So disappointed with Motherland **Thread contains spoilers**

[Fenty1]

I'm the biggest fan of Motherland normally but I feel so let down by the Xmas special! Have been looking forward to it all day but didn't laugh once. Yes it was very sad etc but not what I wanted from a Xmas special at all.

Title edited by MNHQ to add a spoiler alert

I thought morges were at the hospital.

On a lighter note I loved it.

I absolutely loved it. Had a bloody good cry, which I know is not ideal for Christmas but I needed it. Amanda's mother ramped up the evil 10 fold! What a cow!

I loved it
I laughed out loud lots and had tears falling down my cheeks but thought it was great .

I think that it was a brave exploration of the title Motherland, like a close- up study of the more difficult, scorching ordeals that come with the mother/child relationship. It acknowledged that the relationship can be toxic, in the case of Amanda's mother, but also portrayed the conflicting emotions when a parent dies. In a way, it reminded me of the Buffy the Vampire episode where Joyce died. I can see that it is very unsettling as a Christmas special when compared to the previous one, yet as an observed piece on the human condition, I thought it was brilliant.

@Ashard20 what a brilliant assessment

@SqueakySquirrel Thank you.

Spot on!

@memyselfi when it happen to us the police came and checked no foul play, then gave permission for the undertaker to take them.

I wasn't expecting it to be sad at all. But damn, it sure was.

It's risky making a comedy with a sad storyline, especially at Christmastime when the expectation is for silly saccharine-sweet. So I applaud the boldness of the writers. It was very good.

Surely a doctor needs to certify the death though , that wouldn't happen at the funeral home.

Amanda’s mum is a bitch. Joanna plays her wonderfully

and yes if she had a better more supportive mummy she may be more like Tamara

they seemed to get on. And gel over the ski season

Yes, as pp have said, a sudden unexplained death at home means that the police would attend. It wasn't realistic in that sense, but I suppose they have to make it watchable drama.

Absolutely loved it. Spent the last half in tears but still loved it. Wonderful acting and writing.

I agree. If you rang 999 for an ambulance with someone not breathing and a pulse that could have been very very recent they would give advice to start CPR as fruitless as that may seem. Otherwise an unexpected death would mean police attending and a paramedic qualified in certifying death (highly unlikely to be a GP anymore) then the undertakers would come. I didn't mention it in my post below because it was clear it was artistic licence

One of the things I've always enjoyed most about the show is the dynamic between Julia and Marion so I'm really sad they've cut this off for future series 😭 I didn't laugh massively but still enjoy watching the crew.

They're hardly going to do cpr and have the police attend a Christmas special

To be fair, we didn't see the ambulance either. I think we have to imagine all that happening off screen.

We did see them taking her in the ambulance but not the whole thing.

True, but then again it was the writers' choice to have a death on Christmas Day.
Anyway, as I said, a bit of artistic license.

Yeah that's true

I loved it and I liked that they didn't make Jonny's new girlfriend a bitch and that her Amanda found something in common. There were some great laugh out loud lines too.

'Sweet wheels'
'There's a queue, Philip Schofield'
Julia's husband in the tiny hot tub.

Really hope they make some more.

Yes, it was a nice twist that Amanda got on well with the new wife, and as a couple they were actually quite friendly and kind.

re Amanda , i thought there was that awful feeling that so many women can identify with.
You strive for perfection with children and a man who is abusive (Amanda’s hubby was particularly horrible in the episode with Kevin in the garden) . He is stressed by his big job and wants perfection when he gets home, he wants a trophy wife, an immaculate house , no stains on the carpet etc.
And then with the new wife , he has no children and lives in domestic bliss! And makes it look like all his frustration was the ex rather than the drudgery and stress of trying to raise a family in this kind of unforgiving atmosphere.
everyone says ‘oh look he’s soo happy and chill now’ (didn’t Amanda’s horrible mother say something like this…oooh look at you now Johnny’). It really makes you feel shit :(
Anyway I may be projecting 😀
but I couldn’t help feel for Amanda !

I loved it. It was real, life can be shit.
Kevin & Amanda we’re brilliant as usual &
I also thought it made Julia more relatable & human.

This is spot on and what is so good about the series - the raw, accurate observations.
I don’t even want it to be laugh a minute funny because it can be deeper than that.