Late to the party - Gavin & Stacey: I have QUESTIONS!

[VanCleefArpels]

So just watched the whole lot of G&S having never seen it before. I have questions….

What do Bryn & Gwen do for money?
Bryn’s a closet gay isn’t he?
Why did Stacey go from working in an office then M&S to just run a seaside kiosk?
Nessa’s stories about her past - just a comic device?

We don’t know.

Yes

I asked the same!

A comic device that a) smashes any idea the audience might have about the sort of life ‘someone like her’ might have led and b) underlines what a long life she’s had - she’s much older than the other three.

1. Nobody knows. I always assumed Bryn was retired.
2. Yes, he's a barely closeted gay man.
3. Gav is the breadwinner, Stacey's never been ambitious and probably does the school run/ childcare etc.
4. The joke is that a lot of Nessa's tall stories turn out to be true . Her "ex"John Prescott turns up at her wedding, Noel from Hearsay plays cards with her Dad, and she really was on Crimewatch. My theory is that her anecdotes are true.

I did love the cameos at the wedding from Noel and John P!

Bryn is kind of ageless isn’t he - at the beginning maybe mid 50’s so by the end should have been 70 odd but really they didn’t age him did they? Watching the 2019 Xmas special I was struck by the fact that Alison Steadman had aged the most of them

I don't think she's aged the most, so much as had the least plastic surgery or injectibles, though

I thought Stacey's job changes were to do with moving up and down between Essex and Barry and having to change jobs.

Read somewhere online the other day that the fact Bryn always goes into Gwen's house by the back door despite living right opposite her is part of the closet gay joke. But who knows?!

Oh, sorry - yes a comic device but also we had to assume all her reminiscences were true.

On Uncle Bryn's sexuality- I don't think he's supposed to be "in the closet" (aka actively denying and suppressing) so much as it just isn't mentioned because he's loved by his family for the individual he is.

On Stacey's job- she was in a low level admin assistant role in her office job, and didn't they say she couldn't get it back when she returned cos of the economic situation? It's not unusual in small towns to bounce between admin and retail/hospitality anyway.

I.dont think Bryn is so much closeted, as it's a case of even he doesn't know that he's gay.
I loved the wading out of the sea, Daniel Craig parody

But @Yazzi he was clearly closeted and incredibly frustrated - but with no idea how to proceed. That’s what made all his interactions with, mostly young, men so creepy. In a way they would not have been if he were just an openly gay man. It was the constant pretence of mere bonhomie that was so uncomfortable to watch.

My opinion is that that is reading very deeply into the character. Nothing in the show indicated whether his past partners were male or female (except the fishing trip gag- which everyone knew about), or whether his family knew about his sexuality one way or another.

All the characters were written to be awkward and push the boundaries of normal social contact in different ways. But ultimately the writers wrote them with love and kindness in my opinion.

I assumed Gwen had a pension/life insurance from her husband, which meant she could stay being a housewife.

I've always wondered what Bryn/Gwen did for money. I don't think there were any references to either of them ever working.

And Larry Lamb. I was really shocked by how old he looked. I did think that it was a good job they were not going to make any more specials in five or 10 years because he wouldn't be able to be in them.

The other thing that struck me was the MASSIVE cliffhanger from the 2019 Xmas special - did they really not have a plan to follow that up? It felt like a loyal following would have been really annoyed at that when it was originally released?

Perhaps the global pandemic that rolled into town a few weeks later put a spanner in the works?

Don’t forget she’s only 29.

They definitely never mention what Byrn or Gwen do for money but Byrn refers to Gwen’s husband leaving her a ‘penniless widow’, so she must have done something for income surely?
You imagine Bryn is retirement age but I suddenly realised recently (bearing in mind I’ve been a fan of the show since season 1 aired) that if Gavin and Stacey got married on Trevor’s 50th birthday, Trevor was older than Bryn that Byrn is in his late 40s!
I do think Bryn repressed his own sexuality. It never mentions any romantic relationships and when Stacey says ‘Who can honestly say they're a virgin nowadays?’ it cuts to Byrn.
We all know someone like Ness where you’re not sure what the truth is, some are probably true, some embellished stories, some outright lies! But she’s lived a full life that one!

I think Rob Brydon had more hair by the final special than in series 1.

Great point!

I think all Nessa’s stories are true. Obviously they can’t all be true as there aren’t enough years in her life. But think that’s the cleverness. The impossibility and absurdity, but the absolute truth too.

I want to know what happened to Pamela & Mick's extension. We saw Smithy and Dean/Dino out the back discussing it with P&M but, in the grand finale, there was no sign of it. I can only hope the Shipmans realised that it was not a good idea to employ Smithy on a job like that.

In the 2019 one there were several references to Gavin & Stacey having been married 10 years, but it was longer than that as Neil the baby was 12 that August and they got married before Neil was born.

My opinion is that that is reading very deeply into the character. Nothing in the show indicated whether his past partners were male or female

The whole point of fiction is to read deeply into the characters, surely? (And thus discover new things about ourselves and how human beings work in the world.)

I do think Bryn repressed his own sexuality. It never mentions any romantic relationships and when Stacey says ‘Who can honestly say they're a virgin nowadays?’ it cuts to Byrn.

Exactly.

The whole point of fiction is to read deeply into the characters, surely? (And thus discover new things about ourselves and how human beings work in the world.)

Yes- can't argue with that!

This.