Hit US TV show (as they always insist on telling us prior to something been shown over here – even though they then fail to tell us it was cancelled after one season) The Big C follows relatively normal (they always are at the start) suburban wife and mother Cathy Jameson (played by Laura Linney who I always get mixed up with Julianne Moore) who vows to dramatically change her life when she is diagnosed with terminal cancer. Doesn’t sound particularly punchy or warming viewing does it! But The Big C is a lot more than that. I like a bit of black comedy with elements of drama mixed in for good measure.
Season two (I’ll go all Americana on you and refer to it as season) starts following Cathy’s decision to finally tell her friends and family about her cancer (they are a heady mix of misfits and emotionally retarded reprobates, so in some way you can understand why she didn’t tell them at first.) Cathy has also now decided she does want to have a clinical trial to try to beat her cancer. Nothing that interesting happens in this first episode, but as usual it is the characters and witty dialogue which carries the 45 minutes along nicely.
Cathy’s brother Sean, is a hermit and manic depressive. He definitely has some of the best lines of the show and is very quick for a man who is a bit of a soap dodger. He has handily inherited Darelene’s old house across the street from Cathy. Talking of Darlene, I might as well give you a quick summary of her character. Darlene was the batty, perpetually grumpy neighbour of Cathy, and they became good mates after Cathy confessed to Darlene that she had cancer. Darlene (unbeknown to everyone) had dementia and at the end of the last season shot herself (see I told you about those drama elements.) Thankfully we are not long without the dry wit of this character as she comes back to haunt Cathy (but not in a Rentaghost way.) Cathy tells Marlene she keeps on seeing her cause ‘You’re trying to drag me to the other side.’
Anyway, the brother who despises the thought of being inside a house because he feels it’s incarcerating and not consistent with his anti-establishment lifestyle, still sleeps outside in a tent in Darlene’s front yard (you can imagine he probably slept in it during the St Paul’s cathedral anti-capitalist protests.) Meanwhile his pregnant girlfriend (played by Sex and the City’s Miranda) lives inside the house (well, if it causes less arguments I’m all for that.)
Cathy’s doctor (I wish my doctor looked like that) tells her she is not reacting well to her treatment, but offers some help by advising her that some patients appreciate a bit of marijuana to ease the pain. Cue obvious scene with 40+ year old Mum smoking pot as Cathy and husband Paul indulge. Paul gets a great line: ‘I can’t believe the same guy I was buying pot from 20 years ago still has the same pager. I had him stored in my old address book under bicycle parts!’
Cathy’s son Adam, a typical teenager who screws his face up all the time (it’s the equivalent of a Ron Weasley face), is being sent to a therapist to discuss his feelings about his Mum’s cancer (which you can guess was not his choice of afternoon recreation.) Once Adam is out of the room, the therapist asks Cathy and her husband Paul if they are worried about anything in particular with Adam. Without hesitation, Paul answers ‘Yes. He’s been aggressively farting. He even fart-framed Cathy!’ Fart-framed, what a brilliant excuse to use a hyphen. Put it in the English dictionary I say.
Darlene’s dog Thomas (who looks like a bloodhound but then I was never good at naming breed of dogs) eats some of Cathy’s muscle relaxers. He’s later found by Paul dead on the patio. Though this is black comedy, we can’t kill the dopey doggy off in the first episode can we?! Luckily, Thomas comes mooching back into the room much later all long faced, but generally very alive to the relief of Cathy and Paul. Cathy says ‘Ok, if you ever think I’m dead, do me a favour and get a second opinion!’ Yay the dappy dog lives (see I told you nothing that exciting happens in this opening episode.)
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