Casualty S31 rambling
OK so this is definitely a bit early, given that the series finale isn't for another nine days, as I write this, but the past few days I've had various different conversations about the 30th anniversary year of Casualty and it's made me realise I have a lot of thoughts. So here goes... [maybe...I might not even have the confidence to post this anywhere]
I went into this series really struggling as a viewer, not because I had suddenly fallen out of love with my favourite show, or my favourite group of cast and crew, but because my two favourite characters arguably of all time had just left within three months of each other, I think that would prove difficult for most people in all honesty, and trust me when I say if it had been any other show, I probably would have just given up. This was never an option here though!
I always love the start of a new series, because it feels all sparkly and new, but the start of S31 really did feel like reset after how brutal S30 was for me. It absolutely didn't disappoint, from the minute Iain crashed to earth in the helicopter [yes that was literally the defining moment for me] and I spent the remainder of the episode thinking they were going to 'pull a Patrick in S16' and he was going to drop dead at any moment, and Lily was going to find him slumped in a corner somewhere, and wanting to scream that this wasn't fair, I knew it would all be OK.
The levels of nostalgia for me this series have been pretty intense too. The return of Duffy is the perfect exampe of this. Duffy was 7/8 year old Kirsty's favourite character, and 7/8 year old me was so sad when she left first time around. I wasn't overly fussed about her returns over the years, but having her back this time around has made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I don't know it just feels different from before. Duffy marrying Charlie was also a massive highlight of this series for me [and I hardcore shipped Baz&Charlie back when, I mean COME ON Everlasting Love], it just felt so right, and actually Duffy brings out a side in Charlie that I didn't really see before and I like it. I've also loved the returns of Josh, especially the most recent one , when he brought up his family dying in the house fire, the history of this show has become so important to me these past 12 months! Incidently my favourite scene in the whole of the anniversary episode, is Charlie,Duffy and Josh standing on the stairs blocking Jacob's way. Whenever I say that to people who know me they always question me, and I get it, I mean I'm normally more likely to say Noel and his ice sculpture or Lily relentlessly persuing Iain to make sure he's OK, but that scene in context is absolutely iconic. I just love it so much. I hope we can have Josh back on a bit more of a permanant basis cos honestly I'd love to see him in the ambulance with Iain.
I can't write this without mentioning Lily&Iain. I walked into the anniversary episode a Lily&Ethan shipper, I walked out of it wanting nothing more then Lily&Iain to live happily ever after!It was like being slapped round the face by their obvious chemistry and countless times since I've wondered why I never saw it before. I can't believe there are two episodes left of this series, and apart from a very brief hook up they are still not together. I have loved all the almost moments so much though, from Gem saying that they're obviously going to get together, and Iain flat out denying it, to Iain sitting at Lily's bedside telling her that if she survives they're going to be something special. Iain she survived, I am still waiting for you two to be something special, I believe they will be eventually, I don't want to think I wasted a year of my life invested in something that was only ever going to last two episodes, as great as that hook up was! Some say it was inappropriate, I say they were just being more Cal!
Whether together or seperately, there is no denying that Lily and Iain have been my absolute favourite thing about this series..I'll start with Iain... I've never actively disliked him, I mean he's pretty inoffensive as a character [if we forget the Rita stuff, and I really try to in all honesty], but in that moment when the helicopter crash landed with him in it, I realised just how much I loved the character, and how much I needed him to not be dead! I have absolutely loved getting to know more about his backstory this series, adding Gem as his little sister was an absolute highlight for me, and then when his mum arrived a couple of episodes later. It had never occured to me how little we actually knew about him until this happened. I hope we get to see both Gem and Kim again because there is definitly unfinished buisness there. Plus I want to know that Kim actually got the help she needed!As for Lily the evident character progression that has emerged this series has been one of my absolute favourite things of recent years, yeah I loved her from the moment she arrived, purely on the basis that I thought she was hilarious, but when you stop and think about it, and there have been several episodes this series where I really have done just that, she is basically the definition of character progression done right, and really subtly over time. The most defining moment for me was when she told Iain that 'life doesn't run on plans'. This coming from the woman who when she arrived had a very definite five year plan, and nothing was going to deviate her from it.I have truly loved seeing the growth in Lily and long may it continue.#
Equally I can't write this, without mentioning Cal's death, I'm not sure that by the time it happened anyone was surprised it was him, but the way in which it happened was pretty shocking. The episode was totally set up to make you think it was going to be Lily, and then BOOM Cal. I could never quite make up my mind about Cal, sometimes I really liked him, and sometimes I really hated him, but his death got to me way more then I thought it would, I think it was the other characters reactions though. Obviously Ethan [but more on him in a second], in the same way that I will never forget Dixie screaming Jeff's name when he died, I will never forget Ethan seeing Cal led there. Elle really got to me aswell though, I honestly don't think she gets anough praise as a character, her standing there telling Cal he would be OK and stroking his hair even though she knew it probably wasn't going to be OK, broke me more then anything else apart from Ethan, and nobody ever really talks about that, which makes me sad.
