Loveday Writing

We are brought back to the present with Harry checking the multiple messages Manju has left him invitations to the celebrations for the gang and Xavier. Harry is surprised but happy that Manju has invited the gang and Xavier, however his happiness is short lived when Manju insists that Xavier is invited as his friend, not his partner, and asks that Harry doesn’t tell his uncle, Akshay (Manju’s brother) about his sexuality. When Harry gives everyone their invitation, Liz asks him if Manju will ever tell the family about his sexuality.

Later when Harry goes to visit Manju again, he finds her fitting Ainsley with a sari. He informs Manju that he wants Xavier at Diwali as his partner and that he may be in love with him. Later, Harry goes to see his uncle and his aunt, Neha. He comes out to them, and while they are clearly uncomfortable, they seemingly accept him. Again this moment of happiness is cut short when Harry goes to the bar where Xavier works to give him his Diwali invitation and finds him flirting with his workmate, Charlie. Xavier reveals that he has a romantic history from Charlie and he is interested in an open relationship.

When Manju calls and tells Harry that the family is not coming to her planned Diwali celebrations as Akshay outed Harry to the family, Harry calls Xavier to tell him that the celebrations are cancelled, and Xavier brings up the open relationship concept again, telling him he can’t sleep with one person for the rest of his life, which leads to Harry hanging up on him. Later, Ainsley and Liz go to see Manju to comfort her and they suggest that she throw her planned Diwali celebrations at their house, which she accepts. Everyone (including Simmo but excluding Ben) helps Manju prepare, and Harry is surprised when he comes home, not only to see the decorated house but also that his aunt Neha and cousin, Malvika, have decided to attend.

When Harry goes into his room to change into his sherwani, Liz comes in to talk to him, and he admits that he feels he has blown up his family for a relationship he can’t even make work. Later, Xavier shows up and Manju makes it clear (albeit inappropriately) that she likes him and she wants their relationship to work.

The episode ends with Xavier telling Harry he’s in love with him and is open to a monogamous relationship, and Harry tells him he wants to try an open relationship.

In all honesty, while I enjoyed the Diwali celebrations and the character progression with Manju, I personally didn’t enjoy the outcome of the Harry-Xavier subplot. I felt that Xavier’s feelings for Harry, or at least his compromise, came out of left field considering how strongly he felt about only considering an open relationship. Just the same, I feel that Harry deciding to give an open relationship a go after turning down a hook-up only opportunity in the season premiere to be completely out of character for him. It will be interesting to see if their relationship works out as the season progresses.

Ben – Ben has had his shoulder reconstruction surgery and it’s revealed that he is struggling in his recovery. He has been mixing his pain medication with alcohol, drinking more, and hasn’t been doing his exercises.

Liz calls Joe to express her concerns and Heather comes home from work to find Ben and Col drinking together. Col tells Heather that she left home to spread her wings and she has ended up in a cage, now that she has to look after Ben.

Ben’s behaviour comes to a head when he arrives home drunk during the Diwali celebrations. When he falls down by the front door when Simmo tries to get him inside, Joe reveals that Ben has plateaued in his recovery, and the surgeon has told him not to play football anymore and re-think his career options. Joe also admits to Liz that he is saddened by the fact that it took him and Ben excessively drinking to actually be honest with each other. Joe also decides to work remotely for a week or two, so he can stay close to Ben.

Overall I felt that this was a solid subplot, it maintained continuity from the previous episode, and Ben’s plateauing recovery also provides the opportunity for some interesting (and a little overdue) character development.

Heather – The only focus on Heather was that she was called in for a meeting with hers and Liz’s boss, Pat, and given an official warning for showing up late for work multiple times over the last few days, and for calling a co-worker a name.

Ainsley – There wasn’t really any substantial focus or subplot for Ainsley in this episode, however it was nice to see that she and Manju have bonded.

Overall I felt that this was a solid episode with progression in Harry’s relationship (even though the writing of it has become a little bumpy) and with Ben’s spiral due to his recovery plateauing. I also appreciated and enjoyed the Diwali celebrations.

Stray Observations:

-Manju and Ainsley have a WhatsApp thread. Whether it’s purely for Diwali or they have actually become close wasn’t established.

-Simmo’s real and full name is Kevin Daniel Richard Fitzsimmons.

-According to Harry, during Diwali, Ainsley would have made a baby-related wish, Heather is too jaded to make a wish, Martin would be too distracted by his leg cramps to make a wish, and Liz would have made the same wish she’s made for the last two decades – to increase her success and maintain her jawline. Harry had no idea what to wish for.

-According to Liz, she was once invited by Manju to Diwali celebrations, however she embarrassed herself with her dance moves.

Best one liners and interactions:

• “How many messages?” “A lazy seven so far.” (Xavier-Harry on the amount of messages Manju has sent Harry)
• “Harpreet, you don’t have to wait years, Akshay Mami gets very little exercise. I think four years at most.” (Manju to Harry about having to keep his sexuality a secret from the family for years on end)