Abattoir-owning Vince Casey is not everybody’s cup of tea – he’s off David’s Christmas card list for certain and Brian regards him as a bit dodgy. When Elizabeth learns of this latter fact, she mutters “pots and kettles” under her breath.
At the beginning of the week, Elizabeth is out on a date; or rather she would have been, had her date turned up. As it was, she was drinking alone in a bar when Vince Casey turned up. He also had been stood up and the two began talking, as he recognised Elizabeth’s face from earlier business meetings and conferences. Speaking of which, there is a seminar scheduled for later in the week (subject; mediation) to which Elizabeth is going and to which Vince has been invited as well.
The pair are getting along very well, with Elizabeth teasing him about his reputation for ruthlessness and Vince protesting that he’s a totally different person at home. He also calls Elizabeth attractive and says that he might go along to the mediation seminar after all.
Elizabeth returns home and, it has to be said, she is quite merry, as strong drink had been taken. Freddie and Lily are waiting up for her (I was reminded of the Daily Mirror cartoons of Florrie waiting at home in dressing gown and curlers and with rolling pin in hand for Andy Capp to return from the pub). The twins give her the third degree – was it a date with a stranger? Will she be seeing him again? Elizabeth tells them to mind their own business and, as for seeing her man again, she says “I wasn’t sure at first, but now I rather think I will.”
The day of the seminar arrives and Elizabeth is getting ready. Lily notices that she is wearing new earrings and she realises that her mother’s mystery man will also be there. Lily is worried because Elizabeth is not answering her phone. Freddie points out that she is in a seminar, so her phone should be switched off anyway, but Lily wonders if she should go to the seminar and check up that things are OK – she tells Freddie that, when Elizabeth was suffering from depression, it was Lily who nursed her and looked after her and it was a difficult time for both of them.
For heaven’s sake Lily – Elizabeth is 53 and is thus old enough to be let out on her own and doesn’t really need a chaperone, particularly one of her own children. And what part of ‘mind your own business’ does she find it so hard to get on top of? So Lily drives off to the seminar. Freddie – for once in his life – behaves sensibly and keeps well out of it by staying at Lower Loxley.
We were not privy to the actual meeting between mother, daughter and Vince, but we learn later that it did not go well. Elizabeth accused Lily of spying on her and Lily retaliated by asking her mother if the relationship with Vince is serious? Lily also implies that Elizabeth is being secretive and keeping things from her children. This is all too much for Elizabeth, who reminds Lily that she never said anything about her relationship with Russ, who was (and, I believe still is) a married man when they got together at college.
Elizabeth is getting angrier and angrier and she was very embarrassed when Lily said, in front of Vince and in a loud voice “I can’t believe you’re dating a slimeball like Vince Casey.”
Lily realises that she has overstepped the mark and explains that she was trying to make sure that her mother was not stressed. “And do you think that you achieved that?” Elizabeth snaps, and a shamefaced Lily admits that she had probably increased the stress levels. Elizabeth is definitely unhappy and tells Lily that she is going to call Vince and invite him out to lunch tomorrow “to apologise for your behaviour.”
At the lunch, Vince brushes off Lizzie’s apologies, saying that at least it shows that her children care about her – his kids aren’t interested in him unless they want something and he hasn’t seen one of his daughters for some time, after she walked out, following a row over the suitability of a boyfriend.
Back at Lower Loxley, Elizabeth says that she has been thinking and, if the twins have concerns over Vince, she should at least listen to them – in fact they both should. If they have questions, they can put them to Vince – he’s quite happy to come round and answer them. “When is he coming?” Freddie asks and, with impeccable timing, the doorbell rings. “Now, I wonder who that is?” Elizabeth asks, rhetorically.
It turns out to be Vince – but you’d guessed that, hadn’t you? The chat is a bit forced, with Vince saying what a nice place it is. Freddie is obviously not going to let his sister be the only obnoxious child, as he says “If it was down to us, you wouldn’t even be here.” Vince is unperturbed, saying “Do you mean what is a peasant like Vince Casey doing in a place like this?” Lily protests and says that she’s got nothing against him personally. Vince replies mildly “No? ‘Slimeball’ is what I heard – I call that personal.” “I call it accurate” says arch-diplomat Freddie.
