[PSW] Regression

TV Programme: Peep Show
Season: 6
Episode: 2
Date I watched this episode: 28/09/2009
Time since I last watched this programme: 9 days.

This was very much Jeremy's episode, despite the fact that it turned out that Mark was the one who was the father of Sophie's child. This irony actually pervaded through the episode, as Jeremy got to have his cake and eat it as usual, while Mark was left in a very unpleasant situation. It was perhaps interesting to see the different approaches which Mark and Jez take to "dates", and their disapproval of each others' styles.

Jeremy is almost an entirely different person when he has his heart set on pursuing a woman (Elena). He's all mature with Sophie and then takes no prisoners with Mark when he lies about the parenthood. (However he does seem genuinely sorry for this incident, again trying to do the right thing and let Mark stab his dinner). It's quite believable the way he acts: he feels like he has to be a better person than he is, in order to be eligible for dating someone.

Mark on the other hand is left in a rather tight spot. It's such a shame because things were finally looking up with Dobby. Dobby admitted she does like Mark and even was prepared to sleep with him but as with everything Mark does, it's just bad timing. Incidentally the "boiler" storyline was the weakest of the episode - trying to show Mark's frustration but it was a bit of a weak link.

Sophie was again only briefly in this episode but I imagine she'll feature more in future episodes. I doubt we'll see Dobby again, but I hope so for Mark's sake. Hans and Johnson didn't appear, in fact this was very much a closed episode, almost a bottle show.

The story as a whole unfolded well over the episode and the ending sequence was suitably complex and twisted. My only concern is whether we found out too soon - and whether Sam and Jesse have enough storylines left this season to make it good.