anyone else notice the barely discernable underlying storyline where Tom Barnaby seems to enjoy other women's company while being somewhat unhappy with his wife's constant planning his life?
He shows no signs of acting on this, but he definelty shows a bit of enjoyument of the attention from other women.
Anyone else notice this?
And of course everyone notices how he hates his wife's cooking...
Yes, indeed!
See my long-winded posts in "'The Black Book' Oddity [possible spoilers]" thread just below.
In that episode, Barnaby's "bit of enjoyment" extended to letting a shady but attractive woman off the hook, and even accepting a gift in consideration of his consideration.
Barnaby doesn't openly refer to his wife the way similarly situated Englishmen have in other shows. So he doesn't call her "The Trouble & Strife", or "She Who Must Be Obeyed".
But Joyce's constant plunges into new pastimes and recreations, and dragging her hubby into them-- not to mention her penchant for being something of a social climber-- does seem to weary Barnaby almost as much as it wearies me.
I might quibble over "barely discernible". It took this fairly blatant flirtation to attract my notice, but perhaps if I'd been paying closer attention I'd have noticed it sooner.
I do think this indulgence is deliberately understated, though.
no, i agree it is not deliberatley understated, its thrown in to add a bit to the evolving story I believe, but i ahve mentioned this to 4 other people that think I am dead wrong, that Barnaby is totally Devoted to Joyce and their marriage...makes me wonder what they are thinking about as they watch...
Yes he is a devoted husband and father.
But he is very very weary, and somewhat bemused that Joyce somehow thinks a social event, any social event they or rather, she, had made plans to attend, is somehow more important than his immediate investigation of a homicide, or in most cases double and triple homicide.
And he relishes that phone call when she has served up more of the apparently barely edible fare she is famous for...
I see a husband who is totally devoted to his wife.
And a wife who is totally devoted to her husband.
They go hand in hand in public, they enjoy evenings out, and she has interesting hobbies. God forbid he should support his wife who has kept house, raised their daughter and supported him.
And watch Orchids fatalis to get a peak into theiir bedroom life.
yes, of course that is what you see, and that is because you are just like her: the kind of woman who puts a man in an early grave
shareI agree, Jane, they've always seemed perfectly happy to me. i have no doubt they are enjoying their retirement together.
shareYes I have definitely noticed it, there have been a couple of redheads who Barnaby seems to have had more than a bit of an interest in... I have the pet theory that underneath he finds Joyce not passionate enough. Though I suspect she would be, if Barnaby had more time for her. That said, they do seem to get closer as the series goes on. Or perhaps I am reading too much into all of it...
shareI thought the same thing - that they grew closer as the series progressed. Joyce needed her many hobbies and interests, what with Tom constantly on-call. She and Cully may have been frustrated at times when he was late to an event or a no-show, but I think, deep down, they understood it was part of the job and not a reflection of his love for them.
shareI agree entirely, I always thought Joyce was a character with hidden depths.
share