The Guardians: Part 11 - The Roman Empire
Content warning for this episode: self-immolation.
It's possible that having blogged my way through nine episodes of this show already I'm a bit slow coming to a key fact about its authorship. On the other hand I'm quite chuffed that I noticed it: I was thinking that the approach of the episodes was very uneven and was reflecting that it struck me much more as if it was an anthology TV series than a single story with a single author. Of course a glance at the writers on IMDb showed that no fewer than six writers wrote various episodes of this show (one of them wrote seven and the others one or two each). This fact would adequately explain how the show is a bit erratic and it frequently feels as if it's coming at the plot from a completely different viewpoint.
This episode is a case in point. You may say that it would be reasonable to examine the fictional state from a different viewpoint in each episode, but I think you would expect some connection. This one suddenly produces a whole religion out of nowhwere which has not been mentioned so far. Probably at the time the group would have been referred to as a cult, but is essentially used as a way to illustrate how the state suppresses or otherwise makes life difficult for any opposition groups. There is also a long list given of the effects of this oppression on the affected groups, culminating shockingly in the suicide of an asylum seeker (played by Elizabeth Adare) by self-immolation. This brings a strikingly modern issue to the forefront of this show.
The reference to the Roman Empire is about a comparison which is drawn between the unelected Prime Minister and a Roman emperor, that it is difficult to arrange a succession and they just tend to carry on forever or give it to their son. Of course in the UK this year we have seen that in reality an unelected Prime Minister sooner or later throws a mammoth sulk, calls an election purely to spite the rest of the party and is elected out to his party's great surprise. I am certain that nobody in 1971 would have guessed that some of the events of this show would actually be playing out in reality now.
A final thread of the plot political plot is that of labour relations, and conflicting views about how they should work.
I have quite a major criticism, although honestly it's not one I'm sure I've understood correctly. It feels to me as if the sequence of events with Tom and Claire Weston has perhaps been slightly moved back in this episode because he is back in the 'centre'. I may have missed him being taken back into the hospital but either way my criticism is that this series is very difficult to follow.
Another criticism I have is that we see a scene where themembers of the cult are giving each other gifts to illustrate how all natural things are good. A lady is given a turd and encouraged to reflect that all natural things are good. That, on top of the self-immolation feels as if this episode is trying to shock for the sake of shocking. There's also a lot of other things going on (the cabinet secretary has another heart attack) so it feels very focusless).
An episode of this show which is difficult to follow, unfortunately, but we're on the home strait now.
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