Third time's the charm: review of Derek, episode 3

Contributed by Jake (Jenson's Beard) Fleming

After an average first episode, and a very messy second one, it seems like Derek has finally found its stride with a much funnier, sweeter episode than the previous two.

Though this week's edition began with another lame scene involving Kev, it quickly picked up with some amusing moments involving Derek and a far more believable story arc featuring Marge. Though there was a degree of sentimentality in this episode, it didn't feel anywhere near as forced as the rather bizarre ending to the second episode.

One of the gripes regarding the first two episodes was that Derek hadn't really been a part of the show much, either in the plot or in any of the comical scenes. However, there were three big scenes in the episode that allowed the titular character to enjoy a few legitimately funny moments, including an example of Derek's rather sweet naivety when he calls an ambulance to save a baby bird. While Derek's scenes didn't have me belly-laughing, they were a vast improvement on the awkward attempts at slapstick seen in the pilot, which was probably the last time we really saw Derek involved in a comedy scene.

The episode is held together by the story involving Marge, one of the elderly residents. Her daughter comes to visit and it becomes very apparent that she is only interested in inheriting her mother's ring. The daughter is basically a cartoon villain, in that there is absolutely no subtlety involved in her despicable nature. At one point the character actually says "I don't even give to charity shops". You might as well have Ricky in the corner of the screen holding up a sign that says "You should hate this character".

After a heartfelt moment in which Marge explains the significance of the ring to Hannah, her health takes a turn for the worse. With Hannah and love-interest Tom rushing back to look after her, she hands the ring over to Tom in the hope that he will use it to propose to Hannah.

Hannah's relationship with Tom could be a very effective focal point of the show, but in the past two episodes it has barely been mentioned but for the occasional glimpse of Tom in the background. In this episode, we saw a far more interesting angle to the two characters, with Hannah stuck between her job and her boyfriend and Tom becoming increasingly frustrated with her until coming to accept her devotion to her care-work. It's not quite 'Tim and Dawn', but it is evidence that Ricky is still capable of writing a convincing romance.

It must also be mentioned that the actress playing Marge, Pamela Lyne, is wonderful and has some great lines when handing the ring over to Tom. The whole scene is delivered so naturally, and it feels like a 'real' moment which is in stark contrast to the attempt at an emotional ending last week. Tom takes the ring but Marge's daughter returns and demands that it is given to her. Tom begrudgingly obliges, but Dougie lays into her before she leaves.

I wish that the final scene had not been shown to us in the 'Making Of' documentary. While seeing that clip got me very excited about Karl's acting, it's fair to say that the impact of it in this episode was lessened by the fact that I knew it was coming. Nevertheless, Karl is absolutely fantastic and it is a satisfying conclusion to the episode.

So how to summarise episode three? A massive improvement. It is a far less contrived effort that succeeds in being both a comedy and a drama. There are still flaws: Kev is annoying, there is some badly written dialogue, and the piano is as pervasive as ever. But these were comfortably outweighed by the positive aspects of last night's show. Ricky said that the second episode was his favourite, but I think that was because he'd tried so hard to create an emotional, touching and melancholy ending. Perhaps it shows that Ricky has been trying too hard to make this show a tearjerker, when in truth he is far more effective when he allows situations to play out naturally.

My only other issue with the show is Ricky's insistence that Derek is extraordinarily kind, when there has been literally no evidence of this. I wouldn't specifically have a problem with Derek not being a kind character, but it is quite jarring when the creator of the show keeps telling us that kindness is one of the major themes of the show. In the pilot, we at least saw Derek doing some work when he clipped one of the resident's toenails, but since that we haven't seen him actually doing anything to help the old folks. Having said that, the show has taken an upwards turn and perhaps we will begin to understand what Ricky means after episode four.

Here's hoping, anyway.