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Apple Tree Yard starts on Sunday! [MNHQ message: No spoilers please, including what happens in the book!]

918 replies

Destinysdaughter · 18/01/2017 12:44

I really enjoyed the book so looking forward to this. It's in 4 parts with Emily Watson playing the main character and Ben Chaplin as her lover. BBC1 9pm

Good article about it here.

www.theguardian.com/film/2017/jan/14/emily-watson-apple-tree-yard-middle-aged-women-infidelity-sexuality#comments

OP posts:
TheFreaksShallInheritTheEarth · 30/01/2017 10:19

l reckon that George and X were somehow in cahoots. DH Thinks X will bump off George and Yvonne will get the blame. Screaming woman is George's wife or daughter.
Who was that "expert" that x got to talk to Von? How was the relationship (between X and Von) and X's knowledge of the attack explained to him?

bananaleaves · 30/01/2017 10:23

It's a tough watch for a Sunday night, it's so grim!

The80sweregreat · 30/01/2017 11:14

I wondered who the 'expert ' was she met in the cake shop - she seemed so confident speaking to him when she wasnt 100 percent who he was really. He may not have been a lawyer - she seems to trust X a lot more than her own husband of many years.
She was vile to the woman hosting the dinner party too - i know she had a point but doing that in front of everyone wasnt a good idea either. Her dh took it quite well i thought.
I am surprised the son didnt question her over the flowers either , he really does not seem to like her much does he? wondering if the woman screaming at the end was George;s wife? I dont think X is a spook at all, i am dubious about him. Its very good, but last night did drag a bit untill the end.

Elendon · 30/01/2017 11:17

Gosh that episode took on a whole different nuance to what is going on. I was riveted. I can't help feeling terrible unease about the whole thing. Loss of a grip on reality comes to mind (for the lovers, obviously).

It was very painful to watch her reaction to the rape and how she knew she wouldn't get anywhere reporting it. I was very surprised that her lover was so invested in helping her, it was almost as creepy as the stalking if I'm honest.

Can't wait till next week.

The80sweregreat · 30/01/2017 11:25

She wouldnt get any where though i guess , sad to say. The prosecution would drag up everything, how drunk she was on the night, how flirty she was and everything inbetween. George would have got off - it seems to be the way it is and its all wrong of course. i can totally understand why she didnt ( also, he knew she was seeing someone else , if that wasnt the case she may have gone through with it?) It does test our morals doesnt it? okay to have an affair with a total stranger she knows nothing about and cheat on her husband etc etc, but her rapist sees it as consensual sex ( which it wasnt) because he nows sees her as 'fair game' because of said affair? Nobody comes out of this covered in any glory - she has now put her faith in X and that could go wrong too! have to see what happens next..

The80sweregreat · 30/01/2017 11:27

Her husband is also a creep too. This woman is going through it!

Elendon · 30/01/2017 11:36

How did EW know where George lived? Forgive me if this has been answered before. There is much more to this than meets the eye, obviously. As a viewer, we just seem to be getting her account (I haven't read the book).

Elendon · 30/01/2017 11:39

Plus the wife in the dock could be George's wife? Though who would want to be married to him.

The80sweregreat · 30/01/2017 11:46

I assumed ( may be wrong) that George is still at work and she is just managing to avoid him for now by being off sick - George also said he was going away with work to wales when he emailed her , so maybe he just travels a lot more than she does and she knows she can avoid being near him? it wasnt really explained but thats what i think.
I am guessing that she has the wrong house and X is about to beat up the wrong man!! ( who would pay that much notice to your rapists house when you just wanted him out of the cab and away from you?) why did she even get a cab with him after the attack?

Trills · 30/01/2017 11:48

What makes you think her rapist sees it as consensual sex?

Nothing in the show has made me think that.

He knows that he hit her and threatened her.

Elendon · 30/01/2017 11:56

why did she even get a cab with him after the attack?

To normalise what happened? To bring it back to the script before the attack? Who knows what people do under stress. And your question implies she was somehow to blame.

