Normal People [BBC - RTE] - [**SPOILERS**]

Muahahaha

1 sheep2 wrote: »

The continuity announcer on RTE introduced the third episode by saying something like,

'Connell finds out that his friends don't mind after all that he's with Marianne.'

Insane! That is the twist at the end of the episode and one of the two or three key moments in the series. How could they be so stupid?

They're idiots, imagine spoiling pretty important events for viewers before they even happen. Typical RTE

Thargor

Was that his old teacher he was eating the face off outside the takeaway or just some random woman from the club?

Hamachi

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Completely at odds with my experience. I think you're projecting your own prejudices. Peggy had a valid point that it's not a good idea bringing an ex over like that and basically going on a date with him.

I’m not projecting any prejudices. I’m relating my own lived experience after spending 5 years in that environment. Some of the ‘D4’ types are just plain obnoxious. However, like I mentioned in a previous post, many of them are fine individually when you get to know them through college work or a sport. This doesn’t negate the fact that a subset of them are very hard to stomach.

Peggy does have a point for sure. It is appalling behavior to invite your ex to stay and openly flirt with him. However, my impression of the Peggy character is colored by having read the book. The subtext is glossed over in the TV series. I don’t want to spoil it for others, but it becomes clearer in the next episode.

Shelga

Thargor wrote: »

Was that his old teacher he was eating the face off outside the takeaway or just some random woman from the club?

It was his old teacher, Miss Neary. Goes into more detail in the book, she comes off as very creepy and a bit disturbed.

1 sheep2

Muahahaha wrote: »

They're idiots, imagine spoiling pretty important events for viewers before they even happen. Typical RTE

Yours is both worse and more understandable. It's a dramatic event that shouldn't have been spoilt, but you can see why it might be included in a trailer. What I find galling about mine is how childish it is - 'The kids find Barney and they all visit the play palace' - and how needless. Out of context, 'Connell finds that his friends don't mind,' seems trivial. It's only on watching that its significance becomes apparent.

Hamachi wrote: »

I’m not projecting any prejudices. I’m relating my own lived experience after spending 5 years in that environment. Some of the ‘D4’ types are just plain obnoxious. However, like I mentioned in a previous post, many of them are fine individually when you get to know them through college work or a sport. This doesn’t negate the fact that a subset of them are very hard to stomach.

Peggy does have a point for sure. It is appalling behavior to invite your ex to stay and openly flirt with him. However, my impression of the her character is colored by having read the book. The subtext is glossed over in the TV series. I don’t want to spoil it for others, but it becomes clearer in the next episode.

'Fine when you get to know them.' Lol. Maybe they think the same of you. Your 'lived experience' isn't free of prejudice.

Higgins5473

For anyone that's read the book...was the "Fat Friend" in it, the smart comforting reassuring pillow cliché?

Sardonicat

Hamachi wrote: »

Peggy does have a point for sure. It is appalling behavior to invite your ex to stay and openly flirt with him. However, my impression of the Peggy character is colored by having read the book. The subtext is glossed over in the TV series. I don’t want to spoil it for others, but it becomes clearer in the next episode.

He wasn't her ex. They were never officially a couple at that point. And they weren't flirting. At this point they are trying hard to relate to each other as friends and cycling into town together is the kind of thing that friends do. I'd be damned before I'd let my partner dictate to me or kick off at me for wanting to spend time with a friend, regardless of the nature of our previous relationship. Jamie essentially pushed her straight back into Connell's arms. And as for sleeping in Connell's bed, the moment Jamie began intimidating and threatening Marieanne he was finished. I'd be staying with the person who made me feel safe, too.

Hamachi

1 sheep2 wrote: »

'Fine when you get to know them.' Lol. Maybe they think the same of you. Your 'lived experience' isn't free of prejudice.

They’re all salt of earth types. Everybody loves them in college and they go to the end of the earth to include others. That make you feel a bit better?

1 sheep2

Sardonicat wrote: »

He wasn't her ex. They were never officially a couple at that point. And they weren't flirting. At this point they are trying hard to relate to each other as friends and cycling into town together is the kind of thing that friends do. I'd be damned before I'd let my partner dictate to me or kick off at me for wanting to spend time with a friend, regardless of the nature of our previous relationship. Jamie essentially pushed her straight back into Connell's arms. And as for sleeping in Connell's bed, the moment Jamie began intimidating and threatening Marieanne he was finished. I'd be staying with the person who made me feel safe, too.

I don't know what your definition of ex is, but sexual and emotional entanglement certainly meets my criteria.

Hamachi wrote: »

They’re all salt of earth types. Everybody loves them in college and they go to the end of the earth to include others. That make you feel a bit better?

What you seem not to have realised is how pathetic any generalisation about 'them' is.

Hamachi

Sardonicat wrote: »

At this point they are trying hard to relate to each other as friends and cycling into town together is the kind of thing that friends do.

Totally entitled to that opinion, but you’re clearly not a man.

Strazdas

Thargor wrote: »

Was that his old teacher he was eating the face off outside the takeaway or just some random woman from the club?

One of his old classmates I think. I'm pretty sure we saw her way back in Episode 1 as one of the group of girls from his school he and his pals hung around with.

kowloon

Thargor wrote: »

Was that his old teacher he was eating the face off outside the takeaway or just some random woman from the club?

/jk

Qrt

Strazdas wrote: »

One of his old classmates I think. I'm pretty sure we saw her way back in Episode 1 as one of the group of girls from his school he and his pals hung around with.

Nope, it’s Ms Neary.

lainey_d_123

Qrt wrote: »

Nope, it’s Ms Neary.

I hadn't realised this either. I thought it was a classmate from school.

