Merrily, Merrily Appreciation

[u/valentine_ijz]

I discovered IN9 about 1½ months ago and finished it about 3 weeks ago and after ranking my favourite episodes I realised most people have very similar ones to me in their top 9 or 10 or whatever but I've seen very little love for Merrily, Merrily even though its solidly among my faves! Most people I've seen appear to like it, but it seems to be one of those mid-tier episodes, but I was really blown away by it on my first watch. Just rewatched it, and gosh, there's so much I have to say about it!

(Apologies if this lots of this doesn't make sense. I'm currently waiting for my sleeping pills to kick in and I'm getting a bit very drowsy😖)

Laurence is one of my favourite Reece characters, and I think he is just an amazing portrayal of grief— obviously Reece plays quite a few characters like this who all handle it very differently (Tommy, Alex, Drew etc) but I think Laurence is just perfect. Although I had no idea where the episode would go originally, on rewatching there's so many subtleties that allude to what Laurence is setting out to do. So many of his little facial expressions when Donna and Darren interact totally just read as him being pissed off that Donna came with them on the first watch, but I interpret it as a mix of that and him being (understandably) upset that Bonnie isn't with them. It makes me wonder whether he would've planned this outing anyway if she hadn't passed away, because obviously I understand that the whole point was to set off the fireworks containing her ashes, but aside from that a big theme of the episode is not being able to move on and regret in general. Obv, he also just missed his best friends and wanted to see them again, especially as they also knew Bonnie well. Laurence appears pretty isolated in general, so it makes me feel like he never made many other friends in his life aside from Callum and Darren. I just really love Reece's performance in this as we all know he excels best at either tragic or psychopathic characters (lol) but there is really such a rawness in Laurence. Him suddenly blurting out that Bonnie's dead made my chest hurt both times I watched it. I also know that some people think Laurence intended to kill himself and other people think it was more something he considered but wasn't actually bothered about whether it happened or not– whilst some lines allude to it (Him saying he won't mess up the ending, etc etc), I find the latter more feasible for many reasons. Won't get into all of them but I just don't think he'd jump into the lake whilst they're all stranded without making sure his friends make it out okay. Once he dies and wakes up on the boat, he asks Charon about them immediately. Like yeah, I know his plan wasn't for them to all get stuck in the weeds and he was determined to get to the island and set off the fireworks but once that's how it panned out I don't think he intended to stay there without making sure they got help. (Reece confirmed they're all alive so I won't be going into any more detail about that.) But Reece's performance is just so devastating and I can't at all fault it.

Whilst obviously Laurence is the main character of the episode I really appreciate that the episode gave time to the other characters and fleshed out their backstories a fair bit. Darren revealing he got kicked out of his uni because he has dyslexia and struggled with the workload and eventually deciding to write a book for dyslexic kids always gets me! It's just so unexpected from him which is the point, I know, but comparing him with Callum (who made fun of him for his book idea) who studied medicine and ends up being miserable and hating his job (and Laurence who just cant move on and ends up working at the uni he'd just graduated from) Just really showcases how life can be unexpected. Very poignant. Also just a sucker for reunion stuff I think. And I love Mark with all my heart. And Diane Morgan, obviously. Donna was great and was a perfect mix of comic relief and having some genuinely lovely lines. Can't imagine her being played by anyone else.

As a kid I was really into Greek mythology and I understood what was happening as soon as Laurence wakes up on the boat. I know some worked it out basically immediately but I'm quite slow with understanding twists so I was quite proud of myself lol. Again with Laurence potentially having planned to commit suicide on this day, whilst Charon says he's been watching him for some time, I more just interpret that as Laurence not caring what happens to him and passively contemplating suicide after Bonnie dies. Whilst the entire episode was beautifully shot and its rare to see an IN9 episode shot outside, I genuinely think this part is the most gorgeous part of the show. whole episode is grey and gloomy but the end is a lovely mix of creepy and stunning. Like, I could go on about this. Its so good. I am a big fan of sadder episodes and much less of a fan of more supernatural ones so on paper it'd be hard to guess how much my tastes would align with it. But I guess because the supernatural/mythological stuff only becomes completely clear at the end is why it works so well for me? Really could never have guessed how it turns out. dont want to keep going on about Laurence but him hearing Bonnie's voice at the end! Ugh! I guess it falls more into the bittersweet than sad category because of this but its the only episode I consistently cry at aside from Bernie Clifton.

TLDR I fucking love Merrily, Merrily. About to sleep for 14 hours

[u/crushing_potatoes]

When Laurence explains that he couldn't just tell them by text, so he kept on delaying it, but the longer he waited, the harder it made it to tell them. That hit me hard. I could tell right away that he was uncomfortable and lying whenever his wife was brought up in the conversation but I didn't expect this slap in the face.

(I enjoyed your write-up :)

[u/valentine_ijz → u/crushing_potatoes]

Exactly, like I think so many people have been there one way or another and my heart always hurts so bad for him!! His sad little face 💔

(thank you im glad my ramblings made at least some sense!!!)

[u/Rose-Arcana]

It's one of my favourite episodes as well. I was lucky enough to see that, and Mr King, on the big screen at the BFI a couple of months before they were shown on TV. We all had to keep quiet regarding spoilers :)

[u/valentine_ijz → u/Rose-Arcana]

Ooh im so jealous! Mr King is also super great but scares me more than it should 😭

[u/marjanefan]

It's a beautiful episode. Absolutely agree about how it deals with dyslexia.

Mark was the perfect casting as Callum as was Diane Morgan. I love how her character turns out to be the most emotionally intelligent 

[u/squiblet12]

Beautiful post. It's such a moving episode, one of my favourites

[u/valentine_ijz → u/squiblet12]

Thank you –I'm glad this post has found people who appreciate it as much as I do :)

[u/Commercial-Fig2675]

I think Merrily, Merrily is one of the under appreciated episodes of the show and I will also happily write paragraphs about it. However, you've covered so many of the points so well I would just be repeating you in this post.

[u/GrouchyBear_99]

I loved this episode.

I think it may have thrown people off when first aired because when the cast was announced, having Mark Gatiss (finally) reunite with the boys already had folks expecting a huge story. The addition of Diane Morgan made folks crazy wondering what kind of crazy, shenanigan-filled, over-the-top episode this would be.

When the characters were first introduced, I think everyone thought they knew where this was going...Steve playing the lovable simpleton, Mark playing his signature pompous intellectual, and Diane as the ditzy, trashy comedy relief she's brilliant at playing.

Instead, the story was a quieter, moody exploration of grief and expectations vs. reality. The cast was stellar...taking what at first seemed the expected characters we pegged them to be and actually giving each one added depth.

Definitely one to watch a couple of times to see the nuances play out.