So yeah Ethan, I spent a lot of this series kinda frustrated with him, mainly because I thought he deserved better then Alicia, who knew how he felt about her and still thought it was OK to go off with Cal, and I couldnt understand why he'd still want her after that, but the minute Cal died that all kinda went out the window. It's been nearly three months and I still can't imagine how Ethan is meant to live without his big brother, they didn't always have the best relationship but still. It's broken my heart seeing him so set on revenge, and oddly enough despite not really shipping it at all until this point, I was so very glad that in the beginning he didn't shut Alicia out,he let her be there for him, which I wasn't expecting. I hope she doesn't give up on him, because he needs someone.I really hope in S32 that Ethan can find some form of peace, I hope he gets justice in the right way for Cal, I REALLY hope he doesn't do anything he can't come back from in Saturday's episode.
Another storyline that really got to me this year was David's mental health issues, and the Robyn stuff that happened as a consequence of it. I thought it was so well done. David&Robyn are one of my favourite friendships on the show, and the 'graveyard episode' and Five Days are two of my favourites of the series. Watching the build up to David's breakdown was like knowing that a car crash was about to happen and being powerless to stop it, obviously as a viewer but also I think for some of the characters. One of the scenes that got to me the most was in 'It Starts with the Shoes', when David's son can see what's about to happen, but can't do anything about it, and David can see what's about to happen too, because he says something like 'next time I see you I'll be wearing the most boring shoes.' that really got me. We need his son to come back now. I also really love the end scene when Dylan talks to David, and basically asks him to go for treatment for him. Sometimes Dylan really surprises me and that was one of those moments. As a side note, I've really loved the Dylan&David friendship that's blossomed from that, and as much as Dylan is helping David 'to live', I like the role reversal that's gone on since Dylan has been struggling in the wake of Cal's death. As for Robyn, I'm so glad that she's finally back, but the episode Five Days is one of those episodes where you could cry from beginning to end if you wanted to! At the time I was convinced they were going to kill baby Charlotte [how glad am I that I was wrong], and that it would be three thousand times more devastating because of the kind of character Robyn is, she's so sweet and innocent, and doesn't really mean any harm whatsoever, obviously it would have been devastating for any character but I feel like she would have been the least equipped to ever be able to come to terms with it, thankfully they didn't, and the very last scene had me actually sobbbing happy tears, with them all sat watching the video of Charlotte, they're such a family unit!
One of the other things I have truly loved this series, has been seeing Noel getting more stuff to do away from being sat behind reception all the time. I genuinely don't think I have ever laughed as much at something in Casualty, as I did when Noel got so drunk on Charlie's stag night that he genuinely believed his name was Leslie!! It was getting towards the end of the episode though and I was also getting quite concerned that no-one was actually going to call him Noel again! In complete contrast though, It made me really sad for him when he thought he was going to lose his job and the machines were going to take over! I can't imagine a Casualty where Noel isn't there, and I hope I don't have to for a very long time in all honesty.
I'm going to end with, I'm pretty sure that if I was writing this after the 29th July I would be including the One shot episode in this, but I wanted to write my thoughts down while I was feeling 'ALL THE THINGS' about Casualty. I always love my favourite show but just lately it feels more intense. I'm going to blame the 30th anniversary...
