So we have already reached the penultimate episode and I feel there are so many loose ends to tie-up….
The Hughes family suffer a blow when police reveal that their ‘Polish’ helper Maya is Ukrainian, and is living and working illegally in the UK. As Maya faces deportation, it’s a double loss for Alison: Maya’s presence makes her panic less, and she’s one of the few people Joe has really bonded with.
The repercussions of Maya’s situation become huge to Alison who reverts to the extreme actions of bribery, threats and insulting Maurice’s best friend, the local police inspector. Alison has consistently been by far the most painful character to watch for me as a parent for obvious reasons and although her actions and behaviour is of the extreme, I guess the writer is just attempting to emphasise what measures a parent would go to when they are desperately trying to do the very best for their autistic child? She is so blinkered and driven and continues to ‘bulldoze’ her way through life without a single thought of who she’s knocking down on her path.
With Maya inevitably leaving Alison and Paul find they are at odds when preparing Joe for the change. In the absence of knowing Joe’s thoughts on pretty much every level both parents have always projected their own thoughts and feelings onto their son. Here, Alison is determined for Joe to have a significant emotional response (just like she’s having) and repeatedly tries to engage him in obtaining one “Do you understand Maya is going Joe?” While husband Paul is absolutely fine with Joe burying his feelings (just as he’s doing) and tries to keep the whole situation light.
Meanwhile, they’re both oblivious to the escalation in Joe’s rituals and behaviours as he’s very clearly demonstrating – in his own way – which he is feeling with events around Maya. His repetitive behaviour is escalating especially at school with his routines as he sinks deeper into own world. It’s almost as if someone is slowly turning Joe’s ‘dimmer switch’ the wrong way. The most alarming observation being that only his teachers at school have noticed!
Alison feels as though she is hitting crisis point, owning-up to worrying about everything. She’s completely exhausted and sinking fast and it was refreshing to see some honesty from her. Fascinatingly, she posed a very thought-provoking question: “Does Joe not have feelings or is in drowning in them, unable to give them a voice?”….
With the end in sight things are looking grim for the adults but at least daughter Rebecca gets the upper hand on her childish ex, she brilliantly faced him down with a threat. It might not have gone quite to plan, but it is becoming increasingly clear that she is the shrewdest member of the bunch!
The depiction of Joe quietly unraveling in the wake of events surrounding him is astonishingly well done. I really think that his acting has achieved something quite remarkable in drawing out such a poignant, yet compelling, performance.
The Hughes family are falling apart around the little boy at the centre of it. Is there any hope at all for them with only one episode remaining? Can this all be wrapped up in a bow in the one remaining episode? That’s a tough task. And what about the little boy at the heart of it all? Will he get the understanding and communication he so desperately needs
Perhaps there’s enough left of this story to fill another series as the writers script has enough pull to even make the viewer feel for the bullish Alison as she and Paul are unable to reconcile their needs and wants for the future. We can only hope they can work – together or apart – for the sake of their son.
Bring on the last episode…..
Written by Sally Creedon on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services
