MovieChat Forums > George Gently (2007) Discussion > The Lost Child [spoiler]

The Lost Child [spoiler]

posted 12 years ago by lancer165
9 replies | jump to latest

Did not see that ending coming. A clever take on the thought patterns of the times. I did wonder when I saw the meeting between Helen and the young man if this was a completely non sexual relationship.

The ending for the family was doubly tragic and a little good was done for someone.

Bacchus admitted that he had a temper and no known reason for this. I suppose he was one of those thugs who got a uniform in those days and has not helped some peoples views of policing. Whether he likes it or not his behavior today might be seen as reckless and dangerous although most likely his PUNCHES may not have been considered as the fatal blows. His temper is due to his personal life and the mess he has made of it. His resentment of his wife getting on with life and we all remember what he can wake up looking at in the mornings. Good for goose not in in his make up.

We are well into a period when advice should have been taken on board by now yet Bachus has learned so little. This is the only unreality I see in this storyline.

If a psychopathic personality does include the inability to learn from mistakes he fits the bill somewhat.

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Bella-LaGhostly 12 years ago

I haven't seen this episode and it sounds very much like I don't want to :-( The other two just dragged on and on so I don't feel like wasting another hour and 1/2 just to be annoyed at not seeing enough Shaw.

I thought after Northern Soul, Bacchus would be a bit different in his manner but his behavior in Class was just OTT. Of course, everyone was totally OTT except Gently who barely registered at all.

Was there at least a solvable mystery? The last two it was just overacted dramatics conveniently wrapped up with accidental vehicular manslaughters. A lot of bad drivers up there, I suppose.

[–] dogmatix-4 10 years ago

I saw this episode last night on DVD. I did suspect that this was more of a mother-son relationship. I rather expected that Gareth would turn out to be the twins' father, making the older couple their grandparents, so in a way they would not have 'lost' Faith (actually gained two grandchildren and a daughter-not-in-law), but that was not to be. Pity - it would have rounded the episode off nicely - but that's not what Gently is all about, I suppose.

Agree with what you say about Bacchus. I assume he won't get sacked or suspended, as he's in the rest of the series...

[–] mylesag 10 years ago

Big BOO-BOO! If Thomas and Faith were supposed to be twins, why was Thomas like a 4-5 year old standing by the window in the final scene -- while the infant Faith was back in her mother's arms? Or did I miss something?

[–] schimmi38 10 years ago

The boy looking out of the window wasn't Thomas,it was the son of the other young woman!

[–] pgooden 8 years ago

Thank you - that cleared it up for me, but didn't Faith's bio mother have Thomas?
Asleep upstairs?

[–] bon22 10 years ago

I thought the Gareth subplot was a bit forced & contrived, but good episode & love the show.

[–] Helena727 9 years ago

His temper is due to his personal life and the mess he has made of it.

Yes and no. His current life is a mess because he has no idea how to be in a loving relationship, and that results from his upbringing, raised by a super-critical father and a mother who, tho idealized by JB, was brutal. Have you forgotten John's anecdote about how "funny" his mother was, smashing his treasured Easter egg "for a joke"? His daughter asks, "What did you did you do?" and he says, "I cried" -- yet he recounts this matter-of-factly (almost cheerfully, without acknowledging the hurt and anger) bc he has drunk the KoolAid of "My parents were basically OK, I had a basically OK childhood."

This episode is very much about how our parents shape us -- it's not a coincidence that JB's relationships (with his father; as a father; and with GG-as-idealized-father) are a major part of this ep -- and about the progress-inhibiting pain that results from not facing the reality, from being unable to communicate and then move on. The problem is not that humans fail -- they always will; the problem is that almost no one likes to examine/discuss the problems that transpire in relationships, and that's why most people are in so much pain and/or in pain but in denial about it.

I'd say that 90% of the world's population is in denial about the pain of their early years; that's why so many people behave in self- and other-destructive ways. If they were able to face it and heal, then we could start doing a better job of raising the next generations and start cleaning up the mess of this world.

"All you need to start an asylum is an empty room and the right kind of people."

[–] aniak1717 9 years ago

What a brilliant reply.