Normal People on BBC3

[Bouledeneige]

Binge watched it yesterday and loved it. Emotional, passionate and two really great leads. Thoroughly recommend it (so long as you don't mind lots of love scenes). Cried lie and felt bereft when it finished.

In the book she tells Connell that her father did hit her, which changes on screen. Also in the book the brother is more abusive - I recall that he hits Marianne when she goes home for the weekend which on TV became him pouring water over her head instead.

There were a couple of differences between the book and the series - in the book when Connell asks if her father hit her too, she paused for a long time and said 'sometimes'

Also her brother in the book is only a year or two older than her - he appears a good few years older in the series. In the book he's a total bully to her at home, but is weak outside the house and wants to be liked by the boys in Marianne's class and hangs around with them.

This makes it more believable when Connell comes to the house and threatens to kill him if he touches Marianne again, it was less believable in the series as he seemed so much older than Connell.

Also in the scene in Italy in the bed Marianne tells Connell that her brother told her it would be better if she died. In the book, he tells her to commit suicide, that no-one would miss her and the mother said 'don't encourage her'...so they toned that down for tv

I found the pace of the dialogue excellent. Some thought it was slow but that is the subtle beauty of it. I keep watching different parts of the series and am amazed every time how brilliant it was written, directed, and performed. Never deleting this series. Other shows come and go but this one will be a keeper for me.

Finished watching this last night. I have absolutely loved it. I’m a bit in love with Connell . I just really wish we knew what happened next! I want to read the book now.

I'm a bit (lot!!) in love with Connell too @Idontbelieveit12

I am still a bit miffed at the ended although I understand it is a book adaptation. People in love tend to put love first and career and ambition second. Marianne's lines about who knows where we will be in a year sounds like they would be fine not being a couple. To me that underlines the whole message of their love story and how they know that no one else will ever complete them like they do each other. I would not be able to go to NY and feel good but that is me and not these fictional characters.

oh @xzhrfb you're in the same boat as me - thinking about these characters so much!

I have thought about the ending such a lot and have come to think that Marianne was making the ultimate sacrifice and not making promises they might not be able to keep.

I think she knew that if she said to him, ok it's just a year and then you come home, his whole focus there would be about enduring the year and never really settling there or following opportunities.

She know that if he does well in the MFA, and his track record to date with achievements is excellent - better than hers - he will be in line for amazing jobs / opportunities etc.

If I imagine the story continuing in my own mind, he goes, she stays and they continue emailing each other all the time. They do see other people, after all they're so young. But I think they end up back together. They will be changed from life experiences but they will always have that bond connecting them.

I think they will be fine.

@xzhrfb have you read the book? If not, I really recommend it

Yep... read the book in detail. Guess I am just old fashioned if that is a term. I think the author purposely left the ending hanging so readers can create their own ending. There are lots of movies out there where a couple missed the chance to be together and only get together later after living lives with other people. This story and series was well crafted to affect the audience in a powerful way.

I absolutely loved the series, I found it hugely nostalgic as I was a student in Trinity (many) years ago. In fact looking at the credits many of the cast and crew are Trinity graduates so I imagine it was something of a labour of love for them.

Sorry if This has already been posted and I've missed it on the thread but there is a short story by Sally Rooney which she wrote before NP with the characters of Connall and Marianne.

lithub.com/read-sally-rooneys-first-short-story-to-feature-marianne-and-connell/

Apparently there is a special on today. Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones are reuniting for two new special episodes of Normal People set 40 years in the future. Daisy Edgar-Jones and Paul Mescal, who played the angsty Irish lovers in the original series, will reprise their roles in a pair of comedic shorts as part of Ireland's RTÉ Does Comic Relief. I hope this is true because I will definatley have to download it when it comes online.

You are going to love it! I'm sure it'll be on YouTube within minutes

mashable.com/video/normal-people-hot-priest-connell-marianne/?europe=true

The whole sketch is on the RTÉ player but not sure if you can get it outside Ireland.

I watched the whole 7+ minutes and it is awesome. I don't live in Europe. Actually it felt more like a tease because the world is craving for more. The singing part was so good and it felt like it had been a deleted scene in the series and not a scene from some other time. NP still has a lingering affect that has not gone away at all. The singing part just melted me again.

Absolutely loved Normal People and read the book, thought the two lead actors were phenomenal and the issues very relatable. Watched it first time with DH who found it dull so watched again alone on iplayer. Could so identify with the angst at that age

8 episodes in. Searched for a thread. I loved the first 5. Found myself falling for connel. But now they are just annoying me. I feel they are going around in circles.

Why can't they just be together.

I do feel slightly old at 31 after watching that. Remembering my late teens and being totally obsessed with a lad and waiting for a text. Those days are long gone for me lol.

DH is on nights so I’m watching it all over again. I’m even angrier the second time around about Connell not asking Marianne to the Debs

I think if Paul Mescal is nominated for an Emmy why the hell was Daisy Edgar Jones not also given a nomination. She was an excellent actor in it. Better than Paul imho.
I didn't particularly like Normal People, I thought it was over rated.

Daisy was robbed !!!!

Hmm. I think his character gets to display more range than hers. I watched the episode with the counsellor again last night and it really is such a powerful performance from him (though probably because he articulates my own feelings at university so well that it hits home harder).

Marianne is almost always so controlled - Daisy EJ does play her brilliantly. All things being equal they should both have got the nod.

It is interesting that things that go on in this movie are not all that normal, at least not in my experiences. Then again, I did not grow up in that country and environment... just saying

I think it's because I'm a women but I have abit of dislike towards marrianne. All she had to do was be friendly at school and put effort in. Tell connell she loved him and wanted to be together.

I feel she's tormented him all the way through. It's always her in a room with him and her new boyfriend. I have two more to watch 😊 but I think connell is a sensitive guy who struggles to handle her. She always makes him feel she can't be tied down too.

It's good. My teenage romances were never this intense but it does remind me of being young and really liking someone!

@xzhrfb
I did grow up in that country but they didn't appear very normal to me.
Country towns and surrounding areas have their snobbery/ class.
I'm not entirely convinced Marianne and Connell would have got together. He being the son of their cleaner.
They say there is no class distinction in Ireland. There is.
Connell got a glimpse of it when he went to Trinity.

Marianne had an abusive father and brother, and a cold and distant mother, it doesn’t surprise me that she is not very emotionally forthcoming.