Trills · 30/01/2017 11:59

There was a lot of "why did she..." and "why didn't she..." on Twitter last night.

People like to imagine the "sensible" things that they would do if they were attacked, but they don't know how they would react.

It seemed like she was in shock.

BuntyFigglesworthSpiffington · 30/01/2017 12:00

why did she even get a cab with him after the attack?

Because she was in shock and went into auto pilot.

bananaleaves · 30/01/2017 12:00

Yes exactly elendon , she'd just gone through a major trauma. Of course he knows it wasn't consensual, his email to her is trying to fuck with her head and possibly cover his tracks in case she did report it.

Elendon · 30/01/2017 12:02

There is also something very dissonant about it, especially with her son's visit and departure. As if EW isn't quite getting timelines together and mixing them up. I'm going to have to watch it again. The response to the rape threw me and I possibly missed other things. (not totally convinced that the house the taxi pulled up and George got off, was the same as the house they went to).

BuntyFigglesworthSpiffington · 30/01/2017 12:17

but her rapist sees it as consensual sex ( which it wasnt) because he nows sees her as 'fair game' because of said affair?

It's pretty clear the rapist saw it as rape, hence hitting her forcefully across the face and threatening her with further violence before raping her.

Nobody comes out of this covered in any glory - she has now put her faith in X and that could go wrong too! have to see what happens next

I don't think you can compare cheating on a spouse with committing a violent rape.

rollonthesummer · 30/01/2017 12:17

I liked the way the aftermath was portrayed. You kind of imagine in her situation (where she couldn't report it due to the affair/sex earlier that night) she might just try to pretend it didn't happen. This shows how difficult that would actually be-the trauma, the physical pain, bruising, having to still work with this man/receive emails from him etc

SoupDragon · 30/01/2017 12:23

I don't think George believes it was consensual but I do think he believes she was fair game because of her affair.

SoupDragon · 30/01/2017 12:25

I was surprised how she reacted in the aftermath because she has come across as a strong woman.

That's not a judgment though, I'm sure it is impossible to predict how anyone would react.

Dulra · 30/01/2017 12:28

For those that think it is X making it look like George is stalking her what are your thoughts on this: When she is in the shop buying wine and sees George she drops the wine and runs from the shop and than we (the viewer) sees George with his shopping basket and little shrug to the shopkeeper. If it wasn't George I don't think they would have the viewer seeing it as George as Von did. When she thought she saw him on the street we the viewer were than shown that he wasn't there. Does that make sense?

bananaleaves · 30/01/2017 12:28

How would a "strong" person deal with being violently raped? Confused

Blockbuster1 · 30/01/2017 12:32

I thought that the rapist George was 'doing the right thing' (in his eyes) by getting her a cab. It would in his eyes minimise what he'd just done. I don't know why she got into the cab though, shock or no shock.

I don't think it's always right to compare book and TV adaptations. However there have to be SOME similarities. They can muck the sequencing about or put lesser / greater emphasis on things, but the story has to essentially be factually true.

I'm finding some of it though just 'incredible'. She is an intelligent woman. I'm not 100% sure but I didn't think that previous sexual history and being drunk were considered any more in rape cases. Is Doughty out of date?
(There was a RL case of being drunk and non consensual sex on MN recently and everyone was urging the poster to report the guy.)

I can't understand why she treked all the way to SE11 and went into a strange flat with a man whose name she doesn't know. (Why doesn't she ask him his name?)

It's all a bit bonkers really.

BuntyFigglesworthSpiffington · 30/01/2017 12:45

I'm not 100% sure but I didn't think that previous sexual history and being drunk were considered any more in rape cases.

Two words.

Ched.
Evans.

SoupDragon · 30/01/2017 12:52

How would a "strong" person deal with being violently raped?

Read the rest of my post 🙄

I clearly said it was not a judgement and was possible to predict how anyone would react.

danTDM · 30/01/2017 13:09

Shock NigellasGuest Thanks for the BK ad. Is that yer one from homes under the hammer?!

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