put his face through its paces. And I always appreciate stories in which we get some character development for Liam and/or Donal, instead of the standard slapstick. The whole wrangling and scheming with Louis's property (3) was just too complicated, plus I don't find it particularly entertaining to watch Louis: he is neither good-looking nor intelligible. It was a nice joke to have the Australian newcomer not understand Louis's accent, but how about the rest of us? Maybe they should have considered subtitles.

Here then are the stories I shall treat:

1.    Slipped A Mickey
2.    Liam and Elaine...and Edso?
3.    Whose Shack Is It Anyway?
4.    Who's Minding the Baby?
5.    Vincent's New Schedule

And now, just for the heck of it (or rather because I went to the trouble of writing out the timeline for myself so I could get some things straight and I want everyone to be rather impressed), here is a brief summary of what happened in this episode:
 
 

Reference Time	Slipped a Mickey	Liam/Elaine/Edso	The Shack	Minding the Baby	New Schedule
Day One, Dusk	Vincent caught driving drunk
Night	Blood test at garda station		Paul disgruntled at not owning anything
Day Two, Early morning		Liam and Elaine exit Liam's house; Liam and Edso nearly crash trucks; Elaine returns to Siobhan's		Siobhan complains how useless men are	Vincent stakes out Avril's track
Mid-morning	Vincent at garda station to present his documents	Donal and Liam joke about Elaine	Paul sees advert at estate agent's; Paul discovers cable is coming to Co. Wicklow	Siobhan checks on Avril's horse while Elaine minds Aisling
Lunch				Siobhan leaves Aisling with Brendan
Afternoon	Vincent asks Dr Ryan to analyze his blood sample; Kathleen mentions Vincent's blood test; Vincent accuses Frankie of leaking information	Liam and Elaine make out in the truck	Fr Mac visits Lucius; Paul visits Louis; Paul makes an offer for the shack but finds it is up for auction;	Brendan leaves Aisling with Frankie; Siobhan embarrasses Brendan in class	Avril meets Vincent while he re-paints the confession times; Kathleen disapproves of the change; Kathleen visits Fr Mac to complain; Kathleen bores Vincent with her "confession"
Late afternoon	Vincent finds out the home-brew was alcoholic	Elaine's car breaks down; Edso comes out to tow the car	Bank takes inventory at Vincent's house
Evening			Louis calls Paul to offer him the shack	Brendan takes Siobhan to dinner
Night		Edso brings Elaine's car to Brendan's; Liam and Edso fight	Louis sells Paul the shack
Day Three, Morning	Dr Ryan tells Vincent he failed the blood test		Paul calls the cable company; Paul asks Vincent for leeway on paying the rent	Siobhan comes home
Lunch			Paul finds out about the cable company's real plans
Afternoon	Vincent and Frankie in the glade: Vincent is in the clear		Fr Mac angry at Lucius for selling to Paul; Paul tells Vincent that he's bought the cottage

Slipped A Mickey

This story gives Vincent opportunity to interact with Father Mac, and it's like oil and water...consecrated oil and holy water, but oil and water nonetheless. Father Mac gives Vincent what-for for buying the pub, and Vincent tries his darnedest to hide the drunk-driving incident from Father Mac. Who's that man's confessor?

What I liked about this story is what wasn't shown, that Vincent and Doc Ryan got together with a couple of home-boys to sample the local poteen. I'm glad to know that Michael has a social life, and that Vincent is not really a fish out of water, but has been accepted as one of the lads after only a week in town.

I also liked the interaction between Frankie and Vincent. She seems to take a sadistic pleasure in needling him. I like that in a relationship.

Of course, it has also to be mentioned that the scene with Frankie in the glade is a throwback to Episode 1.6 "Missing You Already" where Assumpta and Peter met there, complete with reference to the statue's immobility. Could it be that Frankie and Vincent are being set up as love interests? The world will never know...unless they read Bronn's fan fiction. (Which by the way is really good, I was just re-reading it, and boy, can that girl write up a storm!)

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Liam and Elaine...and Edso?

There wasn't much point to this story in the end, except to make Edso out as a ladies' man, and Liam as just the opposite thereof. Poor Liam; even Siobhan, a level-headed, mature woman, cannot fathom what would draw Elaine--or any other woman--to Liam. He's actually not so bad, better looking and less alcohol-dependent than Padraig anyway, and Padraig managed to get married and raise a child.

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Whose Shack Is It Anyway?

