‘SEX, LIES AND RED TAPE’
Please feel free to comment on my review.
This episode is interesting as it sheds light on Laura’s character and we get introduced to her husband – David Crean as Michael T. Farrell III. He’s an American from Chicago who’s come to see Laura at the leisure centre. I’ve also seen David Crean in Series 3, Episode 3 of ‘Jeeves & Wooster’. 🙂
In the episode, Gordon Brittas tries to fundraise £2500 for a new trampoline at the leisure centre by various sponsored activities. He encourages every member of staff to do these activities. He even takes part in it himself by doing a sponsored silence as suggested by Julie which was so funny to see.
Gordon tries hard not to speak when he’s working at the leisure centre during the day and he has to use plaque cards in order to communicate what he wants to say to other members of staff like Carole and Colin. He also has trouble not speaking to Helen who wants his help regarding shoplifting.
The sponsored silence doesn’t go well when Gordon runs into Michael Farrell and he inadvertently speaks during an exchange of insults with him. 😀 Gordon takes an instant dislike to Farrell, especially since Farrell isn’t put off by Gordon’s authority as he’s able to overcome his odious nature.
Gordon isn’t too happy when he hears Farrell has contributed the £2500 for the leisure centre and their trampoline due to him being a rich American. Everyone else is happy about it though. At least Tim doesn’t have to have sponges being thrown at him. Mind you, I can see Brittas’ point of view. 😀
I think it was a cheat to let Farrell give the money to the leisure centre instead of the staff fundraising the money themselves to get the trampoline. Interesting that the leisure staff members don’t see that compared to Brittas. Anyway, Brittas eventually allows Farrell to see Laura in the end.
Brittas is surprised to learn that Farrell is Laura’s husband. Laura eventually sees Farrell and it seems that he wants her to come back to him in order to provide an offspring to the Farrell family. Laura refuses, despite having lovely flowers from Farrell. Brittas later apologises to Laura in the staff room.
The episode concludes with Laura getting into an angry fit with Brittas before she eventually kisses him. That must’ve been a surprise to people watching this episode. Brittas wonders if Laura’s in love with him. 😀 The subplots of Carole writing a book and Helen doing the shoplifting habit are funny. 🙂
‘Sex, Lies and Red Tape’ rating – 8/10
| Go back to | Go next to |
| Return to The Brittas Empire | |
| Return to Comedy |
Hi Tim,
Yet another good episode, both in terms of the humour and shedding light on Laura’s character. Michael did seem sketchy in this episode, but he felt he improved in his other two appearances and I felt sorry for him in ‘The Lies Have It’ when he was forced to cover for Helen. Even though I could kind of ship Gordon and Laura, I feel like Michael deserved her more in the end. He’s one of my two favourite supporting characters in the series, the other being Gordon’s brother Horatio.
I agree with you and Gordon’s viewpoint on fundraising, although I’m not sure it was working out. Also, I felt it was rather cruel of Gordon to tell Carole to leave novels to the experts. 😔
Even though Gordon seems to revere Helen a lot of the time, the final scene where I assume he wanted her to apologise for the shoplifting is proof that their relationship isn’t one sided.
Xavier
Hi Xavier,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on ‘Sex, Lies and Red Tape’. It’s a good introduction to Michael’s character and I like how his character grew in his single episode appearances in Series 3, 4 and 5. I suppose that’s fair regarding the fundraising aspect of the episode, and I do wonder why Carole asked Gordon to read her novel in the first place when she could have asked Laura, Linda or Julie or someone else who would be interested. It was funny when Gordon tried to persuade Helen to apologise for the shoplifting and she was very reluctant to do so.
Many thanks,
Tim 🙂