TV REVIEW: Parade's End - Episode Five

The period drama comes to an end as Christopher continues to serve in the trenches, Sylvia hatches even more plans to try and get him back and Valentine continues to wait for him to return, picking up a sex education via early (considerably better written) prototypes of Fifty Shades of Grey.

Though featuring artillery bombardments, the Parade's End finale wasn't so much an explosive revelation as a slow meander towards the conclusion we all knew was coming (though in my case, not necessarily the one I wanted). Christopher (Benedict Cumberbatch) remains in the trenches, facing strafes and slightly deranged officers continuing a sonnet competition and wandering round without appropriate headgear. Sylvia (Rebecca Hall), now returned from France, continues to prepare for Christopher's life to be a misery when he gets back whilst also ending her five-year man-drought with a quick tumble in the bedsheets with former flame Gerald Drake (Jack Huston). Valentine meanwhile is at last given something to do after she discovers a sexually explicit book owned by one of her students, leading to her very own sexual awakening and the decision that she will 'ruin herself' with Christopher when he gets back. Oo-er.

There has been a battle right from the beginning of the series embodied in Christopher, the tension between tradition and modernity, the old and the new. Cumberbatch's stiff upper lip performance has been one of the main draws throughout the series and continues here, demonstrating Tietjens' discomfort with the world with every eyebrow raise and mouth twitch. Attempting to cling gallantly to the past, Christopher's efforts have been focused throughout on maintaining the status quo that everything else has threatened to destroy. This is no more apparent than in the wonderful scene in which he has tea and sandwiches served to him on a tray whilst sitting in a trench at the front. The Hun may be firing on him from all sides but goddammit it's time for afternoon tea!

It's the kind of attitude Sylvia has exhibited throughout as well though with considerably less restraint than Christopher. Everything must continue as it always had done, though of course, it didn't work out this way. Hall has been the standout performance in the previous episodes but here, with the focus more on Christopher and Valentine's eventual union, Sylvia is sidelined a little in the overall plot. That didn't mean she faded from view however; her last ditch effort to fake an illness to draw Christopher back in was both comical and slightly tragic, as was her venomous destruction of the tree at Groby. She's been advocating that particular form of arboreal revenge for a while and the hacking down of the tree was the last straw for Christopher. She also gets one of the best lines in the entire series, referring to Valentine as 'that scrub-faced ladies champion of the regular bowel movement'. Just fantastic and the final scene in which Christopher conveys in a look just how committed he is to Valentine was electrifying between Cumberbatch and Hall, demonstrating the chemistry that has made them such a compelling couple.

Narratively, Christopher was always going to leave Sylvia for Valentine but I'm still a little disappointed with that conclusion. Adelaide Clemens gave terrific performances in the first couple of episodes in which she had something to do and was more about being a rebellious suffragette than swooning after Christopher. Against Hall's towering performance, Clemens faded and Sylvia became the more compelling character, making me want to see her get Christopher after all. I don't necessarily think it was Clemens' fault; she was simply outgunned by both Hall and the writing that she was given. Valentine was meant to represent the pure versus Sylvia's corruption and sadly, that was all she ever was.

It's the only thing that occurs to me to be slightly negative about because the final scenes of the series were a fitting end for all of the characters we had got to know over the course of four episodes. Sylvia managed to manoeuvre herself as the future wife to the possible Viceroy of India through the newly promoted General Campion (Roger Allam). Allam has been one of the best supporting actors, mastering the look of bemusement that caused one of the episode's big laughs after Sylvia's unexpected marriage proposal. Christopher learned to let go of the past too, burning the log leftover from the Groby tree as a symbol of the beginning of his new life as both a singing war veteran and lover of Valentine. 

Parade's End has been in a different class right from its first episode; unashamedly literary and scripted with a wit and sophistication that is rarely seen in dramas of any kind at the moment. I'm going to call it now and say it will be heavily nominated when it comes to award season and well-deserved it would be too. Fridays nights are going to be poorer for its absence.

- Becky

You can read Becky's review of Episode Four here.

Follow Becky on Twitter @beckygracelea
Or follow her blog on beckygracelea.wordpress.com

TV REVIEW: Parade's End - Episode Four

The penultimate episode of the BBC adaptation of Parade's End finds Christopher (Benedict Cumberbatch) back on the front, leaving behind an anxious Valentine (Adelaide Clemens) whilst Sylvia (Rebecca Hall) makes her own plan to follow her husband to France.

Christopher has been helped to a safer position in the army training other soldiers thanks to brother Mark (Rupert Everett) and, despite General Campion (Roger Allam) finding him to be a nuisance, is doing rather well at it. Meanwhile back in London, Valentine anxiously awaits news of her would-be beau whilst continuing her job as a gym mistress. Elsewhere, Sylvia decides that now is absolutely the best time to go and visit Christopher in France and arrives in Rouen before anyone has the chance to do anything about it. There, she and Christopher attempt some sort of reconciliation but are interrupted before anything can truly be done.

