Lip Service Series 2, Episode 1 : View from the Couch
by Fairy Cake
Firstly, spoiler alert.
Secondly, I’m afraid DFC is not with me physically to be able to film shit, so this is my own personal digest of Friday’s episode. In list form, for your pleasure. You can watch it here if you haven’t already.
(It might be worth cheekily adding here that I still think this show isn’t that great. Fan girls, I will not heed your cries. Turn back now, lest ye be slightly offended!)
6 Things that I learnt from watching Episode One, Season Two of Lip Service
1) Hey! I quite like this show now. Liking it feels weird.
2) The director and cast of this series must be the only people in television who have not taken any cocaine. I’m no fiend or anything, but that drug makes you into an asshole. Ed was having far too much fun, and Frankie looked like she was taking one last loo break before meeting the Big Lesbian In The Sky*. Not one person tried to insist that “this song” was “all about them”. Totally inaccurate.
2 b) In fact, also, the director and cast of this series must be the only people in the Western World who have not been stoned. Laura Fraser seemed to think she was on acid. Hilarious. I would have liked to see a more realistic playing of that scene, where Cat and Jay responsibly abandoned their rooftop blazing session, spending the next hour on their presentation and delivering it with relative ease, but apparently THAT’S NOT GOOD TELEVISION. Despite all this, that scene was adorable and made me want to go get really mashed. Thanks BBC!
3) The acting has gotten better. This may by just because the actors know each other a little more, but I am not complaining. Laura Fraser and Heather Peace got the nagging, post-honeymoon period schtick downpat. Ed, apart from his funky-chicken inspired coke routine, was actually really believable and seemed to have progressed quite a bit past just looking like a frightened boy. New girl Lexy was more than bearable in her brief period of screen time, and I think may be Lip Service’s most convincing lesbo yet. Also, I would, and I think you probably would too – what a fox.
4) The Lip Service production team genuinely care about exposing new Scottish musical talent. I’ve heard a lot of really strong stuff on this show, from Midas Fall to Arab Strap’s Aidan Moffatt, and loads of obscure stuff. It’s really brave to compile a soundtrack of relative unknowns, especially from such a small local scene of artists, so big props for that. This episode brought with it Discopolis’s Summer Nightmares, which is total coup d’synth.
5) Frankie is still terrible but I still would sell several of my relatives to look like her.
6) Sam is still beautiful and I would be willing to sell more relatives.
Poor, sad Heather Peace. Someone get that woman some muff!
Best bit of dialogue :
Sadie : “It’s not my fault you’re unhappy Frankie. Sort yourself out and stop acting like a fucking cock.”
Also, the way Cat says ‘begonias!’ when she’s off her face.
Worst line :
That whole ‘Three C’s’ thing. “Cocky, confident and charming”. Script ed should have pointed out that cocky and confident are degrees of the same variable. This annoyed me a disproportionate amount! Hell, that’s all I got. There were no serious clangers.
Most randomly sexist thing on the show :
The treatment of Fin, Tess and their ‘relationship’ plays to a dated male/female dynamic that I found really irksome. Fin plays the over-sexed, insensitive, football-obsessed, shop-shunning man to Tess’s pathetic, football-hating, fashion-obsessed girly ditz – if this was a genuine male/female pairing it would be shot down as stereotypical and sexist … and I’m not sure that girl/girl pairing makes it any more bearable. Tess is still written as the worst kind of female stereotype, as well as the slap-stick comic relief, which always fails to make me laugh.
Most irritating character :
Lion-haired theatre-cunt Nora from The Important Play. Apparently she’s in it for a few more episodes. Total pantomime villain who probably would have been more comfortable in Midsommer Murders. Get off my telly!
Percentage of featured actors who were actually Scottish :
22%
Percentage of featured actors who were not White :
3% (Fin. Fin is the 3%)
Over all rating : 6/10
Over all rating in the context of other Lip Service episodes : 9/10
* I always imagined The Big Lesbian in the Sky to be some 50ft Dusty Springfield-lookalike with a white robe and a long downy beard.
I so want to see if we could film our reviews via Skype.
Ouff. I thought it sucked – but then I’m no big fan of stilted dialogue or facial pantomime. Sadly the butch/femme dynamic was not only sexist but accurate (similar neanderthal behaviour can be spotted in relationships and messageboards alike), whereas the clothing was not. How long can one survive in Scotland wearing /only/ a succession of sleeveless tops? Are leather jackets and kohl still so rock’n'roll? Do unresolved sexual tensions still turn grown-up professional lesbians into loopy alcoholics with Powerpuff eyes? And yes, the drugs. Morose, sulky, lame… with more to come.
I like this precis- covers all the points, says it nicely. I think Frankie benefited from acting in that Beatles thing in between series- she was rather better (though still pants and kind of annoying). And Sadie redeemed herself.
And I still love Heather Peace. And don’t get how Sam is that attractive- is she the Bridget Jones/ Bella character that makes people comfortable with relating to them, whilst getting the hottest people all falling for them?
Go Sam and Lexi!
* Not Sam- Cat. (Why have they gone for so many mono-syllabic names?)
Is it just me, or does Sam look like somebody’s worried mother in that photo?
I literally do not know how this pile of crap made it on to television. Agree with many of the points above but think it’s being way too kind. That said I know I will still be watching every episode, just to be appalled.
And this says it pretty well… http://www.divamag.co.uk/category/satire/an-open-letter-to-lip-service's-frankie.aspx
I’m like that sometimes when I’m stoned. different people react differently to drugs…
Ozelot, in which case, I’ll have what you’re having ;)
I’m glad you pointed out that Fin was the only non-white character.
I would love it if they could introduce a variety of characters…it did seem weird to me…
Can I also point out the horrific moment when Cat says:
Cat: Oh, fuck that…just fuck me!
I thought season 1s worst one liner was the Sam and Cat’s taxi scene with:
Cat: Fuck him. No, don’t fuck him. Fuck me.
Cringing. Yep.
One good thing though, is Cat seems to have learnt how to control the eyebrow action! Woop!
It’s not the best acting and I also majorly disliked the scene where they got stoned on the roof, Cat accidentally spitting out that water did make me laugh unexpectedly though. I really like the whole Cat/Frankie secret affair, maybe a reflection of my own bad habits. Heather Peace is my biggest turn-off. Ever.
I can’t believe I forgot the Fuck that/Fuck me line. Never has ‘fuck me’ sounded so deeply unconvincing. And WHIRL, you do not get a free pass on liking the Cat/Frankie affair. It is awful. Do you not have eyes? ;) x
I know it’s not the greatest but it makes it makes it slightly watchable for me anyway, i’m not sure if I like it because I fancy Cat or I simply loathe Sam so much I want Frankie to get one over on her. I nearly gagged on my own sick when Sam shot that line at Frankie “or you could try being nice and seeing if you have anything in common” following the CCC line, Does anyone else detest her this much?