Thefts, arson and abuse: The Archers - it's an everyday story of cuntery, folks.

[PseudoBadger]

Thanks to Lancelottie for the title

The key shift is that Helen now realises it is not her fault. She is now making excuses for Rob (he's complicated, he has a different side) rather than assuming she is to blame for every situation. There was a key contrast in that conversation with Kirsty to her previous one when she said how difficult she was to live with.

And with the anti-depressants. She knows she doesn't need them. She knows she isn't depressed but is now fighting for a way to stop Rob from forcing her to take them.

Augusta I think that's exactly what happened.

I think that they are probably seriously contemplating/planning storylines in which (1) Henry is seriously physically harmed and/or (2) Helen is seriously physically harmed. And however horrible that is, the truth is that exactly that happens commonly, every day, IRL. No-one could claim it to be far-fetched or unbelievable. And it would focus attention on that. It may however not be in keeping with the tradition of The Archers to go so far into gritty real-life. It's terrible waiting for the denouement...

And SOK, will he be born dead? It is all getting too horrible to think about. Or will Knob kill Helen, or just badly damage her? Or will he murder Kirsty? What hope for the good women of Ambridge? It is too awful.

My preferred (and plausible) outcome would be that Helen discloses things to the midwife and Social Services are called. Rob refuses to co-operate with the ensuing investigation and then disappears. He might then pop up again one day...allowing there to be a Family Court storyline where he applies to access to his child (the as-yet unborn baby).

My even more preferred (but less plausible) outcome is that someone kills Rob for some reason, and there is a reason why they don't get convicted of murder eg self-defence, diminished responsibility, or they can't be found...

I wonder whether he'll try to force her physically to take the anti-depressants, or threaten her into doing so?

Although if/when Rob goes, we will be deprived of one of the best radio acting performances I have ever heard...

The Archers seems to prefer violent ends for its men (Nigel, Mark, Greg, Tom) and gentler poppings of clogs for its women (Freda, Betty, Heatherpet).

My money is on Rob giving Henry a good hiding on the grounds that it never did him any harm. And Peggy will applaud him for it.

By perpetuating the idea that Helen is mentally ill, Rob is in fact giving her a defence to homicide...so maybe that is where it is going....

Great timing on the subject of geekery and spread sheets, I had to show you today's OU computer programming homework that suggests I start the following String literals in my workspace;

"String aString = "Brian Aldridge";
String bString = "Ed Grundy";
String cString = "brian aldridge";"

One of my tutors must be a fan. Any space on the spreadsheet for geeks/Archers listeners D3 there must be a decent venn diagram out of it at least?

Thank you for the klaxons regular posters. It is too close to home to listen to Rob (I grew up with one, 'badly done' could have come from his very mouth) but I am LOVING the other episodes. Anneka was a delight.

Another avid TA listener finally de-lurking.
Back to Dan and Dorothy for a moment. ( I can't cope with attempting to analyse the RnH SL.)
I didn't get the sense they were not sleeping with each other, just not under their traditionally minded parents' ( both sets) roofs. i was charmed, I must admit.

No one must die.

Rob must be subjected to due process and community humiliation and scorn.

#bangsgavel

Recycling ag, that was a very insightful analysis of the shift in Helen's thinkng.

In reality, yes it's a possibility.

However Women's Aid are involved in scripting and now directly in the plot.

They cannot allow a plot where a woman has contacted them for help and they cannot help her.

Phil Archer had a very gentle end, as did Jack Woolley, if I remember rightly. Which women have died, apart from Freda, Heatherpet and Betty? I can't think of any. Grace Archer had a violent end.

As I've said before, I want the full panoply of safeguarding procedures and agencies to swing into operation, rescue Helen, Henry and SOK and prosecute Rob to the hilt. The full weight of those hard-won laws should be shown to work.

I saw this and assumed someone would have already spotted it, but I can't see it mentioned up-thread. Louise Patikas talks about playing Helen:
www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/01/helen-archers-domestic-abuse-husband-louisa-patikas

She's full of praise for SOC, almost as if we need to realise that he's complicated and there are two sides to him, if only we got to know him...

At the end, she doesn't really get that the recent criticism of TA is not just about this being a gritty storyline.

I do think it would make an interesting story if, as enochroot suggests, there is a well-rehearsed storyline involving the various agencies and professionals that are involved in such families in RL, and how they do their work, and potentially a contested Family Court hearing at the end of it (perhaps with Rob as a litigant in person, in keeping with his narcissism?).

Not well rehearsed! Well researched!

I am glad the Rob/Hell story is moving forward at a more rapid pace

In real life it might take years for Helen to leave, but I just wish it would be resolved one way or another, preferably with Helen rendering him unconscious and then her & Kirsty feeding him to the pigs (my current fantasy ending).

I don't think the SW will go do far to have Knob be violent against Henry. That truly would be awful😮

That was meant to be 'go so far as to....'!

Ooh, I'm probably meant to warn you that there are pictures of the Rob and Helen actors in that Guardian piece.

Delurking... I also wonder (with RiverWhy) if Rob will have turned out to be the thief...

they look exactly like I imagined them.
you can just imagine 'rob' with a stern look.