Tom Beasley reviews the penultimate episode of This Is England ’90, which has now fully embraced the dark heart of its creator…
Misery is arguably the staple ingredient of Shane Meadows’ sprawling This Is England universe. It’s what drives these characters into the compelling drama that has allowed them to maintain such a potent presence on television, nine years after they first debuted on the big screen. And it’s misery that ‘Autumn’ brings in abundance, resulting in the most accomplished episode of This Is England ’90 to date.
The centrepiece of the episode is a dinner sequence, in which Lol and Woody assemble their friends and family to deliver an enormous revelation. Kelly, convinced the couple are set to announce their engagement, is optimistic but has that position shattered when Lol reveals that it was not Combo who murdered their rapist father, but her. Kelly cannot handle the news, still loyal to the father she loved so much, and even lashes out at Trev, claiming that she lied about being raped by Mick. That’s not the end of the revelations, though, as Woody tells the gang that Combo will be living with them as thanks for what he has done for Lol. This angers Milky, who doesn’t want the man who hospitalised him in a racially motivated assault living under the same roof as his mixed race daughter with Lol.
This dinner sequence is a prime example of Meadows’ directorial talents – a simmering pot of emotion and tension that gradually bubbles as the scene progresses. It’s a scene in which the audience barely has enough relief to take a breath, feeling as if they too are trapped inside the claustrophobic dining room unable to escape from the situation. There’s a feel of organic unpredictability to the whole thing, suggesting that Meadows allowed his performers to improvise as much as possible. That sort of creative risk is only possible with an ensemble cast that knows each other as well as these people do. With this cast, Meadows has lightning in a bottle and he knows just the right time to let it crackle.
Every actor around that table, including the underrated Katherine Dow Blyton as Kelly and Lol’s mother, is on top form. Chanel Cresswell, outstanding last week as Kelly, gets the showiest role and makes the most of it, whilst Vicky McClure continues to imbue Lol with the kind of tortured defiance that guided her to a BAFTA for This Is England ’86. It’s the ghosts of that series that make their unwelcome return here, with secrets that had previously been buried deep suddenly rising to the surface. Joe Gilgun, as usual, is at his best when he allows the veneer of comedy to slip, turning whimpering emotion and desperate pleading. Woody is a peacekeeper and an optimist, fulfilling a crucial role in the group.
There’s also an enhanced role for Andrew Shim as Milky, who finally gets the chance to address his beating at the hands of Combo in the original film. Shim’s is not a character we see angry often, so it’s genuinely shocking to watch him ball his fists in quivering ire as Woody tries to talk him down. At the episode’s close, it’s Milky who looks set to turn perpetrator of violence as he makes a phone call hinting at some sort of vigilante retribution against Combo, who is now awkwardly shacked up with Lol and Woody. It’s always great to see the terrific Stephen Graham back on the screen and his Combo, despite an apparent rehabilitation in prison, still exudes barely concealed violence underneath his quiet facade.
Kelly, meanwhile, has been taken in by Harvey and Gadget and is holed up in the bathroom using heroin at the end of the episode. Whilst Milky’s violent plans may be this week’s biggest shock development, it’s Kelly who could well have the finale’s most tragic story arc. Andrew Ellis continues to shine as Gadget, particularly alongside Cresswell, and it’s a mark of how sympathetic the two characters are that I want their apparently unrequited love to succeed more than anything else in the show. Given the potency of the other storylines, it’s perhaps inevitable that Shaun feels a little sidelined this week, although it’s good to see his life heading in a positive direction as he heads to college.
It’s incredibly sad to think that This Is England ’90 will come to an end next week and, with it, the franchise as a whole. There’s a lot to get through in next week’s feature-length ‘Winter’ episode, but Meadows has continued to show that he has a remarkable command over his characters and there’s no getting away from the fact that the audience really cares about each and every one of them. For the dinner table sequence alone, This Is England ’90 shows itself as worthy of recognition as one of the best television dramas of the year.
Tom Beasley – Follow me on Twitter for movies, wrestling and jokes about David Cameron.