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“Last Tango in Halifax” (Ep. 4): Search and Rescue

Teaser: Caroline and Gillian talk about life and cry. A lot. Strangely and sadly, only one of them is gay. Still.

Last time on Last Tango in Halifax, Caroline inched closer to a relationship with Kate, Gillian took in the beat up bloke she’s been sleeping with, and Celia and Alan got themselves trapped in a haunted, creaky old hall. We start up this time with Gillian and Caroline beginning to worry about their elderly parents not showing up for dinner. Or rather, Gillian starts to freak out and wonder if her dad has his heart medication on him and are they okay and what if they’re out in the rain?! And no one takes her seriously until the time really starts to slip away.

Celia and Alan, of course, are spending their time playing cards by candlelight, eating chocolates and talking in bed, trying to reassure themselves that the eerie sounds that keep ricocheting around them are simply the noises that a hall built in the 1500s makes. Alan says he doesn’t believe in ghosts; Celia says, of course not. But she then adds this positively lovely line: “Although, I’ve always thought…there’s more between heaven and Earth than any of us ever know about.” They then contemplate whether that candle on the bedside table was there before.

Gillian, meanwhile, starts to round up a motley crew at her house, including her recently estranged son Raff and her brother-in-law Robbie, along with two of Alan’s friends, jolly old fellows who occasionally get Alan drunk and who encourage Gillian to report him missing to the police.

As Caroline drives over to join them, she explains the situation to Kate over the phone. In her typical cool and calm demeanor, Caroline says that she’s sure everything’s fine. She adds a second later: But it’s just that Celia’s eyesight isn’t so good and she normally doesn’t stay out past dark and….Kate assures her that it’s all right to worry. Caroline says, right, so, why did you phone me anyway? Kate starts in nervously. It’s not a big deal anymore anyway, she begins, but since Caroline had mentioned maybe going away for a weekend, she just wanted to see if she was serious. And if she was serious, Kate could maybe start thinking up some ideas and, you know, whatever, no big deal. And stuff.

Caroline seems tired and overwhelmed and clearly once again doubting whatever must have come over her when she suggested going away for a weekend, and asks, “Can we talk about this later?”

Kate’s quick to respond: of course, of course. As if she hasn’t spent her entire evening searching for hotels in Barcelona, daydreaming of what could be, in a world where Caroline stops blowing her off and looks at her and only her with those remarkable blue eyes. Oh, Kate. We’re right there with you.

Speaking of relationships, over in Gillian’s corner, brother-in-law Robbie has also had a sudden change of heart from Angry Guy Who Wants to Slander Gillian At Every Turn. Perhaps it’s her tender fear and worry at this very moment that softens him, but he finds her in the kitchen and suddenly apologizes for the last ten years of pain. “We could make a good team, couldn’t we?” I’m not sure where this is headed; does he mean team as in, two people who help look after Raff, or two people who help look after Raff and also each other? If it’s the latter, that’s a turn I wasn’t quite expecting. One thing I do know is that the lighting at Gillian’s house is just ridiculously gorgeous.

But while Robbie is suddenly warm, and Kate is concerned, and Raff is starting to admit he still loves his mom, and Celia and Alan are cuddling by candlelight, the most meaningful relationship of this episode is without a doubt that between Caroline and Gillian. And what a pair these two women are! If I shipped them now as hard as I did at first, this whole episode would have been nothing but explosions and fireworks in my head. But now I see them slightly differently, as two women who need each other in ways that aren’t romantic but, perhaps, more important.

The first Caroline and Gillian Bonding Moment begins as they’re drying dishes while waiting for more information from the police; Gillian explains her Paul feelings–he’s still lying around beat up and pathetic looking, by the way–and Caroline breaks down over John. As they share some brandy, Gillian calls herself a mess and Caroline begins crying out right, and apologizes again for the way she treated her when they first met. She explains, “I’ve been depressed for months, bottling things up. And then it comes out and you say things, silly, nasty, stupid things that you don’t even mean.” With any other actors, perhaps these sudden, teary, sad confessions would seem a bit sappy, but with these two ladies, they are perfect and powerful.

Their sniffling fest is broken up by a call from the police, who have finally found Alan and Celia’s car outside the haunted hall. Although when one of the caretakers of the hall shows up and says that the place wasn’t even open yesterday, they apparently decide that’s all they need to know for that part of their investigation, and continue to look elsewhere. Good call, gents!

Luckily for us, though, this allows enough time for Caroline and Gillian Bonding Moment #2, early the next morning as Caroline wakes groggily from the couch and notices Gillian sitting on a stone wall out front. She goes outside to join her, contemplating the morning light, and this time it’s Gillian who’s crying the most. She shares some more grisly details of her husband’s suicide, but it’s when she starts talking about her feelings over her mother not passing on Celia’s note to Alan so many years ago that she gets the most emotional. What does it mean that her mother was so jealous? What would have happened if, if, if— Caroline gently reminds her that her mother was 16, a child. And if their parents had never married who they did, they themselves would never have existed.

Gillian asks if Caroline thinks Alan and Celia are dead; Caroline assures her they’re not. And they collectively ponder the utter, simple yet extraordinary happiness Alan and Celia have suddenly found, that Caroline and Gillian are still searching for, that the world needs to still survive for us all to believe in, so for the love of Pete, show your faces already.

