Two weeks in August / SPOILERS SPOILERS …

[the80sweregreat]

Watching at tv pace , it doesn’t end for ages , but as it’s all on I player obviously some may have watched it all.
I admit that I’ve been at a loose end and needed something to watch this week.
What do others think ? I did enjoy it. It was a strange drama and I can’t tell if it was satire or a black comedy or just the holiday from hell! Or all three.
The policeman made me laugh ( how lovely was he) and a few quips. Some really good acting too.
I feel guilty for binging it.

It was Jess' doing - she encouraged Avery to go after the waiter for the purpose of a good story. She is a terrible example. She was also the least believable character (among many unbelievable characters). I still enjoyed it though. Zoe would never have stolen that money from their room.

I think that once Zoe was in her "throwing caution to the wind" mode she just did what she felt like - like most of the others, most of the time! I think she just took the money out of their account because she'd fancied the dress - that's why Dan's card wouldn't work - and that was the rest of the money still in her suitcase. Jess was obsessed with the latest person she disliked having taken it - even though Solomon had proved it was still in one of her many purses. 😎

But it was only found by Sol in one of many of Jess' purses after one of the others (can't remember who) put it there to pay her back for Zoe stealing it.

Dan put the money back. Because he saw the new dress and knew she couldn’t have afforded it otherwise.

Maybe she pinched it? Part of her new rebellious streak?

edited to say: pinched the dress.

It was left really ambiguous, though. Like lots of other things.

She may have stolen the dress, I doubt it was cheap.
I can’t believe Dan didn’t see Zoe before she left for the party, but we did see him still in bed , so he can’t have done.

Just rewatched a bit and it had one of my fave lines, rich bearded guy to Sol:
“Oh would we have seen you in anything? We like gritty urban dramas don’t we Darling? Our favourite genre!”

Yes, I picked up on that. So racist and stereotypical!

My main thoughts while watching it were: those poor kids (including Avery)! Hardly anyone really interacted with them properly.
Also: argh at the full sun exposure and lack of shade.... I kept thinking of how they'd end up sun burned!

it was really good til it got super weird - and then it went on and on and on. We weirdly couldn't give up on it, but my god it was bollox.

It was weird at times , the kiss at the party , the rich guy goading poor Jon, the fight in the pool , the temple scene , those friends of Will’s being idiots and trashing a boat , plus much more ( orgies with policemen! )
Holiday from hell when normally you may have a dodgy tummy and have to find a pharmacy for some help and try and make yourself understood or the food in the hotel is a bit cold.
It was certainly eventful though.

I really enjoyed it. They were all awful in many ways. It was quite cathartic 😂

I'm older than them and it really played into all the worst millennial traits/stereotypes which made me laugh.

I did enjoy Zoe's rant about wanting to be happy and being sick of being good. Totally cheering her on at that point and glad it wasn't a simple answer. Solomon was a nob.... And not the answer to anything.

Also enjoyed the holiday from hellness as someone who can't holiday abroad for various reasons and would love to. It made me feel better 😂

Nat was scammed and jobless by the end of it.
I wonder if she’ll ask them to visit her next year ?
She may have done up the house by then , found a job living her best life! Or still skint and trying to avoid wild fires. 🔥

I’ve imagined her - assuming she has running water from even a well in the garden - immediately offering her rooms to Air BnB guests at exorbitant prices in summer. And in exchange for renovation labour in winter.

I’ve never stayed in a villa set up before on holiday, not abroad anyway. This hasn’t encouraged me to give it a go really! Nice to have your own pool though.

Sorry bit late but while it's fresh in my mind: the rich woman made a throwaway line about the dress coming from some local boutique she named when she was admiring Zoe at the party. Poor Jess was funny in her frumpy sheet! The source of the money was a bit confusing; I definitely had the impression she stole it from Jess but then Dan's card not working and the timeline someone mentioned makes me wonder.
I was initially all for Team Zoe but then as it went on she seemed more and more of a dick - but they all did so in that regard it was a just a display of frail humanity (which the gods would be laughing at 😁).
I didn't like the scene near the end where the daughter slopes off with the creepy posh bloke; that was disappointing and not believable - she'd been hesitant about the lovely Jon but then gaily waltzed off with ugly old guy. Seemed a bit gratuitous and playing into someone';s creepy fantasy.
And yes lots of holes in the plot. I thought Nat came off best as she seemed to be the only one who cared about anyone else - she kept insisting on searching for missing people and was kind and a bit heroic at times. Even Jess's husband was unconcerned about her being missing at sea! I did enjoy the social satire "I work for a charity that raises awareness of (insert needy cause)".

Agree about Avery and the old guy. Totally unnecessary imho.

I’d like to think that Avery did nothing with James and just trying to distract him for Nat!

Oh so would I but the writer, who was also the director, used a lot of Greek symbolism and a Bacchanalia is called to mind by James' parties.

😯
Avery was disappointing to even think about James like that. I admit I was shocked, but gave her the benefit of the doubt at the time.

It was a bit strange in a few places - seeing it was a female director. I am never that happy when minor roles, the nanny, the speechless maiden, are more naked than the main actors. There seemed to be a fair bit of 'male gaze'. Creepy James looked Zoe up and down closely when they first met - I admit I laughed when I found out they are real life married!

Yes there was a lot of clichéd male gaze stuff; maybe the director is a post feminist cool girl.

maybe the director is a post feminist cool girl.
I don't think we've attained that starry height yet @Agoddessonamountaintop !
For anyone who likes the elements of joining a self-absorbed elite, obsession with the Bacchanalia, intense relationships and just generally weird .... I recommend the book The Secret History by Donna Tartt.