Larbre34

Oh wow that was the teacher, i hadn't made that connection! Yikes.

bb1234567

Sardonicat wrote: »

He wasn't her ex. They were never officially a couple at that point. And they weren't flirting. At this point they are trying hard to relate to each other as friends and cycling into town together is the kind of thing that friends do. I'd be damned before I'd let my partner dictate to me or kick off at me for wanting to spend time with a friend, regardless of the nature of our previous relationship. Jamie essentially pushed her straight back into Connell's arms. And as for sleeping in Connell's bed, the moment Jamie began intimidating and threatening Marieanne he was finished. I'd be staying with the person who made me feel safe, too.

They were as much exes as anyone else. They nearly moved in together like. Theres nothing inherently wrong with befriending an ex and having him/her as part of a social circle even when your new partner is part of that circle but if you have unresolved emotional and physical attraction to the ex it's a bit awkward and inappropriate, even worse in this example is that the boyfriend and ex dont even get on well

dubdaymo

This must qualify as one of the slowest and boring series ever on TV. I'm willing to bet that:

1. Very few would be still watching it without the sex scenes.

2. Most people are recording it and then fast forwarding to the sex scenes

lainey_d_123

dubdaymo wrote: »

This must qualify as one of the slowest and boring series ever on TV. I'm willing to bet that:

1. Very few would be still watching it without the sex scenes.

2. Most people are recording it and then fast forwarding to the sex scenes

What's the obsession with the sex scenes? They are incredibly tame. Have you ever heard of the internet? You wouldn't finish all the videos out there if you never did anything else for the rest of your life. I don't think anyone is watching this series for the sex.

Larbre34

I think people are watching it for the 'what manner of immature thing will they do next', because we all did stupid things and treated people badly sometimes at that age.

The sex just shows the bond they have, its incredibly tender, they compare the sex they've had together with inferior relationships and thats important to their love story. Its not meant to look like porn where someone gets banged into next year. In fact, in the scenes where Marianne is having sex with other people it looks like an exercise in self-hate.

Strazdas

Qrt wrote: »

Nope, it’s Ms Neary.

Oh right, I thought it was one of Rachel's friends from the general social circle at the school.

Hamachi

Strazdas wrote: »

Oh right, I thought it was one of Rachel's friends from the general social circle at the school.

Yep. In the book he actually goes home with her and she puts the moves on him in her house. He was hammered that night and wakes up on his bedroom floor the following morning, wondering how he managed to extricate himself from the situation.

The book kind of depicts Miss Neary in a more predatory way. It’s implied that she was actively chasing Connell when he was still in school. There’s also something about her house feeling sterile and lonely. I perceived her as a slightly tragic character. A young woman stuck teaching in a rural town, with no real outlet except the local pubs and nightclub.

Strazdas

Hamachi wrote: »

Yep. In the book he actually goes home with her and she puts the moves on him in her house. He was hammered that night and wakes up on his bedroom floor the following morning, wondering how he managed to extricate himself from the situation.

The book kind of depicts Miss Neary in a more predatory way. It’s implied that she was actively chasing Connell when he was still in school. There’s also something about her house feeling sterile and lonely. I perceived her as a slightly tragic character. A young woman stuck teaching in a rural town, with no real outlet except the local pubs and nightclub.

I seem to recall Marianne having a bit of a run in with her in class in the first episode, but she didn't respond too badly to Marianne's rudeness all things considered.

The isolation of a small town in Sligo is hinted at a few times in the show itself, if not a major theme.

Hamachi

Strazdas wrote: »

I seem to recall Marianne having a bit of a run in with her in class in the first episode, but she didn't respond too badly to Marianne's rudeness all things considered.

The isolation of a small town in Sligo is hinted at a few times in the show itself, if not a major theme.

Definitely. That sense of repression in rural areas is a theme bubbling under the surface, but never fully explored.

He actually tells Marianne about the ‘encounter’ with Miss Neary in the book. She has a pretty extreme reaction and threatens to slit the teacher’s throat if I recall correctly. It seemed like a pretty dis-proportionate response, given that she was no longer with Connell.

thequarefellow

All the smoking has me yearning to take 'em back into my life! You kinda forget that 'normal' characters with a fag in their hand have been kinda erased from much of TV.

Larbre34

How I haven't started smoking again is miraculous and I've been off them 20 years.

When my neighbour nips out after putting the kids to bed and has one sitting in his garden and the faint aroma comes in on the balmy summer breeze. Mmmm lovely fags.

Harry Palmr

I see Pornhub has been issued with a takedown notice by the production company.

Purple Mountain

Qrt wrote: »

Nope, it’s Ms Neary.

Mon dieu!! I never realised that.
I haven't read the book though!

Qrt

Purple Mountain wrote: »

Mon dieu!! I never realised that.
I haven't read the book though!

He actually says it in the scene, right at the beginning, but it’s very faint and quiet. Typical Connell really.

kowloon

lainey_d_123 wrote: »

What's the obsession with the sex scenes? They are incredibly tame. Have you ever heard of the internet? You wouldn't finish all the videos out there if you never did anything else for the rest of your life. I don't think anyone is watching this series for the sex.

The ratings, at least in Ireland, seem to be getting more lenient over time, but people still have their hangups. People who grew up with smartphones and broadband probably don't bat an eyelid at it.

Purple Mountain

kowloon wrote: »

The ratings, at least in Ireland, seem to be getting more lenient over time, but people still have their hangups. People who grew up with smartphones and broadband probably don't bat an eyelid at it.

The sex scenes are there as an art effect to add to the story.
People on Joe Duffy calling it porn obviously never clicked into Pornhub!