Cabin Pressure Advent Day 9: Ipswich
In my opinion, Ipswich heralds a really key moment in the development of not just Cabin Pressure, but John Finnemore's (solo) projects in general- it's his first really genius episode in terms of plotting, where he first utilizes Chekhov's Gun with pinpoint precision while also building a watertight and well-structured plot that incorporates great character work.
He shows signs of it earlier in the show, obviously, but this is the episode where he first does it basically seamlessly. Douz is the closest, for sure, but the culminating moment of the plan, however genius it is, still handwaves away a few inconvenient questions like "is it any more legal to drive a plane on the highway than to take off without clearance?" Other episodes also have some good moments but the Chekhov's Gun placements are a bit obtrusive (Cremona and Edinburgh, for example).
(I'll make a note about Gdansk- it has some great Chekhov's Guns, but the plot is basically constructed AROUND them. That requires a lot of its own skill in plot construction, but is different than here.)
What I think is so great about Ipswich is that
a) the Chekhov's Gun is not just planted seamlessly, it's also planted unobtrusively- the masterful way that the number "nineteen" is hammered into our heads at the beginning, only for there to be a red herring appearance of the question/answer that puts us off our guard, and then that final moment of realization and resolution... it's just so good. Smaller ones like Martin's inner ear issue are also handled super well- we hear about it in a very specific context that is relevant to the plot and we don't even think twice about, only for it to come back in a new way later out of nowhere. Chekhov's Gun blends in perfectly with the decor.
b) everything is directly in the service of the plot, and makes sense. This is where there's the difference from Gdansk- there, there wouldn't BE a situation in the first place without some of those Chekhov's Guns that were planted (like the seven dwarves game), whereas here there is a very specific plot (how does MJN do when they need to prove their skills in front of regulators) and all of the Chekhov's Guns directly relate to that. Douglas's use of the "hey chief" line is hilarious both the first time and the second, and is used in utterly characteristic ways that also fit in completely logically with what they've been doing in this episode. There's of course a certain amount of coincidence that you have to allow because that's what makes it a sitcom episode rather than real life, but everything is still done incredibly realistically. (At least, from a human perspective- I don't actually KNOW whether the trainings are like that, but from what others have said they seem to be at least somewhat based on reality so that's cool!)
c) everything is directly in service of the theme! There is also a theme and it melds perfectly into the episode- who is the alpha dog. From beginning to end, we know that this episode is about power struggles, and the fact that something that just seems like a (fucking hilarious) joke- Douglas's whole "hey chief" routine- ends up coming back in something that he addresses, in a certain amount of seriousness, to Carolyn is just perfect. It shows what is only confirmed in the next scene- that Douglas knows who the alpha dog is. And, incidentally, one of the reasons why he knows this is his own realization that if they don't pass, it will "make him feel unemployed." He HAS to concede and that makes the moment only more powerful. (I'd also add that the "Marvin and Dougal" convo serves as a kind of textual evidence for Martin and Douglas, in this episode's power struggle, really being equal beta dogs, but that's not a Chekhov's Gun, just close reading.)
Anyway, I may be overly reading into any of this, but the upshot is that I listened to this, after listening to the prior eight episodes, and was just so massively impressed by the structural quality in a way that surpassed any of the prior episodes- but which I know, as an obsessive listener, is only a harbinger of some brilliantly plotted episodes to come- and the next one is, of course, the fantastic Johannesburg tomorrow!
