Cleaning up

[ILoveMaxiBondi]

Anyone watching?

The ads looked good but I’m a bit bored by the cliched/lazy writing already.

[southeastdweller]

No way did the daughter look 15 and she sounded more suited to being in The Crown than this.

Insider trader guy wasn't Samuel Anderson (Fingers from Gavin and Stacey) but there's a strong likeness. And yes that's Patricia Farnham from Brookie as the teacher and Yolande from EastEnders is in it too.

I don't understand why Sam (Sheridan's character) got a DLR to work when she only lives a mile away from what it looks like? And how can she afford DLR prices and to run a car? Very lazy writing but it's an easy watch which I need right now so I'll tune in next week.

[Bumbalaya]

I think it's a very real portrayal of how you can go into 'survival mode' when you're really anxious about money.
Addiction is very common but always seen as unacceptable when it's poor people who are addicts.
I think that the lack of real empathy on this thread shows certain level of privilege that MN users are blind to fact they have.

[TheEfficientBaxter]

Well said, Bumbalaya, I couldn't agree more.

It seems to happen a lot on here, I've noticed.

[The80sweregreat]

I agree that any addiction is unacceptable for the poor but we tend to be more sympathetic to the rich and their problems ( thinking-more of celeb type problems mostly) it is very odd.

She is fighting a losing battle here with her demons though , but she carries on regardless.

[partypoopers]

I’m probably being dumb but.... I watched this today, and I watched the ending twice and still couldn’t work out why the recording device was tapping in the air vent? What was that about?

[creamcheeseandlox]

Party it was being blown about by the air in the vent.

[partypoopers]

Thank you creamcheese of course it was the air, it’s an air vent... I think I need an early night

[Davros]

This was better than I expected at first I thought it would be "salt of the earth cleaners vs nasty city folk" but SS's character was very unlike able which was refreshing. I think the trader will find out what they're doing and they'll work together or they'll expose him. At the end he'll go to jail and they won't. Isn't the trader Doc Brown?

[southeastdweller]

Who's Doc Brown?

[southeastdweller]

Sorry - just checked who you mean. Yes the actor who plays the trader is called Doc Brown. I was confused as that's a character in Back to the Future and this actor adopted that name as his stage name. His real name is Ben Smith (brother of Zadie).

[ILoveMaxiBondi]

I think that the lack of real empathy on this thread shows certain level of privilege that MN users are blind to fact they have.

your ignorance is showing. I know MN gets this reputation for being full of well off white SAH yummy mummies but there are actually other types of people here. I’ve been in far worse circumstances than sam’s character. Plenty of us have been. We’re not all watching this from our country estate while the nanny bathes the children.

[The80sweregreat]

I think that the trader knows what's going on and will let them think they are winning, then stitch them up.
I watched from the beginning yesterday and my previous posts are a bit harsh really as I found I quite enjoyed it now I know what's really going on.
Even though it's very far fetched and would never happen. It's a bit hectic at times but might calm down.
I'm sure trader offices are swept for devices and recorders though.
Gambling addiction is big news at the moment as well.

[HoofWankingSpangleCunt]

Haha at lack of empathy
Since when did not liking something due to poor writing and unrealistic situations confer privilege?
I'm arguably in a worse place than the protagonist at the beginning of this programme. I have no realistic hope of improving my circumstances any time soon . Should I automatically like any programme which attempts to tackle the realities of living in poverty? Actually, it seems to me i should be even more critical of shows like this.
You can make as many absurd generalisations as You like bumbalaya but it won't make you right.

[ILoveMaxiBondi]

I watched I, Daniel Blake last night. Now that was a realistic portrayal of living in poverty.

Cleaning up is ignorant guesswork. It misses the mark big style.

[The80sweregreat]

I, Daniel Blake, is a fabulous film. Everyone should watch it.
This drama is just a bit of fluff but I'll stick with it. At least it's not another Kay Mellor one for a change!

[MinisterforCheekyFuckery]

I do a lot of work with parents and children in similar circumstances to SS's character and found her to be quite believable, despite some of the dialogue being a bit crap. Like many of the women I meet through work, she loves her kids but is unable or unwilling to recognise the impact of her addiction on them. If she was really putting them first she would allow them to live with their Dad for a bit whilst she got help for her gambling problem, instead of exposing them to an environment where she has debt collectors turning up at the door making threats. But people are complicated and flawed and make bad choices when they're under pressure, which I thought they captured quite well. She has been badly let down by her DH and to an extent feels this justifies the choices she's making. Like previous posters, I found it ridiculous that there's no CCTV and everyone leaves their computers unlocked but I suppose it's a drama and you do have to be willing to suspend a bit of disbelief.

Did anyone find the thing with the lodger really odd though? Surely the older girl would be straight on the phone to her Dad telling him Mum has moved a strange man into her room, which she must realise won't so her any favours in a fight for custody! And what was all the stuff about the four lawnmowers and kareoke machines etc? Is he going to end up using her shed for something dodgy and she'll get the blame?

[SuperSuperSuper]

The trading floor was unrealistic.

I thought that Sam was quite well written - struggling, doing her best. I didn't notice lips/Botox - I thought she looked dowdy, and her nail varnish was chipped.

It's frothy nonsense, really. Dumbed down.

[TheEfficientBaxter]

Surely dabbling in stocks and shares is just another form of gambling, really.

Or am I wrong?

[Legohell]

TheEfficientBaxter no, you’re right.

[MrsChollySawcutt]

Yes I agree it is definitely another form of gambling. I always think it's pretty similar to betting on horses where punters follow the jockeys and know the form of the horses and how they perform under specific conditions etc but it's still down to chance.

[Legohell]

I think the lawnmower guy’s list was just to show he was a bit of an obsessive. It’s either just a bit of colour character wise, or, his obsessiveness will be needed later.

I don’t think we needed to see the moving the lodger in stuff. He could have been there already and it would have made more sense and we wouldn’t have been witness to the rather ineffectual strop her daughter had.

She’s flawed but in her mind she isn’t a thief. She hasn't stolen from the houses that she works in for instance. She cheated the parking meter (and got caught) and is now insider trading... but she sees it all as a gamble, not theft.

[southeastdweller]

Yes, I think the lodger is there just to pad out the story (five more episodes to go).

[Bumbalaya]

Plenty of us have been. We’re not all watching this from our country estate while the nanny bathes the children.
That just show your ignorance. Being priveliged is about having opportunities, buffers and safety nets, not nannies and country estates!

[Bumbalaya]

Also how many people disparaging her for gambling have (unsecured) loans and credit cards? Surely another form of gambling!

[ILoveMaxiBondi]

I think having nannies and country estates is a little bit To do with privilege. I mean, those don’t happen by chance. Come on now.

FWIW my credit card debts are a result of mistakes being made with my benefits (not by me!) resulting in me having months of nothing to live on and having to rack up thousands of pounds of debt to, you know, feed my children. but I haven’t disparaged her for her gambling so I guess you weren’t talking to me.