Clemence (Branka Katic) arrives from Paris, Moray's (Emun Elliott) friend and immediately she sends everyone into a state of intrigue and lust. There were fireworks in this show, literally too as she's here to sell fireworks to the store. She wants Moray to let her seduce him and Susy (Katie Moore) wonders what she's saying to him. Sam (Stephen Wright) wishes she'd say it to him. Moray is only too pleased to welcome her but Weston (Ben Daniels) is enamoured by her. He doesn't want Moray entering into a contract with her until she dines with him. Everyone thinks she just likes playing hard to get and plays the men but there's more to her than that. She's a realist and ahead of her time, even if they put it down to her being French. Thus the writers had to find something different about her character which is revealed to Denise (Joanna Vanderham) the hard way and is something Moray already knew of. Moray didn't write to Denise about Clemence though she tells Denise he spoke of her all the time.
Clemence: "Tonight darling we will light up the skies." She tells Moray. Not only that but she lit up everyone's lives and sent them spinning into turmoil like her fireworks. Sam had it right when he tells Arthur (Finn Burridge) those fireworks were like women, at least they were like Clemence and Katherine (Elaine Cassidy).
Clemence: "Every decision we make is guided, determined by passion...sexual passion," she tells the others, though probaly she's the only one who sees it that way and again this applies to Katherine too. Clemence also goes to Clara (Sonya Cassidy) for the gossip on Weston.
Denise is jealous of Clemence as Moray takes her round the store. She asks the women if they are happy with their situation and position in society, that if they marry they must leave since it's news now that Miss Audrey (Sarah Lancashire) is going to be leaving. So the position will need to be filled and for this Moray will be conducting interviews. She invites the ladies to the inn and even Miss Audrey is persuaded to be there, telling them about her job in France and how she sold to La Bon Marche, which is where Moray was a buyer. Even getting Denise tipsy. She asks Denise if she's happy and what she wants. Denise admitting she wants to be Moray. Not be a man but to run The Paradise one day. She has ideas but she wants to make them her own. Clemence kisses her and Denise is shocked, but Jonas spies them.
Yes Jonas (David Hayman) is found at the back of a cart and doesn't know how he arrived there or what he's been doing for a year. He's nursed by Myrtle (Lisa Millett) and by Denise and is able to stay until he gets better then Dudley (Matthew McNulty) wants him to leave. Dudley is worried that the truth will come out about them knowing of Barrow and that Jonas killed him and is quite rude to Jonas. Who is a bit of a dark horse cos he looked as if he was putting on his illness, especially when he leaves one night and goes to that 'famous' bridge where he tries to kill himself. Arthur drags him down and he doesn't recall how he got there. So where has he been for a year, not skulking around spying on them was he?
Clemence refuses Weston's advances and he's persistent that no contract be signed until she's had dinner with him. To this end she seduces Dudley and he confides that he married when he was young and that his wife's kiss is the only one he's known. It was quite surprising that Dudley was actually taken in by her and was going to betray his wife especially when Clemence was plying him with all that champagne. Weston is jealous of her attentions towards Dudley and threatens him, with Moray saying he will take care of Weston.
Moray speaks to Katherine about Weston's actions and Katherine thinks Denise should take over Miss Audrey's position. Katherine invites Clemence to stay with them and not in her hotel and there's a revealing scene where we see how Katherine lets Weston "fawn" over other women, as she calls it cos she's under the impression he will always be hers and return to her. Though that seems to be changing when Clara sees him in pain at the end during the fireworks display and Katherine was oblivious to this. It appears that Katherine wanted a ready made family and is really only interested in Clara, she seems to be grooming her into becoming her. What with matching dresses and how to make a lady's posture by balancing a book on their heads.
Clemence has an engagement and leaves after diner after impressing Flora with a magic trick, telling Weston she can see whomever he likes when he asks her if she's seeing a man. He follows her later in his carriage but as Clemence gets Dudley drunk until he loses his senses, someone intervenes. No surprises for guessing who this mysterious someone is. Weston arrives and finds the room empty with only Jonas there. He lies and tells him no one was here. Next day he asks Dudley to leave before the staff arrive as they can't see him there, telling him nothing happened and a note was sent to his wife telling him he was working late. Again it looks like it's another ploy for him to get back his job here since that's exactly what happens when Moray and Dudley ask him to stay. Seems they need him around to take care of their problems. Jonas tells them Weston can't be trusted since he'd sooner "kill himself" than to let someone get the better of him.
Denise doesn't tell Moray Clemence kissed her and tried to seduce her and she doesn't tell Dudley either but goes to Jonas for advice. Miss Audrey appears to have a change of heart about marrying Edmund (Peter Wight) and he's selling the shop to move to her brother's cottage with her. She tells him how women have to listen to men and do what they say which is what Clemence says and he tells her he listened to her. He put the shop up for sale one her say so and she asked him to marry her. So he proposes to her now and she accepts. Miss Audrey leaves the books to Denise since she's the logical choice to take over from her. But it doesn't seem that way since if Moray promotes her it will be like he's favouring his lover. Katherine looks at them with such jealousy still.
Also Weston finds out she didn't leave Moray. It seemed crazy that Katherine would invite the very woman her husband is after to stay with them, just as long as he doesn't get Flora involved and to give him so much leeway in conducting his 'affairs' of the heart. She still refers to him as a military man. Clemence uses men cos if she was a man Weston would never have treated her in that way and it would just be about business. She tells Clara and Denise about how she met an older woman and thought she would leave her husband for her, however she didn't and Denise mentions she must have been like Dudley and wanted to do the right thing.
Moray tells Denise that she's not his type and he's not his type but didn't tell Denise cos it wasn't his place to say and did she want him to tell her to alleviate her jealousy. Well it would have saved everyone a whole lot of trouble especially his friend Dudley, who almost did the dirty on his wife when Clemence didn't even want him and Weston seems to think he's better than Moray and Dudley just cos they worked their way up to where they are. Clemence intends to sell her firecrackers regardless of the contract so Weston wants the contract signed and Clemence to leave. Yeah only cos he got his nose out of joint and couldn't have her since she wasn't into men and that'd affect his reputation.
Susy really summed up the entire episode at the start when she asked Denise if she could fall for Clemence and if she was a man she would. Firstly cos Clemence wasn't into men, just into using them and secondly Denise was more interested in what Moray had been up to, though Clemence does make a move on Denise so the question really remained moot cos Denise isn't into women. The Paradise setting up more questions for future episodes such as what is really behind Weston, how he got his scars, where did Jonas go and what will Katherine do next to put a spanner in the works for Moray, his dreams of getting the store back and will she come between him and Denise?
No comments:
Post a Comment