It's kind of a confusing storyline, one that demands a rather large amount of concentration and deduction in order to properly follow. Anyway, here's how it goes: Louis wanted to sell his mountain shack and advertised it for sale through a local land agent, where Paul saw the notice. He then heard, as did Paul, that the local cable company was looking for land on which to perch their satellite antenna. Everybody realized that Louis's land would be the best spot for the antenna. Louis moved the sale of the land to auction, hoping that the cable company and Paul and perhaps others would hike up the price in an attempt to outbid each other. Then Louis heard that the cable company had decided the antenna idea wasn't feasible after all, but Paul didn't know about that. The land suddenly became nothing more than a wind-whipped patch of greenery, and Paul wanted it at all costs. Louis pulled the land out of the auction and offered it privately to Paul, who jumped at the chance and rushed over to sign the papers that very evening. (Side note: Paul seems to have needed Donal and Liam's twenty thousand pounds which they received from Brian in order to seal this deal. He tells the boys it's to show the bank he has collateral in order to get a loan, but I think it would have been easier for him to just use the cash as a down payment, since he never wanted to hold on to the land in the first place.)

Both men thought they had pulled a fast one on the other: Louis thought he had sold Paul a basically worthless piece of land at (very likely) more than its fair market price, and Paul thought he had bought a prime location dirt-cheap that he could turn around and squeeze the cable company for. When the cable company representatives revealed the following day at the pub that they couldn't use the land for an antenna, Louis gloated and Paul banged his head against the wall. Literally. But a minute later, the cable guys let drop that they knew of someone who wanted to build a chic vacation home up on the mountain, on the very spot that the shack occupied. Now it was Louis's stomach that dropped and Paul who got dollar signs (pounds? Euros?) in his eyes. Apparently, Paul was able to contact the outside buyer and unload the mountain property for a nice profit, since shortly thereafter, Paul was able to buy the cottage where the curate resides from the bank.

The upshot is, Vincent now owns Paul's house, and Paul owns Vincent's. Interesting situation, one which is unfortunately not capitalized on. In the final episode of the Series (Episode 6.8 "Smoke Signals"), we find out in a throwaway line that Paul was unable to keep up the payments on the cottage and ownership had reverted to the bank. But that's for another time.

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Who's Minding the Baby?

I was just saying to a friend the other day, I think that only people who want children (and by extension are prepared to raise them) should actually have them. My friend replied that if that were so, the human race would die out within two generations.

Vincent's New Schedule

Some Good Ones

And now...Mistress of Extracted Confessions...the Chief Inquisitor herself...SCARY SPICE!

2.    Liam: Siobhan's niece. Vet student. Ah, she's only down for a few days.
        Donal deadpans: Needs an animal to practice on, does she?

Baaa!

3.    Fr Mac: I wanted to talk to you about my curate.
        Lucius: You want to talk to me?
        Fr Mac: He has nowhere to live.
        Lucius: I have the wife's mother in the spare room.

Hah! And a little later...

Lucius: I understand your position, Father, I think it's...undignified the curate in BallyK should be without a home.
Fr Mac: I'm glad we agree.
Lucius: There's only one problem. The Mormons have already made an offer.

4.    Siobhan: Your teacher, Mr. Kearney, is the father. And I'm sure if you ask him nicely...He'll explain to you how
        being a father involves slightly more than just-- (turning to Brendan) Have you done that part yet?
        Boy (off camera): Someone has.

Early bloomer.

5.    Donal: Liam, I'm not saying that. Of course she's a good looking woman.
        Liam: Then what are you saying?
        Donal: I'm just saying, in a couple of days, she'll be...a good looking woman, somewhere else.

The pearls that keep dropping from that man's tongue!

Some Groaners

You just had to go and say it, didn't you? Later...

        Fr Vincent: Hey Doc. How's it going.

Better.

2.    Edso: Hey. Come on. It's a fine evening. Birds are singing. You're gorgeous. Hah. And what's a stupid
        car beside that? Come on, I'll drop you off. Come on.
        Elaine looks impressed and gets into Edso's car.

Is this girl lacking in self-esteem or what? First she sucks face with Liam, then she falls for that drivel from a mechanic she's never seen before.

Some Lines That Require A Double-Take

Hard to hear on the first pass, but now I'm curious...

2.    Elaine: Why are men so useless?

Oh, I could write a book...

3.    Fr Mac: Father, do you know what an oxymoron is?
        Fr Vincent: Um...

Thought not. How 'bout just "moron"?

4.    Paul: We're talking one of the great virtues, Father, we're talking generosity.
        Fr Vincent: Whose generosity exactly?
        Paul: Well, that would be yours.
        Fr Vincent: Not one of the great virtues, Paul. Chastity, honor...that's more your virtue territory.

Interesting...wonder why he picked exactly those two? Has he been mulling something over?

Things You Need A Really Quick Eye/Ear For (or else a "pause" button on the VCR)

2. For the numerologists among you:

Vincent's license plate: WZF 670

Frankie's license plate: 99 D 80214

Edso's license plate: 85 WW 75416

Liam's license plate: 88 WW 13802

Paul's license plate: RNI 472

Avril's license plate: DZV 758

4. The Irish for BALLYKISSANGEL NATIONAL SCHOOL: SCOIL NAISIUNTA BAILE COISC AINGEAL.