This is a great opportunity to shed a light on the use of dogwhistles and concern-trolling in the "Gender-Critical" movement. Let's break down this post by Ms. Abbington:
1.) "I care deeply about the trans community and how they are being hijacked by a violent and hateful group of people."
Okay, so she claims to support the trans community BUT also claims that it is being hijacked by violent, hateful people. Which begs the question, who are these violent, hateful people that are hijacking the trans community? Cisgender men identifying as women? OR is it people who were assigned male at birth identifying as transwomen?
She never specifies who these violent, hateful people are. She's leaving it open ended and ambiguous on purpose.
2.) "I fully support the trans community, and I'm sorry you think I'm unpleasant."
She fully supports the trans community, except for the unspecified violent, hateful individuals that may be actual trans people that she doesn't see as legitimate members of the trans community. As for the apology (if you can call it that), she doesn't apologize to the trans people who were hurt by her unpleasant behavior, she apologizes to the trans people who think her behavior is unpleasant.
Oh god, let’s get this over with then. I did already do a kind of deranged liveblog of my response to this show, so if you want more vagueing about the stupid plot/characters/concept then head over to that tag (#liveblogging safe). Or just watch it on Netflix yourself, but do make sure to lobotomise yourself with a screwdriver first.
Neil Chahal: beautiful, low-key unhinged, mysterious employment, tight chinos, lovely dressing gown, and you don’t want to know what it is that’s going to revive his ailing marriage to Zoe the French teacher!
Episode 1
We get the distinct impression immediately that everyone in his family finds him exhausting and wishes he would Just Stop. At first, it’s not clear precisely what’s so annoying, but he rises to the occasion pretty quickly.
NEEL. Sorry buddy, that’s your name now. (kneel)
He wants to treat his nineteen-year-old son Chris like a grown-up, so he’s frank with him (no, he’s NEEL </dad joke>) at the family dinner (while wife and daughter have gone away to sigh extravagantly elsewhere)
His son is less blasé about this than he expects.
The next day, Chris and his girlfriend Jenny (daughter of the mc, Tom, let’s not even get started on that guy) are missing.
DRESSING GOWN. FLUFFY. CLEAVAGE.
Chris said he was heading to Ioan’s house.
Oh hohoho wouldn’t you like to know dressing-gown boy he’s the year 12 [sixteen/seventeen-year-old] kid your wife is screwing but don’t worry there won’t be any consequences
Episode 2
Neel's very bad no good day continues, also he is ALWAYS just...hanging round at home waitting for bad news at the door
First up it’s the police with a warrent to search the place because his wife’s been arrested for being a suspected paedophile...
Tiny little meltdown of throwing things around :’)
Then it’s his bloody neighbour again asking after Chris and Jenny, who are still awol. Neel gives a bravado display of the insecurities of middle aged masculinity.
I want to say that it’s astounding to think he might be the kind of husband who ever did, but it’s actually not unimaginable. Neel is bitter, but it almost feels like having a teenage boy in the house has made him weird about his masculinity in a way he wasn’t before. Or maybe it’s the suspicion that his wife is fucking a different teenage boy. Anyway.
I don’t know how many times I can say that this man just makes me really sad? He seemed so desperate to talk to his family earlier and clearly just. doesn’t know how to. Acting like it’s FINE that his son doesn’t talk to him about things and that’s what he’s expect because Men Don’t Talk About Things!!
He’s not worried about Chris, but he does agree to let Jenny’s dad have a look round Chris’s room because of a couple of alarming texts.
The next screenshots are mainly for the hands on hips and trouser hoik, but also, for all my complaints about this show, we know this guy, don’t we? Sharing uncomfortable details about expensive home renovation when you don’t really know anything about him or his family? And then it’s not just his family who wish he’d stop talking. It’s strangers too. oh Neel. You’ve forgotten how to interact with people. too long wfh.
Did Chris go out on the Vespa?
Train times, probably, but Neel is sceptical. Afterwards, Marc Warren says what bad vibes the place has. And if Marc Warren thinks you have bad vibes, well, yeowch.
Episode 3
Chris is still missing, but by now we know he’s very much dead, and the family trying to hide the body is hilariously bad at it.
Meanwhile, Sophie, the main cop and sort of girlfriend of Tom, tells Zoe they now believe she’s been set-up and they’re trying to find out who would want to paint her as a paedophile. Neel looks moody in the rattan sofa:
is this like when you have a rowdy pet and you have to banish them to the garden when visitors come round?
Even Neel and Zoe’s daughter is starting to miss her big brother now! Who will take her to the cinema?
(Look! Neel has work to do! Do we know what it is? No)
Idk man. Is it meant to be messaging about how some lax continental child-rearing style Neel and Zoe (she is French, after all) followed has led to this situation, where they seem unconcerned by their teenager’s absence and the problem is more ‘you need someone to take you to the cinema’ rather than ‘your brother isn’t just giving me the cold shoulder he’s actually ignoring his whole family’? He did offer still, but man, pretty sure his daughter hates him. Should probably have gone ahead with the divorce before her exams, babe, sticking around isn’t helping.
Later on, he hears Zoe leaving Chris voicemails and does seem to share her concern a little?
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End of Part 1. I’m splitting this into two posts, just in case it gets unwieldy with the screenshots - Chris’ body is found next episode, so there’s a bit more of the Chahals.
Unpopular opinion: the Netflix miniseries “Safe” from 2018 starring Amanda Abbington was really good.
Yet I have not seen a single promo image, gif, or commentary about it pass by on my dash. It could just be that I am following the wrong people for that. But I’ve seen at least something from nearly every other Sherlock actor’s project, that I know of. All of Benedict’s and Martin’s of course, Mark Gatiss, Rupert Graves, Louise Brealey, and even Jonathan Aris when he shows up in bit parts. It’s yesterday’s news by now and I don’t expect to see anything anymore, but I always found it odd that no one amongst my Sherlock fandom circle seemed to be very interested in it.
