It is the order of the age it seems; disorder, or maybe it's always been that way, but it's just becoming more apparent.
The DI's going against orders. That's how he gets results. This person's a killer and no-one's going to catch him if he doesn't go and put himself between him and his next victim.
He's swearing at his superior who doesn't bat an eye. He tells him to slam the door on his way out if that will make him feel any better. The DI's partner has just been murdered so the chief is cutting him some slack. It was a preventable murder in so many ways. If only they'd locked the back door for example.
Actions have consequences, as does inaction.
Elsewhere, The other Miss Bennet is seriously considering an indecent proposal by an entitled gentleman. It's the 19th Century and her mother told her that woman's only choice is between marriage and misery and it's playing on her mind, so much so, it takes the fervent arguments of her elder sister and a whole dark night of the soul before she rejects his offer of living together out of wedlock and even then without a trace of outrage. Possibly because it was to be in Italy, not somewhere people like Mary got to go to very often, but it's also likely this sort of proposal was not so very unusual in such circumstances, ie when two people from very different classes fell in love, or maybe just fancied each other, or maybe the woman felt she'd run out of options and the sir was expected to marry someone he couldn't envisage a great sex life with. Mistresses have always been a thing amongst the upper classes have they not ? They're the best kept open secret until the relationship goes wrong and it becomes scandalous. Our own king married his in the end.
Now there's something of a transgression if ever there was one surely.
Or maybe not. Maybe that's perfectly normal and human and acceptable under the circumstances.
Returning to The Devil's Hour, the TV series by Tom Moran, the serial killer's not evil, he's preventing future evils by intervening before potential truly evil perpetrators actually do the harm they would do otherwise. The awful means justifies the better ends. How to weigh this really though, especially when pesky people keep intervening and preventing his dastardly work actually working. We've been here before. This is a recurring theme, this interfering with the time-continuum. Peter Capaldi's demonic behaviour isn't convincing me he's on the side of Right, though, yet he is almost drawing me in to contemplating this idea of having to do heinous things in order to prevent others doing one first despite him leaving a trail of trauma and destruction. Trust him, he knows best? He's been there, done that, many times before.
Hmmmmmm ..........
Meanwhile, Mary Bennet in the TV adaptation of Janice Hadlow's novel The Other Bennet Sister (a continuation of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice ) is in hot pursuit of happiness as an independent woman, earning her own living as a governess and tutor, and fostering her relationships with chosen family and friends rather than seeking fulfilment in marriage. She even sends her own (horrendously controlling) mother packing, vowing to never see her again in order that she may be allowed to follow her own heart and she's got us all here in our 21st century cheering. She's taking Aristotle's advice, who said " Your happiness is in your own hands " according to another unhappy character, Mr Collins, with some regret methinks since his own pride prevented him from asking Mary to marry him and she is much better suited to him than the lady he took as an alternative. An old tale with some apparently modern twists, but the past looks different from the present.
Truths emerge over time and with the dedication of historians sometimes, as in the case of Anne Lister of Halifax, whose five million-word diaries written in code were discovered and deciphered by John Lister and his friend Arthur Burrell ( who advised John Lister to burn them, but John decided to hide them behind a panel in Shibden Hall, Halifax which Anne had owned prior to John) . The diaries describe Anne's lesbian identity and affairs in great detail, alongside observations on the weather, social events, national events and her business interests. The young woman she posted them to initially was Eliza Raine, the daughter of an English East India Company doctor and his Indian ' country wife ', who was sent from her home in Madras to the same school as Anne to be " Englished " aged 6, according to the author Emma Donoghue in her novel Learned by Heart, in which she tells the heartbreaking story of their relationship.
Sally Wainwright's Anne, known as Gentleman Jack, strode around boldly, barely disguising who she really was and we celebrate her today for her courage and as a trailblazer, exchanging rings with another lover, Ann Walker at York's Holy Trinity church in 1834 in what has come to be known as the first recorded lesbian marriage ceremony certainly in British history and possibly in the world. What was the source of her confidence ? Her innate, unusual character, combined with wealth, the support of a loving family and, possibly, I wonder, a touch of Yorkshire pride and Northern waywardness. Up 'ere we're remote from the seat of Parliament and we have a history of being a breeding ground as well as a sanctuary for the wayward; Mother Ann Lee, the Coiners, the Luddites and Guy Fawkes, The Chartists, The suffragettes, The Beatles, The Brontës ( all of them ), Lowry, Vivienne Westwood, Jeanette Winterson, Damien Hirst, Factory Records, Tish Murtha, Barbara Hepworth, look it up, add your own. This is an ongoing list ........
Hey up though ..... Mary and her mates are going up Scafell, following in Dorothy's footsteps - she's a real trainlblazer - this looks precarious. You can tell some'ats going to happen cos they're so not dressed right.........sure enough, it's a seminal moment. I won't spoil it for you. Just add William and Dorothy to your list, oh and Dorothy's friend and companion for the daring climb which inspired our group of seekers ✅
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