#because we already had this big celebratory classic wedding last season

[gallavictorious]

Huh. This was a rather curious episode, So much stuff happened – the death, the wedding, the break-up,  the realization of Frank's illness – and yet it often seemed a little slow and muted? Understated, like? I'm not quite sure how I feel about that... it was underwhelming at times, but there's also something about big things in life just kind of happening that appeals to me? Not everything is big and dramatic, not even the things that signify big and dramatic changes.

Like Terry's death. Quite a bit of focus on his and Mickey's relationship this season and suddenly he's gone, killed by a random murder nun, and I get why that might elicit a pretty 'uh, okay' response from many people, especially when we don't get any immediate follow-up, but... to me it also felt oddly fitting, that the unfolding of this twisted and complex father and child relationship should cease not with a bang but a whimper. There is that moment while Mickey feeds Terry, a hint of rapprochement (played just right I feel), but mostly the whole thing's anticlimactic; the sudden end to a relationship unredeemed. There's an unease here, a dissonance – a numb emptiness and lack of resolution that is unsatisfactory and jarring but which intrigues me precisely because of that.

Sometimes things end before they are done; abruptly and with little fanfare and no real closure.

Now, I am admittedly expecting an interesting emotional fallout and payoff in this whole thing in the next episode and if we don't get that, I'll probably need to revise my feelings on this, but as it stands now – I am tentatively in favour. (Even as I was internally screaming ”WHERE IS MICKEY IS HE OKAY IAN WHY AREN'T YOU WITH YOUR HUSBAND WHY ISN'T ANYONE ASKING IF MICKEY IS OKAY” during the whole hospital scene. This whole thing is just so damned unfair on him, especially if he comes to the conclusion that this is his - or Ian’s! - fault for hiring the nurse. So I get the frustration, trust me – it's just mingled with grudging approval on my part. As I said, curioius episode. Still sorting out my feelings on it.)