The Hour is so amazing in so many different ways: a litany
Yes okay this is a post about The Hour and how I just, I love so much about it. But right now I can't get over the development in Marnie Madden, how she appeared to be a bimbo trophy wife at first but Bel learns along with the audience how fierce and wonderful she truly is, and how much pain Hector's infidelity is causing. Marnie is just as trapped by the society they live in, but she chose a different path and that doesn't make her any "less" of a woman. Someone on tumblr said it was the first time Bel was confronted with the deceptiveness of her "i'm not like other women" attitude, and it's so true. and brilliant.
And Lix. I just want to be Lix. That little speech she gave about not caring about the lady whose husband was being executed, only caring about the film, that was just so real and beautiful. Such a good moment between her and Hector.
And all of the characters have moments like that, moments built on mutual respect and admiration and friendship- even Hector and Freddie, who could be at odds over Bel, get along really well ever since Hector started fitting into the team. And neither is jealous of the other- Hector even tells Bel that when she's with Freddie she's more like "how she should be". Similarly with the conversation between Lix and Bel- they both know where they're coming from and a conversation that could have been terrible was just understated and perfect and they understand each other so well and just UGH. Even Isaac and Sissy get in on the action, instead of just being running punchlines they're given chances to shine and show their worth (Isaac's suggestion of a sketch about Suez :3) - they all just understand and love each other so much, romantically or platonically. I just love it all.
Speaking of, I know a lot of people hate on Hector for getting in between Bel and Freddie but like, that's totally stupid. It's Bel's choice, and all that talk of the Banker in the first episode established pretty well that she has a Type and that Type is guys more like Hector. I mean obvs Affairs Are Bad, but as things go this one makes sense, and he's not getting in between Freddie and Bel's relationship at all- they're still besties, they still trust each other with everything. Whether or not they're romantically interested in one another, it's not as if there were any changes on that front pre-Hector and he's gotten in the way of that. Freddie's not jealous of Hector, he didn't make a big deal of it when Hector told him, because if anything he's been resigned to being just friends with Bel long before Hector entered the picture. And likewise with Bel, maybe affairs with a married employee aren't a great decision as far as being the boss goes, but she likes Hector and she's not afraid to go for it, and there's nothing wrong with that.
ALSO HOLY SHIT MCCAIN'S THE ONE HAVING ILLICIT RELATIONS WITH ADAM LE ROY I DID NOT SEE THAT ONE. I mean it was pretty obvious Adam was gay and that's why he was trophy-wifing Ruthie, but like, I thought Angus was just trying to control everything (as he does) by setting it up, I sooo did not realize he had a more, uh, personal interest in the situation. But it's perfect. As these things are.
ALSO THE ELMS. THEY ARE GREAT. I mean annoying to Freddie, but really, what would you expect from a family in mourning and so confused, so at odds with themselves, with the situation they've been placed in. And when Freddie finally breaks them down, just.... holy shit. so heart breaking. And the moment between Lady Elms and Freddie's dad, even though we only saw a little bit, was so interesting. I wanted more.
Also can I talk about the whole conspiracy-murder mystery aspect of this? because I think the bit where Peter Darrell was the traitor and Kish was on the side of the Brits was one of my favorite twists of any suspense/thriller. Like. They set it up so perfectly with the execution in the train station and then Kish being suspicious of Freddie, that you just assumed that Kish was the Bad Guy and the Soviet Spy. And then to completely twist all of that around, and to implicate Darrell and Ruthie in being traitors, and along with the Suez conflict and the controversy around Eden and the impending war, everything just completely blurs the lines of "good guys" and "bad guys" instead of the traditional cold war narrative. It's just. Wonderful.
FINALLY lol this is so rambly and disconnected I'm sorry but finally: Bel's talk with her mother at the end was just fantastic. Because it was an under-current in the series so far about how she was "endangering her career" and "selling herself short" and being somehow less of a "strong female character" because of her relationship with Hector. (also something I've seen in the fandom, which is troubling and gross but that's another story). But bad career decision or not, who she chooses to sleep with does not make her any more or less of a woman. And that moment where she's all "I'm going to keep doing whatever I want and fuck the rest of them" and her mother just gives her this look of absolute understanding, that was actually the best.