And they soon do, as Celia and Alan wake up from their nightly slumber in the hall and hear sounds downstairs of employees starting the work day. As they get out of bed, Alan turns pale and says, “I swore I shut that door last night.” Celia says, “Oh, let’s get out of here!” And after giving the two employees a hard time about their ordeal, they do.

When the happy phone call arrives at Gillian’s house, Raff and Caroline pick up the line first, and run outside to tell Gillian the good news. And then they all hug and cry happy tears and I am not crying either, what are you talking about? Something just got in my eyes, and by “something” I mean whatever, goshdarnit, this show is beautiful!

While Alan and Celia drive back to Gillian’s house and reunite with everyone, John leaves Caroline’s house to take care of some business of his own. He once again meets Judith, but this time not at Caroline’s house, and not to drink or take pity on her. He’s giving her some money she’s asked for, along with some straight talk about getting her act together. He also tells her that he’s going to be truthful with Caroline from now on, starting with telling her about giving Judith this money. Judith, also known as Jenna Fitch, is so crazy and desperate and deluded that I’m tempted to still like her character just because it’s hard not to root for the crazy, pathetic ones. And it’s John that’s the true villainous person here, even while part of us feels that what he’s doing now here is a semi-good thing. Emphasis on the semi.

Alan, meanwhile, helps solve the whole Paul-Raff-Gillian Circle of Hell by doing what typically makes things better: laughing about it all. Oh, Alan, we’re so glad you’re back with the fam! Soon the laughs stop, however, as he clearly begins to have some pain in his chest area–remember how he forgot his pills last night?–which he tries to play off and call mere “twinges,” which Gillian isn’t buying. He says he’ll ring the doctor in a few days; she demands he do it today.

A bit later, he sets up a hot bubble bath for Celia, and as he explains that she’s got towels and coffee and Radio 2 waiting for her by the tub, she says that he’s spoiling her. He says that’s the plan, and that she better get used to it, “for that’s how it’s going to be from now on.” These two! Swoon!

And then as he walks into the kitchen to get the coffee, he falters for just a moment and his face blanches, and it’s clear those twinges haven’t stopped. And goddamnit Last Tango in Halifax, you better not paint the portrait of true love at last for these two people and then have one of them die! I mean I know they’re both close-ish to death as a general fact, but you know what I mean! And you better not do it! I said so!

Caroline, tired but relieved, heads home to get ready to go into work finally. But on the way, she stops at a coffee shop, seemingly just to take a moment to think about the events of the last 24 hours, of the possibility of what was lost and then what was found. She watches a happy family reuniting on the sidewalk outside, and as a hopeful song tinkles away in the background and the golden sun flares over her face in the glorious cinematography that creates the dreamy atmosphere of this whole show, I like to believe that she’s thinking, I, too, can be happy.

Indeed, when she reaches her house, the best scene of the episode ensues. John greets her with a big smile; she seems peaceful and at ease. He says he wants to tell her something; she splays herself onto a couch, exhausted, as he tells her about Judith and his newfound dedication to being honest and true. She says sure, okay, whatever; what a poor bitch. Then she asks, we can make this work, right? Making it work here for the kids? Hopeful, glad, he says, of course! Then she says, as nonchalantly as she’s spoken every word for the last five minutes, “I’ve been seeing someone.” Unsurprisingly, John’s face changes.

She’s not sure if it’s completely what she wants, yet. But, she’ll won’t know if she doesn’t try. (Exactly! Go, Caroline, go!) And no, she won’t tell him who it is. That’s the deal. Well, off to bed, now!

As she walks away from him and up the stairs, John descends into a blind rage. He won’t live under the same roof while she’s off seeing someone else! She swoops down towards his face and croons, “You know where the door is.” He shouts, “Are you lying to me?” And Caroline, glorious, wonderful Caroline replies, “I don’t do lies.”

The shouting causes Angsty Curly-Haired Son to come out and ask what’s going on. Caroline, who’s reached the top of the staircase at this point, leans over the railing and yells in the most loosey goosey voice we have ever heard from her, “Hi kids!” It is a shining second of pure comedic gold!

John asks Angsty Boy if his mom has been hanging around anyone in particular at school. Angsty Boy suddenly recalls the way Caroline reached for Kate’s shoulder in that room the other day, hung over her silently for just a moment too long, right before another student accused his mom of being a lesbo. He shakes his head; says no. The episode ends with him standing, alone and deeply befuddled, at the bottom of the stairs.

And last but not least, here are my favorite landscape panoramas of the episode, encompassing both light and dark at Gillian’s farm. First, as the fire company arrived at the very beginning of the episode to deal with Gillian’s torched lesbianmobile–still a mystery, by the way–we get to see the glittery array of lights of the surrounding towns spread out in the valley below, and while it’s not the best picture of it, it’s a view that’s always my favorite view.

And then, before Gillian and Caroline have one of their talks, we see the dawn of a new day over the treeline.

Only two episodes left to retro-recap of this series, and I’m already dreading the finale because I don’t want it to go away, ever. And as of right now, the only news I can find is that Series 2 won’t air until closer to the end of 2013, at the earliest. Why do you do this to my heart, BBC?

What was your favorite part of this episode?

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