Great Expectations Epsiode 3

Reviewing shows is something I want to do as a profession and as an exercise. Right now, it’s a movement. And part of the exercise is not the endorphin rush but the bits with its routine.

And to still maintain interest.

Many folks think films are about the good stuff,f and the move in journalism to stop reviewers but allow fans to watch established franchises. I was at star wars celebrations, so everything was in its highest light.

But this is now episode 3. Liberties are now extended so that great expectations have been shanghaied like a horror film into the hellraHellraiserhise for nonvenience.

And now my ambiguity about the shows dovetailed into Shadenfeurd.s could have been a great two-parter within ripper street instead; we have something akin to Blood and Honey.

Pip threatens to cut Jaggers with a boot knife within the first ten minutes. He fixates on being a gentleman and gets soundly thrashed while drunk. And Jaggers shows absolutely no remorse but to teach brutality, not etiquette, at each turn.

Now we are in the city.

And the show is still as lush in detail and imagination and set dressing and lighting as ever.

BUT 

It is not just PIp we see become so unlikeable that it’s hard to see any sort of protagonist worth investing in. The world only seems to get some kind of character respite in 

 His peers in business and personal life, Wemmick and Herbert, add some breadth and humour to an otherwise dour portrayal of existence.

The variations in the story come thick and fast with a long adventure in the outback, and the situation of Magwitch and Compton continues to escalate on a mythic scale. I can’t help but feel much like the valley of fear. The story is the one steven knight wants to tell and not Pips.

Also, the sheer level of corruption and misconduct from Jaggers. Who is ‘known to be evil, as evil is the only currency of power in London…just drapes bleak upon bleak to the numbing point.

Visceral and grotesque are some of the choices of directions. Suicide and butchery allow power to flow. And the poor, too, be pitied and bullied but never respect charitable works.

But the sparsity of the highly praised Mrs Haversham and Estella makes one wonder if it’s almost just there as a commercial filler. Fan service for the image of Olivia Coleman rather than the story itself.

As Pip gains some semblance of skills and social mobility, and becomes more and more profiteering. There is a sense of richness. But I feel ambivalent about the second half of this run. 

It’s a dry-tasting rum so far, and the interpretation is over-spiced. But it should have some sweetness to work within the story. That was my expectation.