I have no fucking clue who the Soviet spy actually is
And Lix. I just want to be Lix. That little speech she gave about not caring about the lady whose husband was being executed, only caring about the film, that was just so real and beautiful. Such a good moment between her and Hector.
And all of the characters have moments like that, moments built on mutual respect and admiration and friendship- even Hector and Freddie, who could be at odds over Bel, get along really well ever since Hector started fitting into the team. And neither is jealous of the other- Hector even tells Bel that when she's with Freddie she's more like "how she should be". Similarly with the conversation between Lix and Bel- they both know where they're coming from and a conversation that could have been terrible was just understated and perfect and they understand each other so well and just UGH. Even Isaac and Sissy get in on the action, instead of just being running punchlines they're given chances to shine and show their worth (Isaac's suggestion of a sketch about Suez :3) - they all just understand and love each other so much, romantically or platonically. I just love it all.
Speaking of, I know a lot of people hate on Hector for getting in between Bel and Freddie but like, that's totally stupid. It's Bel's choice, and all that talk of the Banker in the first episode established pretty well that she has a Type and that Type is guys more like Hector. I mean obvs Affairs Are Bad, but as things go this one makes sense, and he's not getting in between Freddie and Bel's relationship at all- they're still besties, they still trust each other with everything. Whether or not they're romantically interested in one another, it's not as if there were any changes on that front pre-Hector and he's gotten in the way of that. Freddie's not jealous of Hector, he didn't make a big deal of it when Hector told him, because if anything he's been resigned to being just friends with Bel long before Hector entered the picture. And likewise with Bel, maybe affairs with a married employee aren't a great decision as far as being the boss goes, but she likes Hector and she's not afraid to go for it, and there's nothing wrong with that.
ALSO HOLY SHIT MCCAIN'S THE ONE HAVING ILLICIT RELATIONS WITH ADAM LE ROY I DID NOT SEE THAT ONE. I mean it was pretty obvious Adam was gay and that's why he was trophy-wifing Ruthie, but like, I thought Angus was just trying to control everything (as he does) by setting it up, I sooo did not realize he had a more, uh, personal interest in the situation. But it's perfect. As these things are.
ALSO THE ELMS. THEY ARE GREAT. I mean annoying to Freddie, but really, what would you expect from a family in mourning and so confused, so at odds with themselves, with the situation they've been placed in. And when Freddie finally breaks them down, just.... holy shit. so heart breaking. And the moment between Lady Elms and Freddie's dad, even though we only saw a little bit, was so interesting. I wanted more.
Also can I talk about the whole conspiracy-murder mystery aspect of this? because I think the bit where Peter Darrell was the traitor and Kish was on the side of the Brits was one of my favorite twists of any suspense/thriller. Like. They set it up so perfectly with the execution in the train station and then Kish being suspicious of Freddie, that you just assumed that Kish was the Bad Guy and the Soviet Spy. And then to completely twist all of that around, and to implicate Darrell and Ruthie in being traitors, and along with the Suez conflict and the controversy around Eden and the impending war, everything just completely blurs the lines of "good guys" and "bad guys" instead of the traditional cold war narrative. It's just. Wonderful.
FINALLY lol this is so rambly and disconnected I'm sorry but finally: Bel's talk with her mother at the end was just fantastic. Because it was an under-current in the series so far about how she was "endangering her career" and "selling herself short" and being somehow less of a "strong female character" because of her relationship with Hector. (also something I've seen in the fandom, which is troubling and gross but that's another story). But bad career decision or not, who she chooses to sleep with does not make her any more or less of a woman. And that moment where she's all "I'm going to keep doing whatever I want and fuck the rest of them" and her mother just gives her this look of absolute understanding, that was actually the best.
I have no fucking clue who the Soviet spy actually is