Vince says that it doesn’t bother him what they think, but it looks bad for them, as they are judging him on gossip and other people’s opinions. Then, in a masterstroke, he deftly slips the stiletto in when he says that he thought Freddie might have been more open-minded, seeing as how he has spent time in prison. Ouch! And this act of bringing arrogant Freddie down to earth with a bump is why, as I said in the title of this piece, I find I am starting to warm to Vince Casey.
Elsewhere, Fallon finally gets round to telling Harrison that she doesn’t want children and, if he wanted to leave her for someone who does, she would understand. The Sergeant replies that Fallon is all he wants or needs, but she urges him to give the situation some serious thought. He does so and, when running up Lakey Hill with Rex, the talk turns to babies. Both men agree that Chris will make a great dad and Rex reveals that he has heard that ex-girlfriend Anisha is pregnant. This leaves Rex feeling a bit dissatisfied – Anisha has moved on with her life, while he is living in Bert’s bungalow.
Harrison, meanwhile, has made his mind up. He admits to Fallon that he would like a child, but not if it would mean losing Fallon – he couldn’t bear the thought of her not being with him and he couldn’t live without her. She calls him “lovely” and there are tears on both sides. Incidentally, Sgt Burns and Rex have agreed to take Chris out for a celebratory pint or two at the weekend, and this could prove interesting, as Chris has sworn to join Alice in a no-drinking pact during her pregnancy. Could be a celebratory orange juice, lads.
Over at Brookfield, you have to ask yourself whether or not the members of this part of the Archer clan ever talk to each other. Pip is preparing to move the heifers up to some fresh grazing, only to find the field peppered with fence posts. What’s going on? The answer is ‘Josh’. He has the chance to buy out a local egg supplier and thus expand his business, but he will need the space for the extra birds.
Pip says ‘no’ – she needs the field for the heifers. Josh retorts that he asked David if he could use the field, and he said "yes“. The siblings continue to argue until Josh suggests that they put the matter to Rooooth. I was hoping that she would say ‘I need that field for arable’ (or flowers, or something else) but she didn’t. She concedes that they both have a point and sums up the problem in masterful, albeit simplistic, fashion; “You both need land – we just have to find it.” Rooooth should remember Mark Twain’s advice – ‘buy land; they’re not making it any more.’ Of course, if only they hadn’t set some land aside for this rewilding nonsense…
But wait! There is land available – they have forgotten Hollowtree, where Rex keeps his pigs and Toby operates his still. It sounds harsh, but Rooooth suggests that evicting the Fairbrothers might be their only option. If it comes down to that, then I predict that Rex will be even more depressed at the state of his life and Pip might well find it difficult to get Toby to babysit daughter Rosie.
Let’s go back to the early part of the week, when Freddie and Lily are waiting for their mother to return home after her night out on the lash. To pass the time, they view a CD, which could be entitled ‘Lynda Snell’s greatest hits’ as it showcases all the Christmas productions for which Lynda has been responsible. Ignoring the fact that this sounds like a fair approximation of what Hell must be like, it doesn’t inspire Freddie, who is looking for a theme for this year’s show and who is quickly realising that Lynda has, in fact, done everything. He was considering a panto, but looking at previous productions, he thinks they are awful (all together now – ‘oh no they aren’t!). If you are hoping for inspiration Freddie, I suggest you pull your finger out, as the clocks go back this weekend. How about a reading of Wilde’s The Ballad of Reading Gaol or a brand-new, one-man show written by and starring Freddie Pargetter entitled My Time Inside?
We began this week’s episode with a lengthy piece about Elizabeth and Vince. I really liked the way that Elizabeth turned the tables on her interfering children, but Freddie and Lily were not impressed, with Freddie saying that Elizabeth set him and his sister up. They still have reservations about the relationship and urge their mother to be careful. Elizabeth says that Vince is only a friend and, besides, he is good fun – and they don’t begrudge her a bit of fun, surely? In what I sincerely hope isn’t a phrase that comes back to bite her in the bum, Elizabeth tells her children "You don’t have to worry – I’m perfectly capable of handling Vince Casey.”
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