After last week's slight dip, Parade's End was back on form in its fourth episode, providing more comedy and tragedy than you could shake a bayonet at. While the series has never been particularly sombre or po-faced, laugh-out-loud moments weren't exactly forthcoming outside of Rufus Sewell's appearances. In this episode however, the comedy is extremely well-pitched, though often erring on the side of black, and each time comes layered with a sense of poignancy that further highlights the drama of the characters' situations. In particular, the scene between Christopher and Patrick Kennedy's equally strung out McKechnie trying to outdo each other intellectually through sonnets and Latin was both very funny and deeply sad.

Another standout scene was the meeting between Christopher and Sylvia in the hotel, their first face-to-face conversation in a considerably long time. To use a technical term, both actors knocked it out of the park with Hall's monologue in particular adding a deep sadness to the pair's unsuccessful marriage. Just as it seems the pair are reconciling (with a spectacular grab-and-kiss move from Cumberbatch that no doubt resulted in a sudden outbreak of swooning), the poignant scene was replaced by a farcical confrontation between Christopher and Sylvia's former squeeze, Potty Perowne (Tom Mison) and a drunken superior officer. Had it not been handled with such skill, the transition from tragedy to farce could have been jarring and distracting, but fortunately it only enhanced what the previous scene had been demonstrating; Sylvia and Christopher just aren't meant to be together.

The focus on the central marriage means that some of the characters are found wanting in the wider episode arc. Most notable is Valentine, Christopher's not-yet mistress, who continues the pining and erstwhile glancing out of windows to fill the quota for this week's episode. I don't think it's necessarily Clemens' fault; she's not given much to work with narrative wise, other than thinking longingly about Christopher. As I've not read the books, I'm unaware of whether the much-touted union between Valentine and Christopher will ever actually happen, but Clemens' fading performance in contrast with Hall's towering screen presence is making me think I'd actually like Sylvia to get her man.

This week's episode is, to my mind, the best so far in a series that has been mostly consistent in its high standard. Blending comedy with drama is not always an easy balance to strike but this episode manages it well and is all the better for it. It's also easily the most action-packed instalment so far with more focus on Christopher's life in the army and his unfortunate scuffle with Potty.

And please, will someone just give Rebecca Hall an award already?

- Becky

You can read Becky's review of Parade's End - Episode Three here.

Follow Becky on Twitter @beckygracelea
Or follow her blog at beckygracelea.wordpress.com

TV REVIEW: Parade's End - Episode Three

Vicious rumours fly around London about Christopher Tietjens, returning wounded from the front, and his relationships with Valentine and Mrs Duchemin leading to a confrontation with Sylvia and his family. Sylvia meanwhile amuses herself with another admirer while McMaster ascends through the ranks of society whilst wrestling with his conscience.

Over the past couple of weeks, Parade's End was starting to become a nice little comfort blanket of a Friday evening, a gentle drama that takes in all the usual scandals, longing glances and the kind of performances that we just love to see in our BBC productions. This week, the burgeoning sense of comfort was offset slightly by the darker turn of events in the third episode, as the First World War is well and truly underway and the effects are felt both at the front and at home.

Christopher is wounded, harming his previously impressive mental faculties; watching a man who prides himself on his memory and knowledge struggle to remember someone's surname was unsettling and all credit to Benedict Cumberbatch for giving a truly moving performance. Elsewhere saw the sad demise of Rufus Sewell's Reverend Duchemin (a loss for comedy and Satan-spotting) and the accidental death of Christopher's father in an unfortunate shotgun/hedge incident.

It was this latter tragedy that gave us arguably one of the best scenes of the series so far between Cumberbatch's Christopher and his brother Mark, played by Rupert Everett. The chemistry between the two actors was excellent and it allowed for a greater understanding of Christopher's character, particularly in his fight for approval in both society and with his family. Tying into the rumours flying around about his alleged infidelity, you could see how Christopher has constantly striving for approval only to fall short and decide that if everyone thinks he's a philanderer, then he is going to prove them right by propositioning Valentine.

Adelaide Clemens has put in two good performances over the two previous episodes but here, I felt she had become severely underwritten. Gone was the feistiness and rebellious nature that had made her so compelling and in its place was a simpering little girl with nothing but eyes for Christopher. To be fair this had started in the last episode, but it became the overriding relationship dynamic here; instead of having sparky exchanges, conversations between the pair became all about her lifting his confidence. It is a shame, because previously, Valentine was a interesting character but now she seems to have been reduced to a stereotype, the virgin to Sylvia's whore.

Speaking of Mrs Tietjens, I can't heap enough praise on the trio of Rebecca Hall, Tom Stoppard and Susanna White for creating such a layered character for Sylvia, who in other hands could have easily become just another evil woman caricature. According to the little research I've done, the novel's version of Sylvia is just that, a harridan determined to ruin Christopher's happiness. The television series on the other hand, has created a woman desperately trying to get her husband back, just not being very good at doing it the nice way. Rebecca Hall's performance is the standout of the series so far and is fast becoming the main reason for sticking with the series (sorry Benedict).

The mid-point of the series sees a slight dip in quality from the previous two episodes, but there is still plenty to admire, particularly in the performances of the central duo of Cumberbatch and Hall (sounds like a specialist law firm). Next week promises more thwarting of the relationship between Valentine and Christopher as he returns to the front and Syliva makes a move.

- Becky

You can read Becky's review of Parade's End - Episode Two here.

Follow Becky on Twitter @beckygracelea
Or follow her blog at beckygracelea.wordpress.com