Half Man - on BBCiPlayer from the 24th

[fundamentallyauthentic]

Anyone else looking forward to seeing this new show from the writer and star of Baby Reindeer that begins tomorrow?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episodes/m002j18t/half-man?seriesId=trailers

The six episodes in the series will be dropped weekly from tomorrow morning at 6.00 on iPlayer and will be broadcast on BBC1 the following Tuesday at 22.40. I want to be clear that this thread is for people who won't be waiting to watch when it's broadcast. So, this is the spoiler thread, and it's OK to talk about what we've seen as soon as it's been shown on iPlayer!

I've just finished episode 2. I'm glad that he defied (?) Ruben by marrying Albie. I'm wondering if Ruben was sexually abused by his Dad.

I agree, I’m scottish and some of the turns of phrase used just didn’t ring true.

Watching this but not sure about it. Agree the female characters are but parts at the moment at least. Richard Gadd's grunting is.... unpleasant. His (unseen) spitting on one of the flatmates is vile.

Whatever Albie sees in Niall is as yet unclear to me.

Loving the sound track though.

Has anyone watched tonight’s? Thoughts?

I'm gripped by it! It's a hard watch at times though, but I suppose that's testament to how powerful it is.
Reuben is such a loathsome character, but it was interesting to see another side of him with the kids.

I thought the same too; I think the two actors are fantastic! Very powerful last night.

After episode 3, I'm going to stop watching. It just isn't doing it for me.

I am also considering stopping. It is a very one dimensional programme that revels in a portrayal of a deeply damaged, abusive, manipulative, violent male character.
So far there has been a scene of sexual manipulation of a child, a violent assault on a young gay man where the perpetrator appears in ecstasy as he stamps joyfully on the man's head, a scene showing a teenage bully wiping prized collection cards of the boy he is bullying on his genitals, 2 middle aged mothers emotionally blackmailing one of their own sons into perjuring themselves, constant references to how authorities and people in general prefer thugs to homosexuals. My underlying feeling is that there is great joy, admiration and respect for the physically imposing, violent, misogynistic , confident man. The supposedly subtle hints of the violent man having possibly been sexually abused by his own father are leaden, the supposed "other side" of a man who has beaten another man almost to death and wants his own "brother" to lie about it in court because he can pretend to be nice to children is utterly unconvincing.
It is a celebration of relentless male violence and abuse masquerading as an exploration of emotional damage.

Im watching it and it’s gripping in some ways but confusing in others.

I think it’s going to come out that Reuben was sexually abused by his own father and that is the trigger for all of his behaviours.

Could Reuben also have confusion about his sexuality? I can’t tell yet.

I don’t think the way he attacks Niall on his wedding day is simply just because Niall went back on his statement, it’s going to be a lot deeper than that.

Did their relationship ever cross a boundary at some point?

There was a big chunk of time missed out between episodes 1 and 2 (a two year gap I think?) so a lot could have happened between them during that time that we aren’t aware of yet.

Is Reuben jealous that Niall can be open about his sexuality?

Lots to unpick.

I lasted 20 minutes.

Great, so he's going to kill him because he didn't lie for him

Has anyone watched the latest? Is it the last one?

I’m still in episode two - finding this series not that compelling but the acting is fabulous - and there’s two more episodes to go after this, so it finishes on the 29th.

I've just watched ep 4. I feel like there must be more to come.

Yes. I watched Episode 4 yesterday and there are 2 episodes left. I can't decide what I think of it. It's very difficult viewing, yet somehow compelling - even though it's hard to like any of the characters or feel much empathy. It's unsettling and almost makes me feel an enormous sense of dread. It's so toxic and the violence and graphic scenes are truly shocking. The acting of both young and current day Ruben and Niall is incredible. Richard Gadd's character is utterly horrifying. The bookends of showing the wedding at the start and end of each episode is very clever and I always feel quite drained after each episode, as each one is such a hard watch.

I guess we don’t do spoilers on here, so I won’t say too much… but in that hospital scene in ep4, I was like ‘where are the nurses?!’ 😳
Re the bookended wedding bits - I do have to focus to work out the order. Since showing the barn scene at the start of ep 1, it’s shown some of what happened before that eg the arrival and meal speech, and now some of what happened after it (end of ep 4!). Actually, typing that out has got it straight in my head now!

Just caught up with the latest episode - loved it.

So I’m guessing he was stabbed with that knife thing that Niall had as part of his Scottish get-up. Was it down his sock? (It was shown in a previous episode but I can’t remember off the top of my head).

But the question is….. did Niall do it to him in self-defence? Or did Ruben do it to himself as he couldn’t live with his demons anymore?

Maybe they’ll also find a dead Niall in the barn?

This was my favourite episode so far.

The hospital scene was amazing to watch, but I was thinking the exact same thing, where the hell were the nurses when all that was kicking off? 🤣

Is anyone else getting the sense that some of these scenes might not be real? Like they’re happening in Niall’s head, or maybe they’re scenes from his book?

I’m really enjoying the series, although it’s definitely a hard watch at times. I’m also loving the dark humour, like Niall drawing the line at destroying the signed Harrison Ford poster, and the way he casually greets the other men at the dogging site like it’s the most normal thing in the world 🤣🫣

I kept thinking that too 😂 all the noise and commotion and not a single nurse came in haha

Also Jamie Bell looks so tired! I haven’t seen him in anything for a while and I am not judging his looks at all but I guess that’s what happens with age!!

Yeah I still think of him as the kid in Billy Elliot! I’m gonna have to look up how old he is now in real life.
From my calculations, Niall is supposed to be in his mid to late 30s in the main part of episode 4 (as I think they said it was 14 years since the court case/he graduated from the Scottish uni).
I reckon in the wedding scenes it’s supposed to be a fair bit later and perhaps they’ve made Jamie Bell look older there with make up etc.

I am finding it hard to follow the timeline.

He said in the hospital it had been 14 years since they’d last seen each other, and that he’d been in jail for 13 years.

But Niall’a mum said Ruben had been out of Jail for over two years…

And if he had only been out of jail for 1-2 years, Ruben seems to have done very well to train and qualify for a £100’000 job and buy that house! (Especially with a 13 year jail sentence for attempted murder under his belt)

'It is a celebration of relentless male violence and abuse masquerading as an exploration of emotional damage.'

This is a really good description. There's something about the way the violence is portrayed that I find unsettling - I can't put my finger on it. Niall is totally obsessed with Reuben and I feel like the audience are encouraged to become obsessed with him too. It's really unpleasant viewing - I know that's sort of the point, but a lot of it doesn't sit right

Jamie Bell is great as always, but I think he's 40 in real life, so far too young to play his mid 50s character in the wedding scenes. The actress playing Niall's mother is great too

Are he and Reuben meant to be in their mid-50’s at the wedding?

'Are he and Reuben meant to be in their mid-50’s at the wedding?'

Well, Niall graduated from uni in 1993 - there was a poster in the background with the year on. He would have been around 20 then. If the wedding scenes are set in 2026 (they may not be), that would make him 53. So early 50s rather than mid 50s