S4 E2 - Strained Relations

Del - Bloody family - I’ve finished with them! What do they do to you? Hold you back, drag you down... and they break your bloody heart.

In previous episodes we have seen how diverse the script of Only Fools can get. Not only can it pan and combine genres, but it being about family and friendship at its core allows it to bring in more serious themes. It’s often at its best when it does this.

Being able to find the funny in a somber and serious situation is no mean feat whilst still being respectful and true to the moment. There are certain scenes in the show’s history which are very moving and sincere, but the writing still manages to find the right balance to end it on a laugh in the right way. John Sullivan must have spent the time to get these scenes right, where you know it’s a bad moment (such as a funeral in this episode, being heartbroken in ‘Diamonds are for Heather’, or even a miscarriage in ‘Modern Men’). Doing all of this in a rush to hit the deadlines for filming and grieving for the loss of a friend must have been incredibly tough.

This is the second funeral in the series, after Triggers Gran in ‘Ashes to Ashes’ but with it being Grandad the emotion is amped up right from the first shot. There’s a sprinkling of jokes throughout the opening scene, but the crescendo and real moment of release comes from the vicar asking if anyone had seen his hat. It’s a brilliantly weighted gag which doesn’t detract from the scene at all, in fact it makes it.

Introducing Uncle Albert has its uses from a plot and joke perspective but also, as I mentioned in the previous post, helps keep the balance of the 3 characters being able to bounce off each other. It creates enough contrast and combinations to keep the core dialogue going which would’ve been trickier if Grandad’s role in the flat wasn’t replaced.

We also get the wartime stories and jokes increased far more than we got with Grandad due to Albert being in the navy - and being a “jinx” or “boomerang” depending on who you ask. It’s not this episode that we get the now iconic “during the war” catchphrase but the amount of dialogue given to it certainly tees it up for future episodes.

Returning to the main plot point of the funeral, we get some further character development from both Rodney and Del in terms of how they go about grieving. Rodney goes straight into a depressive state, and is incredulous when he sees Del and others laughing, joking and having a good time at the wake. After the party is finished Del admits that he hasn’t started yet and doesn’t even know how to grieve in a powerful self-reflective monologue.

Rodney - It was Grandad's...! How could you get over it so easily?!
Del - Get over it? What a plonker you really are Rodney! Get over it? I ain't even started yet - ain't even started bruv! And d'you know why? Because I don't know how to! I've survived all my life with a smile and a prayer! I'm Del Boy ain't I - good old Del Boy, he's got more bounce than Zebedee! ‘Here you are pal, what you drinking? Go on - hello darling, you have one for luck!' That's me, that's Del Boy innit? Nothing ever upsets Del Boy. I've always played the tough guy - I didn't want to, but I had to! And I've played it for so long now, I don't know how be anything else.

We ultimately see that Albert is a true Trotter and cons the boys into believing that the Seaman’s Mission has been knocked down which forces them to offer him a home.

Tomorrow’s episode: Hole in One