"PAULA", BBC2...new, dark thriller

[ThaliaLuxurySpa]

Trailer: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0530xzt

Anyone else watching tonight?

(Ireland apparently gets Wednesday episodes instead.
No spoilers, please!).

He wasn't missing an eye!

Very disturbing but quite refreshing not to have loads of unsubtle clues as to what's going on.

1. How come they repeated last episode's entire sequence with brother??? (Paula getting night phone call, brother collapsed in phone box, fobbing of the passing Gardai, taking him back to his garage squat).

Was it supposed to be a dream sequence? Confused.

1. Mac didn't have the best work shift of his life, did he?

1. Anyone else notice that after Scary Sewn-UpMouth Girl showed up in depressing flat, and James stormed out, the very next scene was James in his van...track playing: "CARELESS WHISPER"!!

1. WTAF with James's older GF/ wife? The pair of them are toxic, violent loons...maybe my page1 theory about abduction/ abuse of GF2 is near the mark? Poor, poor 3 kids

1. Dream sequence Phillip speaking in little girl's voice about her leg bent backwards was pure David Lynch and very creepy.

Hate the violence, but desperate to see how it all ties together and will watch next week. Possibly from behind cushion.

^ ahem...theory on page2, I meant

Right, I've been thinking about this. James didn't seem to know her until he went to her basement and saw a photo of her and her brother. Which he kept. Then he killed Phillip who she's slept with, then tried to kill her brother who ........
Oh ok that doesn't work, it's all so weird

I remember now, scary sewn up mouth girl may have been hurt by Paula and her brother and his knots

I'm totally puzzled by where it's going particularly as there's still a third of the story to unravel...

Surely Paula would have recognised James though if they'd know each other as children - people change but sure you would know someone you'd spent time with.

In some ways I'm finding this much more unsettling than The Fall.

And I wouldn't have been spending any time back in a house where James could have shown up at any point.

And how did he know to find her at that hotel/bar/restaurant?

It just got too ludicrous for me, I'm afraid. I laughed a couple of times, which I don't think is the response they were after somehow.

I dont think that was the policeman who she saw through the police car window - I think he was standing outside but I think she saw a hallucination of another, similar looking man - I think the guy she saw had a thick moustache whereas copper didn't? I may be wrong though. I think there may be sexual abuse in Paula's childhood maybe.

I don't think James knew Paula and her brother from their childhood.

I may be completely wrong but did anyone else think James' Mum looked exactly like Paula - as in maybe CGI/ SFX?

To the people saying it's unrealistic - I don't think it's meant to be taken so literally, it's not a Broadchurch/ Midsummer murder mystery I think it's meant to be much darker and full of motifs/ metaphors/ symbols etc (can't remember the proper term!!). I think there may be a more supernatural and ambiguous ending.

That's how I saw it anyway

Unsettling is definitely the right word! It's almost like a horror film - I am really enjoying it.

I think there may be sexual abuse in Paula's childhood maybe

I would agree with that - would explain why she and her brother seem so messed up and why she seems to have such a non-existent relationship with her parents - what was with the mother turning the light off on Paula when she showed up at their home (when too spooked to stay in her own)? And the policeman gave Paula's father a very funny look when he said that it was the first time she'd fallen asleep on him in a very long time (or did I imagine that?).

Yes I agree about the childhood recognition thing but I do think there is something there.

Yy to the policeman in the car window with a moustache, I thought I imagined that.

I'm glad it's not available to watch on iPlayer until after it's been showed on tv or I would never be able to wait

I really hope it's not about childhood sexual abuse, because that is such a cliche in dramas now, and so far this has been intriguingly different.

My theory: I think James had a blonde sister who was sexually abused and killed (maybe by him - guilt?), represented by the girl with the sewn up mouth, and when he saw the pic of her as a child with her brother he saw his sister in Paula.

As revenge for this sister he's then gone on to kill any man who comes into sexual contact with Paula - maybe confused her brother for a lover or perhaps trying to replace him?

The comments about hell and coming into the light - clearly he is crazy/ psycho/ mentally ill but I think these are also related to her being blonde as a metaphor for light vs dark/ heaven vs hell/ good vs evil etc - the little girl is blonde as is his Mum - everyone else including his two gfs are dark

I have no idea really just want to put my theory in writing just in case I am even slightly right next week 😂

I can't work out why ratman took his balaclava off when he was stabbing policeman in the eye. Hmmmm.

Nearly shat myself when ratman popped up in the loos.

Bloody scary but totally bloody excellent and I only tripped over it on the TV guide and hadn't heard anything about it etc etc but it's one of those hidden brilliant bits of tv. Hope it's on gogglebox tonight.

I love complex thrillers but that last scene with the knife had me looking at it behind my hands, like a child watching Dr Who! I thought he put the blade in his eye but at the end both eyes looked ok, with minor bit of blood?

Really enjoying this, even though I have to cover my eyes at some of the gory bits.
But when Paula picked up the gun and was firing shots why didn't any of the staff appear? Obviously nobody's going to rush into the loos with the risk of being shot, but when the policeman ran out there didn't seem to be anyone there at all.

I'm finding the level of violence a bit much. Suspense would be better. I'm wondering if she actually was in another family, she didn't dream it? Or abuse? Her mother is very cold with her, all that "don't upset your father" stuff is really strange.
The coming back to consciousness on the kitchen table too, what was that all about.
I hate the visions of the sewn up child. Uggh.
What on earth can happen now, because Rat Man is in custody?

christmastree you might be onto something there, I hadn't thought of it that way at all.

I hope the goggleboxers make more sense of it and maybe I'll get more clues then

It wasn't a man with a moustache that she saw through the car window. It was Mac the policeman but he had lots of blood under his nose which kind of looked like a tache.

I don't really understand what's going on but I wonder whether it's something like sleeping with Paula makes them see something from another life and sends them a bit mad? Paula said that she sees glimpses of the other life that she saw when she has sex so maybe they see something too? James said "she's done it to you too".

Also it seems that James only started seeing the vision of the little girl straight after he slept with Paula. The first time when he crashed the van he kept hearing banging and he didn't appear to know what it was or where it was coming from. And Philip was a bit strange too with his stalking behaviour and keep turning up at her house.

It seems that something happened in James' past which he still gets PTSD about, it looked like he recognized Paula and her brother in the old photo so did they do something to him or a member of his family? And Paula had that weird vision with the man saying something in a little girls voice about someone being found with her "leg bent backwards" so maybe that was the same event.
I hope this doesn't turn into a supernatural thing where Paula has some sort of ability to make men addicted to her lol.

Btw, do you think the scratches Paula left on James' back is gonna be a relevant thing?

christmastree43 those are really good ideas!!

Is police man possibly dead? Does she see them dead like Phil in the chair in bedroom?

Just watched it. Ratman definitely put the blade thing in Mac's eye, yet it was him Paula saw through the car window with both eyes looking fine. I don't get it!