Some of my notes for my 'The Trolley Problem' and 'The Riddle of the Sphinx' comparison under the cut.
Sphinx and Trolley Problem are humiliation rituals for Squires and Blake (Pemberton), perpetrated by Tyler and Drew (Shearsmith). Both episodes represent an intrusion and subsequent violation of Pemberton's psyche; he is deconstructed, humiliated, and then punished as a consequence of his transgressions towards Shearsmith, who undergoes a catharsis.
Though Pemberton's relationship to the 'gimmick' (classics, cryptic crosswords, psychology, and ethical thought experiments) first establishes him as the authority on the matter, it is actually how Oedipus Rex, the crossword, and the trolley problem are used by Shearsmith in his revenge which is the episode’s defining characteristic.
The first act sets up Pemberton as the principal intellect through him 'teaching' another character who he perceives as intellectually less than him (through being present as implicitly or explicitly working-class, which ‘Nina’ and first act Drew both are).
The locations also serve this intrusion. Pemberton dominates through his familiarity with the spaces, which belong to him, and are reflections of his superiority; Blake takes advantage of this familiarity when he cuts the power in the third act. Both spaces are adorned with possessions that indicate his comfortable status quo. Importantly, Shearsmith is both times invited into the space (Blake picks up Drew from the bridge, Squires telephones Tyler to request his assistance, though Charlotte breaks in Squires was aware she would do so and allows her) which aids Pemberton’s superiority over him and the humiliation when Shearsmith seizes control from him. Drew holds Blake hostage in his own kitchen, Tyler turns Squires’s rooms (Charlotte’s body, the crossword) into a crime scene to frame Squires. His space is physically violated as is his psyche.
Robbie and Nina are both killed through revenge. Both their deaths involve slow suffocation (as does Simon’s hanging). Charlotte is killed by Tyler acting through Squires (who poisons Charlotte under Tyler’s unconscious influence). Robbie is killed Blake acting through Drew (unknowingly leaving his son to suffocate).
The other two children commit suicide. Ellie and Simon’s suicides are both caused by domination, and then rejection by Pemberton. Ellie is taken advantage of by Blake, then discarded when she becomes an ‘inconvenience’. The episode suggests that this series of events is what pushed her to commit suicide when she did - presumeably overdosing on the antipsychotics Blake prescribed her. Simon enters the Cambridge cruciverbalists competition to, in Tyler’s words, ‘earn back his mother’s love’. When Squires’ beats him unfairly, the rejection from his mother, and the humiliation from being beaten by Squires is overwhelming: he goes home and hangs himself. These suicides are covered up, or at least never adressed by the Steve character in favour of his career, until another character forces it into the open. The suicide of each child comes as a consequence of Pemberton’s obsession with his image. Blake cannot tell the truth to the authorities because he would lose his licence to practise, Squires cannot accept the possibility of ‘The Sphinx’ losing the crossword competition. Blake even goes as far as to attempt to murder Drew to maintain his equilibrium. Therefore, it serves as the greatest punishment of all for Drew and Tyler to strip Blake and Squires of their identities through the appropriation of what they have lauded themselves as experts in. Drew and Tyler do not merely formulate a revenge plot, but model them specifically after concepts established as belonging to Blake and Squires’ - and Blake and Squires do not fully realise what is happening until the very end. It is best described as the ego-death of Pemberton.
Sphinx and Trolley Problem are knee-deep in Oedipal imagery. Whereas Sphinx retells the original Oeidpus tale by literally addressing the play, The Trolley problem remains in the unconscious, alluding to Freudian theory in the implications of its relationships (“she was estranged from her father and she saw me as some kind of…”) The Trolley Problem is arguably overall more fragmented and unconscious in its themes and characters than Sphinx.
