Review: This Is England ’90, Episode 4: ‘Winter’ (The End)

“You’re clocked in”

It’s taken me a while to ruminate on the final episode of This Is England ’90 (and the last episode ever!). The feature-length ‘Winter’ gave the audience plenty of stuff to chew on. From Kelly’s wilful estrangement, to Combo’s redemptive job and inevitable confrontation with Milky, to the wedding of Lol and Woody (and everything in between), the episode was stuffed to the gills with stories and characters. Almost perfectly plotted, with incredible acting from all involved, ‘Winter’ was a suitably bittersweet but brilliant ending for the characters that we’ve grown to love. There was even a happy ending, but an ending inhibited by the demons of the past and present.

Review: This Is England ’90, Episode 3: ‘Autumn’ (Winter Is Coming…)

“The past does matter…it shapes the future if we face it”

After two uneven and (sometimes painfully) slow episodes of This Is England ’90, we returned to the familiar drama that has defined the film/TV series. Let’s face it; the drama and darkness are what we have been waiting for. It was necessary and nice to see our characters being happy, but what we wanted was misery, tears and arguments. For better or worse, that’s what we received in ‘Autumn.’ The sunlight is fading, and the cold nights are drawing in. Happiness is being sucked out of our characters slowly but surely…

Review: This Is England ’90, Episode 2: ‘Summer’ (Look On The Bright Side!)

“Are you moving out?”

If you were looking for ‘This Is England’s’ trademark darkness, then you’d be satisfied with ‘Summer’…but only after forty-five minutes! It was very much like ‘Spring,’ with a more light-hearted approach that set the scene, rather than plunged us into the nitty-gritty. However, unlike last week’s dull hour, ‘Summer’ offered genuine humour and meaningful dialogue. Of course, there were moments of boredom where nothing of substance happened. But it felt like a worthwhile hour of television, and an improvement on the debut episode of This Is England ’90.

Review: This Is England ’90, Episode 1, ‘Spring’ (Failure to Blossom?)

“It’s not about the money, it’s about the nostalgia”

This Is England returned to our screens last night for the final series, This Is England ’90. We’ve followed the cast of This Is England through the 80s, and fittingly, their story will come to an end in 1990. We’ve had highs (well, there’s been one or two…), and many, many lows with the characters of TIE, from brutal racist beatings to rape. If you want very depressing and gritty drama, coloured by a tint of nostalgia, TIE is the film/TV series for you. However, from the first episode of TIE ’90, ‘Spring,’ there was barely any grit in sight. What we received were attempts at comedy and lethargic exchanges between the characters we know and love…