Shearsmith is emasculated by Pemberton: Squires replaces Tyler as the husband and as biological father to his children, Blake describes himself as being a replacement father for Ellie. Father and husband as patriarchal dominating forces Shearsmith is cast out from. Shearsmith is almost entirely sexless (or coded as a potential victim), which also emasculates him (“I’m a red blooded mammal Tyler, not like those molluscs you spend half your time with.”) Pemberton is driven by sexuality to the point of being a predator; tied with his control and superiority, he represents a traditional masculine violence. Pemberton cannot view Shearsmith as a potential threat because of his sexlessness, which is aided by Shearmith’s intellectual and class ‘inferiority’.
The emasculation fuels Shearsmith’s revenge – revenge for things that Pemberton has taken from him and humiliated him by taking. He repossesses his masculinity in his revenge plans by beating Pemberton in acts of violence: Tyler cutting up and feeding Charlotte to Squires, Drew burying Robbie. Both are an imitation of Pemberton’s prior violence. Shearsmith attacks Pemberton’s identity as a father as Pemberton did to him. It is less about avenging Simon or Ellie as people, but revenge for what Shearsmith has lost and what Pemberton has put him through – children in the episodes are fragments of whole people used as pawns to aid each father in achieving his desire. Female suffering is at the heart of both episodes; Daughters are exploited and abandoned by their fathers. Sons are restricted to framed photos and die because of their father’s arrogance. Their own actions are only deplorable when they realise they have harmed their own biological children and thus have failed as fathers (men and predators): Tyler feels no guilt because he has no biological children; Drew and Squires commit suicide; Blake falls to his knees in horror, outcome left ambiguous. It is part of their humiliation. Though Tyler's motivations exist as entirely self-serving (avenging his marriage and time wasted), Drew is much more aligned to genuine compassion for his daughter.
Blake = Drew = Ellie = Robbie, each character representing and mirroring each other. In Sphinx, Charlotte = Simon (avenging twin), Tyler = Squires (Tyler raising Squires’s children, Squires marrying Tyler’s wife).
Fascinating is how much Shearsmith understands Pemberton, and how little Pemberton understands Shearsmith. Shearsmith studies Pemberton so well that his revenge is him effectively becoming Pemberton (the setter, the psychologist, the abuser). Pemberton underestimates Shearsmith because of his preconceived idea of his inferiority.
Blake maintains more control than Squires because of Drew’s instability as a character. The portrait of Drew is a man so haunted and overwhelmed by his emotions that he quite literally bursts into flames at the end of the episode in response to them. He hatches a plan that is derailed by outbursts (“I think I might have killed somebody.”) and overpowered by Blake’s physical violence. Although in the end it all works in his favour, it speaks more to his ability to improvise more than his own stability. There is also a leniency Drew’s plan affords to Blake, which Tyler does not offer to Squires. Blake gets the chance to save Robbie, if he confesses (reinforced by script). If we can trust Drew’s promises to Robbie, there’s an alternate universe out there where Blake admits his fault and Robbie is dug up. Charlotte dies in every iteration of Tyler’s plan.
Class dynamics are undermined through the revelations that Charlotte is a Cambridge masters student and daughter of a Cambridge professor. (Drew undermines Blake’s authority and intelligence because of his degree). Drew is actually implied to be of a similar status to Blake.
Recurring themes of poisoning (through scenes involving cups of tea) and suffocation (Simon, Robbie, Charlotte). Betrayal from the father figure the child is close to (Robbie and Blake, Charlotte and Tyler). Shadowy spaces and a degree of pathetic fallacy. Elements of abjection and the uncanny (mirroring, violence, poisoning). A degree of self awareness from Pemberton (shame surrounding hearing Ellie’s recording, “I don’t have a good side” / “I don’t care what people think of me”, Squires: “I was just showing off”). Revenge tragedy. Characters arriving under false pretences – characters playing roles (as a psychotherapist, vulnerable man, girlfriend attempting to impress, amicable colleague). A vulnerable young woman is denied bodily autonomy (Ellie having no physical presence in the episode, Charlotte being paralysed) by the men who victimise her.
